Thursday, March 25, 2010

My Joints Are Plotting Against Me – Maureen

The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a challenge for me... my left knee and right hip seem to have formed an alliance and are plotting to keep me from running this marathon. Needless to say, my initial goal of staying healthy throughout training has been tough to maintain!

I had a good run with my uncle on Saturday, March 13... a little over 18 miles! He definitely helped keep me going during the moments when I really didn't want to. We followed the Charles River from Watertown Square to the Museum of Science and back. He strategically planted water bottles along the route prior to our run, which was so nice and worked out great. Granted it was a bit of a monsoon outside and I got tidal waved by a car on Memorial Drive but that just added to the fun! My hip and knee, however, were not amused and gave me some trouble during the last 7-8 miles. I was able to run the whole time but I ended up being sidelined from running the rest of the week. Luckily it doesn't hurt to do other forms of exercise so I was able continue cross-training on the spin bike.

My next run was my long run this past Friday. The weather was amazing and I ran just under 15 miles but had even more knee pain than before. It's so frustrating because I have the endurance to do these distances but my joints just aren't cooperating. My knee only hurts when running – the pain goes away almost as soon as I stop. That's a bit of a problem considering running is the one thing I need my body to do! I know a huge part of this training is psychological and I have to not let myself get down about it all, but it's been hard. I have my longest run – 20 miles! – scheduled for this weekend so I've been mentally preparing myself and hope it goes ok.

I'm continuing to stretch, foam roll, ice, take ibuprofen... I've also been entertaining any idea that sounds like it would help (i.e. using arnica cream, taking fish oil supplements, using a knee strap, etc). Even though my weekly mileages have been lower than I planned for, I'm still on track with my long runs and cross training, which I'm happy about. With or without injury though, nothing can take away my excitement to run this marathon!!

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