putting the knit in shizknitz

Not too long ago during the Leggers 14 mile run, something started happening in my knee around mile 10. I ran through it until mile 12, then walked the last 2 miles back to the center. Then I went through sheer pain for the next 30 hours, limping around where it hurt to go down stairs and to just plain walk. For some reason I thought it off as a fluke, got a McDavid Knee Strap, took 2 weekends off (one weekend to Stanford and another weekend sick) and went back for an 8 mile run. Bad idea. I finished, but again was in pain for about 30 hours. So I did what every sensible person would do. I thought about it and called my doctor for an appointment a week later . Well of course, it takes 2 weeks to get an appointment, but I waited it out. During that time I tried a 3 miler on a nice soft track which was o-kay, but not great. The doctor took some X rays (I knew I hadn’t hurt it in that way) and came to the conclusion that it was Patellar bursitis, gave me a prescription for Ibuprofin, instructed me to buy a knee brace, take 2 more weeks off and do leg exercises to strengthen my quads. Well the worst thing was happening - I wasn’t exercising and I was eating more through the holidays. This made me feel like a big piece of lard. And when you feel like a big piece of lard, all you want are your good ‘ole sweats (T calls it my holiday uniform).

Anyway, so the last Wednesday of the last year I did one of my weekday short runs (2 miler with Mia) where my knee was fine, I was more worried about the additional burden on my heart! New Years Eve I awoke to a misty, cold and dark morning but I made myself go for the Leggers 10 miler, a short holiday run. This time we went North - which is a route that takes us up an incline the first half, than decline the returning half. The path starts in Santa Monica, down Ocean, up San Vicente and turnaround at Barrington. Ironically we pass my doctor’s office on the way. It started misting/raining at one point, my fingers were freezing (my hands are usually warm but I seem to have a problem keeping them warm when I run) but, I FINISHED. And most importantly, NO KNEE PAIN. I followed it up with my regular weekday runs (two mornings of 2 miles and one morning of 6 miles) and today went back for my 14 miler (everyone else is at 22 miles). AND FINISHED. AND NO KNEE PAIN. It would have been better had I had a more filling meal last night and more than 4 hours of sleep

So what have I changed? I’m still doing my knee exercises, and most impotantly I started taking some vitamins and supplements. These are a combination of what my Leggers mentor and others have mentioned. 1) women’s daily multivitamin, 2) Apex Max Recovery - aids in muscle repair and recovery, and 3) Apex FIT Joint Support. I’m usually not one to have problems taking pills, but all three of these are pretty big horse pills. To add to the burden is that the Apex ones have a horrible smell and taste. Then a friend of mine realized that good ole Alacer Corp - Emergen-C came in a version that included the same amount of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate as the Apex FIT. Since I take the regular Emergen-C anyway, this was a real life saver.

YAY! Countdown to March 19!!