Knee Pain, Part 2

This is going to sound strange, but...

YEAH! IT'S TENDONITIS!

Or Bursitis... or a strained ligament... or possibly the ligament slightly tore away from the bone...

I'm not a doctor, but I am 95% convinced that my knee pain is NOT a torn meniscus. Yesterday, after the pain subsided to a point where I can pinpoint it, I used one of those vibrating massage thingies and ran it over my knee. I instantly felt pain on the side of my tibia, at the crook where the bone starts to widen to form the top head underneath the knee. My research shows that this is where the Medial Collateral Ligament joins the tibia. I jumped for joy when I found this out, because that means it is not a meniscus tear! A meniscus tear would emanate from the joint line, not from the side of the tibia. Besides, I highly doubt that running for a mile two or three days per week would damage the meniscus.

At any rate, I made the decision to cease running until I get my new shoes in. They were ordered last week and have since arrived. I will be picking them up on Saturday. In the meantime, I will go to the gym for a little crosstraining, and I will be doing some stretching to try to loosen up these ligaments.

Hopefully the new shoes will help out.

Knee Pain

After attempting to run yesterday, I experienced such significant knee pain that I had to stop after two minutes. I walked the rest of the way home and made friends with a bag of ice. The pain is on the inside (or medial side) of the knee, next to the kneecap on the front (anterior) side. I am fearing the worst, which would be a meniscus tear. This would put me out for about two weeks. However, a meniscus tear typically is accompanied by a popping sound in the knee, which it is not doing. So it could also be a ligament strain (the "Medial Collateral Ligament"), or possibly bursitis. The problem is, both of those typically are accompanied by swelling, which I do not have.

Today, the symptoms are a lot better, but I still feel a sharp pain on the anterior, medial side of the knee, seemingly right above the tibia. I have made a decision to stop running until my running shoes arrive.

I am feeling quite discouraged right now.

But on the positive side, if I find out that I can't run, look at all the medical terms that I'm learning!

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome

Shin Splints! Yikes! I came home from work with some rather significant shin splints, in the right leg only. So I looked it up online. As it turns out, the term "shin splints" is an all-encompassing term that could mean many things. In my case, the pain was on the outside of the shin. This pain is attributed to a muscle called the "tibialis anterior", which is responsible for "dorsiflexing" the foot (bringing the foot upwards towards the shin). This muscle works against the calf, which brings the foot downward and away from the shin. When there is a muscle imbalance where the tibialis anterior is too weak compared to the shin, then the tibialis anterior could be stretched too far when the foot is "snapped" down onto the ground when the foot rolls from heel to toe when stepping.

Here is an excellent Wikipedia article explaining the function of this muscle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints

So I tried some exercises, and they went away almost immediately.
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/1079-shin-splints.htm

I tried running today, but my knee is causing some big problems. More on that later.

Personal Trainer

The gym that I work out at hired a new personal trainer a few weeks ago. And he's a runner. One who has run marathons. So I bought a few sessions from him and had my first one today. I told him that I was running a 5K this December, and that I would like to run a marathon in one year. He said my goals were very achievable. He setup a workout plan for me that includes time in the gym and time on the road, and showed me some appropriate stretches for both before and after a run. He really seems like he's willing to work with me and wants me to succeed.

My physical ailments are making themselves known. I am fighting either plantar fasciitis or a heel spur in my right foot; soreness in my right side IT band; and something going in my right knee. Yup, all in my right side - my left side feels fine. For now. I've been icing my foot for a few days now, and that is helping. Stretching the IT band is working wonders. Today I started icing my knee. Is this the life of a runner? Should I invest in an ice machine?

On the good side, my breathing is becoming slower, deeper, and more deliberate. My flexibility is actually increasing, even though I am doing no specific stretches in that area (I can ALMOST touch my toes now!) And I have a lot more energy, so I'm not taking naps during lunch at work.

I went to Target to get a bottle of liquid fabric softener, and ended up spending over $160 by the time I left. They had a nice sale on whole grain cereals, so I picked up 8 boxes. Then I wandered through the men's clothes department, and found some good prices on exercise pants that actually fit! I bought three pair! And a nice workout jacket, the moisture wicking kind. So I'm almost ready for colder weather. My wife was a bit upset that some of the pants did not exactly match the jacket, but I told her that I am taking this seriously. I am NOT going to be a fair weather runner. (Those people are known as JOGGERS... not RUNNERS). I will be running in the rain, snow, cold, heat... JOGGERS don't do that. RUNNERS do. It is hard enough finding exercise clothes that fit, so I'm buying what I can find and going with that. I tried planting a money tree in the yard this year, but it just didn't seem to take root... maybe I'll try again next year. Then I'll be able to buy color-coordinated running outfits.

Today I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical, along with learning some good information from the trainer. And I have some pretty well defined, and achievable, goals.

Happy running.

Goals

Since I've decided to start running, I decided it was best to come up with some goals to keep me motivated. I actually have one goal: to run a marathon next October. But that's a pretty steep goal. So I've broken it up into a few pieces.

I've already signed up for the Jingle Bell 5K Run/Walk at Lutheran High School in Racine on December 4. Of course I am running it. This is a charity event for the arthritis foundation. But I'll be honest; I'm not doing this for charity. I really don't care about arthritis at this point in my life. I'm not doing this for my wife, or family, or friends... I'm doing this for me. Nobody else but me. Call me selfish, but that's the way it is. I really didn't want to sign up for the Jingle Bell because of the charity association, but it became apparent that most 5K and 10K runs are charity events. So I bit the bullet and signed up. And I put in a few bucks towards a donation as well. After all, I don't want to seem like a selfish prick.

After that, I would like to do a 10K, then a half marathon. There are some half-marathons going on starting next May that I am looking at. We'll see how things progress. I don't want to make any rash decisions until after the 5K, and until I know I can run continuously for a decent distance.

It's a Jeep thing; you wouldn't understand

It all started back in July when I was laid off for two weeks. I woke up the first day of layoff and decided that I was tired of being overweight, having low energy, not sleeping well, and... basically, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. So I decided to join a gym. And it helped substantially. Within two weeks I was feeling a lot better, sleeping better, and had more energy. And my cravings for sweets was lessening as well.

Then, in the beginning of September, I was at the gym at the same time they were getting some new equipment in. Among the new equipment was a stair climber. This is a piece of equipment where three or four steps are moving downward, while you "climb" up. Essentially, it's like trying to go up the down escalator at the mall. I remember thinking to myself, "that has got to be the stupidest piece of equipment on the face of the earth". Then I looked at the stationary bikes, and thought, those are just as stupid. And the same with the treadmills. I was so glad I was using the elliptical! :) And then I looked around at all the weight lifting equipment, and thought, why would you lift up some weights just to put them back down again? This whole thing is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, losing fat and toning muscle is a worthy goal. But I need something more concrete. How do I want my body to look? The personal trainer at the gym asked me that when I joined. Do I want to get all big and beefy? Or look more lean? I didn't know. I needed a goal.

My friend Ben is training for the 50 mile run in Door County on October 23. Yes, that's 50 miles. That was not a mistake. As in, ALMOST two WHOLE marathons. And my friend Heather recently started running again after she had her last baby. My co-worker Bruce runs five miles several times per week, and finished two marathons. My good friends Mark and Amy are avid runners; Amy has finished multiple marathons, and Mark just completed the Iron Man in Madison a couple of weeks ago. I used to look at these people and say "why do you run? Why don't you just kneel on a cold stone floor and repeatedly whip yourself? Isn't that the same thing?" I would routinely call them "masochists". But they all just smiled at me and didn't say much. I always left thinking that somehow, they were getting the last laugh. Is there some secret that they know that I don't?

After talking with them, I realized that the only way I will ever know this secret is to become a runner myself. Kinda like that Jeep advertisement: "It's a Jeep Thing; You Wouldn't Understand". Actually, I do understand the Jeep thing, since I work at the engine plant that produced the old inline 6 cylinder cast iron engine that used to power the Jeeps. The Jeep DNA? I get it. But this running thing - I do not understand.

Since I've decided to start running, my friends, the ones that I have heaped tons of derision upon, have accepted me with open arms. They have not laughed at me, poked fun of me, nor shoved any of that back into my face. But I can see something in their eyes and hear something in their voices. They got me. I can't help but feel like I've been reeled in like a fish. Perhaps this was their ploy all along? Let the whippings begin...