As I mentioned yesterday, I haven’t been able to run much lately because of an injury four weeks ago. This injury could’ve been prevented or at least not exacerbated if I’d been more careful and stopped running sooner, and if I hadn’t chosen to run another mile and a half after I finally did stop.
Alas, I made some unwise choices, and am still paying for them. As I said before, my knee felt fine at the end of my 12-mile run. But later that evening, it started to get sore again. It wasn’t the sharp pain I’d felt during my run, but a dull soreness and tightness. I hoped it would feel better if I just let myself get a good night’s sleep and avoided moving it too much for a day or two. If only it were that easy.
A few days (and a few good night’s sleeps) later, I was still sore. It felt like my all the stuff in my knee—the kneecap, the muscles and ligaments and tendons surrounding it—were a little loose in addition to being a little bruised. Like they needed something to hold them together, and they needed more rest. I probably should have gotten a brace or strap or something to make it feel better, but I didn’t. Walking seemed to help a little. Time was the main ingredient for healing though. So I waited until my knee felt better, and then I went for a wimpy run.
It was 15 days after my injury when I finally ran again. My lungs were still in good shape, but my legs were lacking, as could be expected. I jogged through 1.8 miles of semi-hilly Bremerton streets before my knee started to feel tight and I got worried. I walked after that, for about a half mile, jogged a few blocks, then walked another half of a mile until I was home. It was pathetic, but at least my knee hadn’t exploded.
Another six days after that run—three weeks after my injury—I did 2.3 miles and felt mostly fine. A little bit of tightness, but nothing too bad. I didn’t even slow down to walk. Sure, I stopped and rested at two separate stoplights, but I still felt accomplished. A few days later, my girlfriend and I talked about her plan to run/walk the marathon in light of her own knee injury. I begrudgingly started to accept the fact that I would have to take the same tack. So, on Sunday, as I previously wrote, I ran/walked (but mostly ran!) 4.5 miles in my longest training session (I can’t say “run”) since my injury. I have to admit, it worked pretty well, and the most important thing now is not shrinking my time, but building my distance.
I don’t know if I’ll be satisfied with run/walking a marathon instead of simply running it, but I’m willing to let my pride take a backseat to my health for now. And if I’m not satisfied with the race, I’d like to rest for a few months, heal completely, and then run a marathon for real. But we’ll see how I feel at the finish line on September 30.
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