From NR: Swimming

You know what's great about running? You can breathe whenever you want. No, really.

So I've been trying to swim since I can't really run but I haven't been able to go very often. I've been hitting Morgan Park when I can but that's only Thursday nights. I decided to join a gym, since that will also give me access to ellipticals and treadmills, which will make it easier to test running. I decided on SMDC'S Fitness Center since they have a lap pool that's always open (not 24 hours always, but during the center hours, always). They're pretty expensive for a day pass, though, so I'm raring for March 1 when I can get a month pass and get there on a regular basis.

Today I did my first 'workout' in the pool. It's taken a few times in to get used to how to breathe without thinking super hard about it and such so I've generally just been swimming laps and figuring things out. I can only really do the crawl or the backstroke, which is super sad since the breaststroke is my favorite but my knee is most certainly not okay with it. So today I was swimming along and decided it was time to do some sort of intervals. So I went hard for 2 lengths of the pool 4 times, with 2 lengths of easy in-between, then hard for 3 lengths of the pool with 3 lengths easy, twice and another set of the 4x2 lengths. Keep in mind that I don't know how to turn underwater so I'd have to stop briefly after each length. I think that's next on my list of things to learn, it seems as though it would make things much easier and let things flow better.

Let me say, though - it's hard to swim easy after swimming hard. You're breathing hard after finishing but launch into easy laps and thus aren't coming up for air as often. At least it forces me to swim the easy laps at a not absolute crawling speed since I have to breathe more. Or, anyway, something that's not an absolute crawling speed for me.

So, yeah. A workout of sorts! Yay! And then I used the sauna to stretch out some, as someone recommended to me and that was quite nice, too.

Next update will be about some awesome new running clothes that I have. A team I'm on has become sponsored by Icebreakers and as a previous SmartWool lover, I was very interested in trying everything out.

Bummer

Last Wednesday, I went on to the group run at the lakewalk and all was pretty good, until that last 'downhill' that was the ramp at the end of the detour. Then my knee spoke up and reminded me that it wasn't happy. It wasn't far to the end of the run, so I figured I'd be fine. After all, it didn't quite hurt enough to make me limp on it. Of course, as soon as I thought that, I realized I was already limping on it. Lovely. Happily, wildknits was willing to walk the last 4 blocks or so in with me.

So I went swimming the next day and really enjoyed it! I was really in the need to do something until I was exhausted. I'm sick of these slow, short runs. I haven't been swimming for fitness since college, which made it tough to keep a good rhythm going but I was able to tire out nice. I plan to do it on a regular basis as cross training and hope to continue once my knee gets better. I even went out and bought a swim cap so my hair doesn't die. Also so I don't keep breathing my hair.

It's really hard to go for a run in the winter when you might have to walk home. Or maybe I'm just making it out to be worse that it is, but I really don't want to be very far from home and have to walk back when it's cold and I'm probably sweaty and dressed for running and not walking. Today I decided to run in the land behind our house - some guy has been out three-wheeling and snowmobiling recently and the trails are mostly well packed. So I figured I could run around back there and never be too far from home if things went awry.

I could have made a loop out of it, but decided to do a horseshoe around my house since the trails were starting to deteriorate at the close of the loop. My knee was also hurting after a mile in and I could have just headed down the hill and finished the loop but I figured since I was never far too from home, I might as well turn around and go back the other way, so I did 2 miles, which is better than nothing. I got home, ran through my short pilates DVD, showered and made dinner. Half way through dinner, I realized my knee wanted to be iced NOW. No, it wanted to be iced half an hour ago. In fact, standing on it at all was rather painful.

Sigh. Looks like more swimming and pilates are in my future.

Stupid Work

Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and place a lot of blame for my knee on work. I had a lovely week or so of vacation, lots of which was spent walking/bouncing around with an extra 13 pounds (in the form of my adorable nephew). My back was sore, my shoulder hurt, my arm muscles were felt, my knee was fine.

I went back to work yesterday and last night/this morning my knee is upset with me. Time to get back to icing on every break, I guess.

Coupon!

I have a coupon in my email for $20 any running shoes at Duluth Running Company for this week. Let me know if you'd like me to share with you.

From NR: Late Update

Sorry about the super late update on things. Here's the current word, though. I went to a Physical Therapist last Tuesday to get another opinion. I just had too many doubts about my first doctor's visit and I wanted the opinion of someone who knew a little bit more about what might be going on. I called a couple places looking for a free sports consult and someone I work with at the store also works at a PT place that does free consults so she directed me there.

I really liked the guy I saw - he spent almost a full hour with me trying to figure things out. Lots of moving my leg around and seeing if anything caused pain (boy is it hard to relax in that situation!), which pretty much nothing did. He ruled out a lot of things and didn't think my symptoms were consistent with a patella femoral syndrome.

He thinks my problem is an irritated plica. Huh. Something I've never heard of before and it turns out not everyone has it. Though, later in the week, I picked up Joan Benoit Samuelson's Book of Women's Running and flipped through the injury part and, lo and behold! She had issues with her plica and that's what the surgery right before her Olympic trials was for.

Anyway, there are some orthopedic surgeons who are of the opinion that if it (the plica) gets irritated then out with it! The guy I saw didn't think that was at all necessary, yet. So the plan for now is to icing to bejimmies out of it and be careful. I can run as pain allows so it's time to start easing back into my training plan and hope for the best. So far, my runs have not been painful and I skied for 3 hours Saturday with no problems so all is hopeful.

From NR: Nargh

What? You mean injuries can't just go away after a week of being nice to them? Who made that rule, anyway? So I woke up Saturday to a slightly painful knee again and thus no running yesterday. I've been torn about today but decided I probably need to just calm down and back off and wait and at least see what is said when I see a PT person on Tuesday.

From NR: Yay!

So after 8 days off of running, a 3 day weekend from work (which got me really antsy) and 2 days without really hurting, I decided to test my knee and go for a run Wednesday! I wasn't positive that it was a great idea, but last year, after this happened at Boston, I wasn't sure my first run was a great idea, either, and it ended up quite lovely. My co-workers all thought I was insane, of course and I mentioned a story to one of them - I was out running during that super cold snap and I ran by a bunch of crazies who were huddled together outside in the wind trying to smoke. As I ran by them, I thought "Man, you'd have to be really addicted to something to be outside in this miserable cold in order to . . . wait a minute . . ." But at least my addiction is healthy for me, right?

So I was a little worried since it was a Wednesday and thus group run day at the lakewalk - which has been nothing but a sheet of ice most of the winter. Running on ice having been mentioned as a possible contributor for the PFS flare up (man, it'd be nice to have a for sure reason as to why I have this). I decided that if it was still super icy, I would turn around and hit the streets. I also brought an extra jacket tied around my waist in case things went bad, then I could have an extra layer to throw on for the walk back. I also decided that I shouldn't jump straight in with 5.5 miles (though that probably would have been fine) and that I would only do 3. And all of this ONLY if I got through the work day without pain.

Well, I could sort of feel my knee just waiting to make noise all day at work. It's sort of hard to describe (plus, I'm terrible at describing pain) but it's like it's lurking there - I'm aware of it being not normal without it being actually painful if that makes sense. It also twinged a couple of times when I was standing around but since that was different from the 'usual' pain, I didn't count that.

The lakewalk ended up being pretty ice free, only a couple short iffy spots and I slowed down there to make sure. I am happy to report a completely painless run! I'm not sure what the distance ended up being - the turnaround people knew was 3 1/2 miles plus whatever the detour adds. I am also super happy to report no extra pain the morning after. A very good sign. I was planning on running today but I realize that I'm also planning on running Saturday and Sunday and perhaps three days in a row all of a sudden isn't a spectacular idea.

I have to say, I like the whole ice and then heat right away idea. It feels so nice! It seems as though I can feel my muscles relaxing once the heat comes. Plus it's just plain nice to get warmed back up.

For those of you without a heat pack - they're super easy to make! Just sew a tube using cotton fabric, leaving one end open (mine's maybe 15 inches long, I think and maybe 4 inches wide). Pour a bunch of rice in - don't pack it full. If you want something that smells nice, mix the rice up with some scented oil first. Then sew the top and you have a heat pack! Throw it in the microwave for 3 1/2 minutes or so and volia! You can make a nice soft fleece cover for it, too, to give another layer between bare skin and hot pack.

From NR: No reason for panic

Okay! I had my day of tears and self-pity so no more! Or, that's the plan, anyway. So, on to the healing. Right now I'm still hoping for a quick-ish heal because I have Plans and you're not allowed to be injured when you have Plans! Yeah.

I have exercises to do, half in the morning and half at night, to strengthen the muscles that are supposed to be at fault. When I talked (sort of) with a PT guy, he had me do the 'typical test' for PFS - sit down and hold your leg out straight. With one hand, push your kneecap down your leg some, then try and flex your quads. This will make you jump if you're having PFS issues. So I tried it an lo and behold - jump! Then I tried it with the right leg, just to make sure I'm feeling the right thing and . . . jump! Hmmmmm. So it's looking as though things are ready to get angry on my right knee, too, making it doubly important that I do those strengthening exercises on both legs. So this can only be good for me, right? Getting weak muscles stronger is always a good thing.

Happily, I have a three day weekend right now, so that should help with things. It also means I can ice and then heat 3 times a day and that I can sit around a lot. After a very long, exhausting and gimpy work night Friday, I'm happy to not have to walk around concrete for a few days. I'm told that things that make it worse include running on ice (the main way to run right now) and squatting to lift heavy things (also known as my job).

After this happened at Boston, I took 9 days off of running so I'm not planning on trying until Tuesday at the earliest - that will be a week since I woke up with this. Right now, my knee still hurts walking around, which is troubling but we'll see how things go.

I'm having trouble coming up with cross-training options that don't involve bending the knee. Any ideas? I might have to see what I can do about pool access if this continues and see what my knee thinks about swimming.

From NR: A diagnosis?

Okay so after a quick exam and some x-rays the diagnosis is Patellofemoral Syndrome. It seems it goes by a bunch of different names which are often incorrect, no-one really understands what causes it and there's no consensus on how to treat it. Lovely. I generally need to write questions down in advance or they never get asked when I'm at the doctor's. So now I find myself with lots of questions and I guess I'll have to give my doctor a call. I feel as though I don't really completely agree with the diagnosis from what I've read about it but I don't have a better idea and I'm clearly not a doctor myself. I have a list of things that are different from what I've read and I don't know if they're important differences or not. I kind of feel like going to a sports specialist after the doctor I went to (not my normal one, she wasn't availible) had to look up information on it. At the very least, I guess I should call my normal doctor and talk with her some.

Of course, after sitting around all day, not walking around and bending my knee, it was feeling better by the time I went to the doctor. I have exercises to do so I did those and then iced this morning and then my knee felt worse. Hm.

From NR: Well, that's not good

Not a week into 2010 and I'm already failing on a goal! I don't think this one is my fault, though - I woke up yesterday to find my knee in pain again. In the past, I've taken it as an indication of ramping my mileage up too quickly which is not what's going on now. It struck for the first time in my senior year in college. Then again at Boston last year. I don't know where it's coming from this time - the only thing I can think is that my knee isn't liking all the nasty footing that's going on with the ice. It's the same pain as before, though, and I don't really know what to do. I'm icing it when I can and not running the last couple of days and generally gimping around at work which I know isn't good but I don't have a lot of choice.

Signs probably point to going to a doctor, huh? It's just not great to spend lots of money to be told to rest and ice which I'm already doing. It'd sure be great to have an answer as to what it is, though, since I didn't really get a good answer in college.

Argh.