Project Exercise

I was going to do a swim this morning, however, when I got up I noticed that it wasn’t raining.  We have been having morning rain lately.  So I decided to put on my running gear and take off running.  I wanted to work on lengthening my stride since my knee has held up on the last couple runs.  I am really slow so I hoped that I could lengthen my stride to cover more distance for each step.  So I am feeling pretty good as a start out my run.  I feel a little low grade knee pain, but that is normal for me.  I look at my Garmin and I notice that my pace is better than normal.  I normally have a choppier stride because I favor my bad knee.  My right hip also gets kind of sore since I am compensating for my bad knee.  In short, I have bad running form.  Anyway, about half way through my run it starts to rain.  In fact, it begins to come down fairly heavy.  Being the meat head that I am I figure I may as well keep going because I am already wet.  Well, being a bit over-confident about my knee, I take my long strides and I hit one of the rectangular diamond plate covers on the sidewalk.  Of course, it is my left leg (my bad side) that hits it and I begin to slide.  Next my knee gets a sharp pain and I go down pretty hard.  It was about 5:20am and there wasn’t anyone around so nobody got to enjoy the free entertainment.  It was, however, one of those YouTube moments.  You know… old guys goes down like a buffoon.  The good news is that my pride wasn’t hurt too much because there wasn’t any witnesses.  The bad news is I got some cool road rash on my elbows from trying to avoid a face plant.  My knee also hurts like hell!

Here is a video of a guy who had a similar experience…

I got up early this morning to pound the pavement.  Ouch, my knee hurts when I say that!  Seriously, I could feel some low grade pain in my left knee during my run.  As I try to get into a weekly running routine, I want to minimize the chances of having my knee stop my running cold like it did during my marathon training.  So I am slowly building my base running in zone 2.  Although I could feel some pain in my knee, the good news is that it didn’t lock up on me.

The next time I run during a week day, I am going to have to take my cold knee wrap to the office so I can ice my knee a bit.  The low grade knee pain that I got during the run lasted the whole day.  It’s okay, though, because I am happy that my knee actually held together for the run.

When I got home I strength trained my chest.  I used a combination of dumbbell bench presses and my Tower 200.  It is hard to wrap your brain around these resistance bands giving one a good workout.  However, when you attached multiple bands to the handle, trust me, you get plenty of resistance.  I got a pretty good pump out of the workout.

I worked from home today because my son had to stay home from school.  He wasn’t feeling well.  My wife also fell sick this morning so I ended up staying home to watch both of them.

Late this afternoon I was able to get a 5k run done.  I was pleasantly surprised that my knee held up through the run.  There was some dull pain, but no sharp pains or lock ups.  I ran the entire time in zone 2.

I was also able to get do a biceps and triceps workout.  I was supposed to be on a recovery week from strength training.  I will just do it next week.  It was just an excuse to play on the Tower 200.

Ok, I gotta keep it short this evening.  So I will leave you with a video of an angry cat.  Reminds me of a guy at the gym who has roid rage.

I have a cardio workout on the schedule today so I decided to do a 5k run.

I decided to do my long run this evening (Friday) instead of doing it tomorrow.  It is midnight and I just got back from a long run.  I was scheduled to do a long run as part of my marathon training.  I wanted to do 20 miles, but that just wasn’t going to happen.  I started out ok.  I really concentrated on my running technique to protect my knee.  I even decided to run without my hydration belt to get rid of the extra weight or any sort of issues with balance.  I carefully selected a route that would take me to water fountains.  I did pretty well up to around mile 8.  At that point my mind wondered a bit and I must have lost focus on my running technique.  I got a pain in my knee.  However, I didn’t go down.  So in order to protect the knee I walked for about half a mile and resumed running, again focusing on protecting my knee.  I was running real slow, in fact, I dropped to 13 minute miles.  At mile 11 I got that pain again.  I walk a bit to rest the knee.  When I tried running again, within 100 yards, my knee buckled.  I rested at the side of the road and massaged my quads and knee, then tried again.  About a quarter mile later I got the sharp pain and down I went.  I was at a park so I walked to a bench, sat for a while and massaged again.  I then decided to walk for a mile.  I started a slow run, now down to 14 minute miles because the pain in my knee was worrying me.  While I was running, I was wondering how long my knee would hold up without just breaking past the point of no return.  After a slow run for about a mile, I ran/walked for a few miles.  During that time my knee buckled once more.  I actually ended up calling my wife to pick me up because I was down hard at this point.  I looked at my Garmin and it read 15.2 miles.  Doing 26.2 miles is not realistic at this point.  I have decided to remove the marathon from my bucket list.

I am having mixed feelings about the whole thing.  I am angry and depressed for obvious reasons.  However, I am also sort of relieved because I made a decision.  Not my first choice, but probably the best choice.

I am not sure where I go from here and I don’t really want to think about it right now.  My legs are sore and my knee is hurting.  I am iced up and I am too beat to think.

Ok, so I am done… stick me with a fork!

Btw, thanks to all of you who have supported me through the training and thank you for your advice.  Those are the things that inspire me and motivate me.  While I will not be doing the marathon in December, I will continue with some sort of fitness regime.

I got up early to do a test run this morning.  I did 6 miles, however, at about 5.5 miles I got that sharp pain and my knee buckled.  I walked it out for a bit then ran off the rest of the run.

I also had PT today.  Man, my legs got a killer workout.  You know I am learning a lot at PT.  I am definitely going to combine the exercises that I am learning with my own leg routines.

I was watching a guy at PT doing plyometrics type exercises today.  He was rehabing a bad knee.  So I tried to do plyo when I got home, just to see if my knee could handle it.  I really tried to concentrate on landing squarely to keep my knee from buckling.  I was actually able to get through the workout.

Ok, so here is the deal.  I told my PT about my runs and having my knee buckling.  One of the problems with chondromalacia is that once you have it, you always have it.  When I was in the service, my knee colapsed while running an obstacle course.  This was about a hundred years ago when I was a very young man.  Anyway, I was diagnosed with chondromalacia back then.  However, I did not have an further incidents.  I thought I beat the injury.  I didn’t know chondromalacia is a permanent injury.  Looks like it came back to haunt me.

The PT asked me when the last time I did leg training.  I had to admit that I stopped training legs since I began marathon training.  She gave me a look of total disgust.  She told me that the only way to keep my knee cap in its track with chondromalacia is to have strong quads.  She further told me that I can run a few miles while concentrating on running straight and true, however, once I get fatigued and lose concentration, the knee cap can come of its track and cause the sharp pain and buckling.  She said that some folks with chondromalacia can continue running if they strengthen their legs.  Strong quads helps keep the knee cap aligned.  She also said that my goals of doing an Oly distance triathlon is within reason with this knee injury.  Of course, long endurance runs are another story.  She didn’t say it couldn’t be done, but she wasn’t sure we could get my legs strong enough by the time I the marathon comes up.  The marathon is becoming increasingly unlikely.

I am wondering if it would not be wiser to just take time to strengthen my legs and prepare myself for the LavaMan Triathlon.

Oh, btw, I was able to secure a brand new “Insanity” workout still in the box.  A friend of mine bought 2ea “Insanity” dvd workouts, one for himself and one for his sister.  His sister decided that she couldn’t do it so I bought it for $75.  The box was still sealed.  Am I going to do it?  I don’t know, I have to see if my knee can handle it.  One good thing is that, unlike my long runs, the workouts are only one hour long.

I went for a 4 mile run today.  The beginning of the run went pretty well.  There was some dull pain around the knee, but not too bad.  It seems that resting the knee is paying off.  However, as I passed the 4 mile mark, I felt a sharp pain.  My knee buckled and I went down.  This has happened to me before.  I found out that this is not unusual for those who have the knee injury, chondromalacia.  Honestly, though, I think my knee is recoverying, albeit not fast enough for me.  Going out on these little test runs are helping me gauge my progress.  Of course, it is also slowing my recovery.  It really shows me that I need to keep my aerobic conditioning up with non-impact training like cycling.  I just feel I need to keep my legs conditioned to handle a long run like the marathon.

This evening I did a chest and back workout.  I find that I kind of miss doing P90X.

I got up at 4am to go running.  Since I am babying an injured knee, I was just going to take my run a mile at a time.  As a last ditch effort to continue my training, I dumped my stability running shoes and used my old neutral running shoes.  I found that my knee felt much better during the run.  I am now convinced that the stability shoes were the source of my knee injury.  I did not have that excrutiating pain in my left knee when I started my run.  As a matter of fact, the pain was relatively low grade… at least for the first 2/3 thirds of the run.  Today I just had to deal with the injury "as is", I wasn't making it worse with the stability shoes.  The knee held up pretty well, at least for a while.  Around mile 13, I could feel pain increase, but then again, I just put 13 miles on it.  During my last long run, my knee was screaming at this point.  I could feel my right ankle getting a bit sore and my right leg, as a whole, compensating for my bad left knee.  As it turns out, my right foot overpronates a little bit while my left foot runs neutral.  So without the stability shoes my right ankle gets a bit tweaked.  Its not too bad though.  Ok, so from mile 13 to mile 15 I am dealing with the knee, however around 15.5 miles the knee pain and my right leg (that is compensating for the bad knee), is getting bad.  I  am also bonking as I have run out of water and I need some carbs.  I know I will get to a gas station mini-mart in about a half mile.  However, at this point I have to walk.  I get to the mini-mart and buy a Power Ade.  It was refreshing, but now I am trashed.  I am now 2 miles from home.  I could call my wife or I could hobble home.  Of course, I chose to hobble home.  So I am switching between walking and running.  I was running real ugly.  My legs are shaking (my body is not producing ATP fast enough) and my left knee is trying to tell my stubborn brain to stop.  When I start to run I can only go a few hundred yards and then I have to walk again.  I am in pain.  About a half mile from home my wife calls.  She is worried about my knee and I have been gone for an abnormally long time.  I tell her that I am trying my best to stay on my feet.  She offers to pick me up and because I am an idiot I tell her "no thanks".  I only have half a mile to go to make 18 miles.  After I hang up I begin running.  I wasn't going to walk any part of this last half mile.  My family actually walks down the road to meet me.  It was great to see them.  My son is cheering me on.  That gave me a small boost.  My son runs with me for the last quarter mile.  That last 2 miles were the worst ever!

That run really trashed me.  I am icing the knee and ankle as I type this post.  As I think about the distance of the marathon, I know that I would be hard pressed to complete the 26.2 miles in my present condition.  Cardio-wise, I have the wind.  No problem there.  However, my knee injury is my limiting factor.  I truthfully don't think my knee could handle the extra 8 miles.  I may have to take the marathon off my bucket list.  

I see the sports medicine doctor on Tuesday.  I will see what she says.

Yesterday's run was a defining momemt for me.  My knee caused me to go down twice.  I was extremely angry with the situation.   I have been training hard for the marathon and I did not want to throw it away.  Not only was the marathon slipping away, but future triathlons were also on the line. 

Last night, my wife and I were looking up sports medicine physicians and ortho specialists to call in the morning.  That was really depressing.  I did not want to hear the doctor say, "don't run… rest the knee".  I mean, if someone goes to see a doctor and says, "my knee hurts", of course the physician will say rest the knee.

Anyway, I was tossing and turning all night trying to figure out what to do.  Around 4am, I had an idea.  Sometime ago I switched to stability running shoes at the advice of a salesperson that said I was overpronating.  Overtime, my knee had gotten worse.  It did help the ankle pain though.  I got the bright idea to use my old "neutral" running shoes.  It was a last ditch effort.  To me it was worth a try.

So I put on the shoes and went for a slow run.  The pain in the knee was not as extreme as it was yesterday.  I kept going and, while I could feel some pain, it wasn't enough to stop me.  Better yet, it didn't take me down.  Just as a precaution, I walked at the 2 mile mark for about .25 mile and then resumed running.   I was able to go 4 miles.  I could have gone farther, but I did not want to push it.

I am convinced that the stabilizing running shoe was the main cause of the knee problem.  I am going to proceed cautiously.  The knee is still damaged so I have to watch it.  

I got an appt for the sports med doctor, but the soonest I can see her is Nov 3.  So in the meantime I will take things one day at a time.

I took a recovery week from running and also cancelled my long run in hopes of healing my left knee.  So today I decided to start running again.  I was apprehensive because my knee did not feel like it got any better.  However, I wanted test it out.  Why you ask?  Well, those of you who follow my blog already know, but for those who are new to Project Exercise… I am not wired like others.  I am just driven to the point of failure.  I want to know that I have given it all.  Ok, maybe it is not the smart approach, but that how I do things.  As they say… "it is what it is. 

So anyway, instead of running the treadmill to get out of the heat, I decided to run outside because I hate the "dreadmill".  It was hot though.  When I started running at 10 am it was already 87 degrees and humid.  Not good, but it was nice to watch scenery go by.  As I began to run, my left knee was screaming.  The pain was bad.  Well, I have this 2 mile rule… if it still hurts after two miles I'll stop (yeah, right).  A lot of time, things loosen up and stabilize after 2 miles.  When I hit the two mile mark, my knee was still hurting, but you know, its like the pain just becomes part of the run… almost acceptable, so I decide to forge on.  Hey, I already said I am not wired right!

On my inbound leg, while running through Ala Moana Beach Park, I feel a sharp pain and my knee buckles.  I actually do down.  It happened so fast that I couldn't catch myself… I just go down.  Luckily, I land partly on smooth cement and partly on the grass.  I get up to see if I can walk.  I am able to walk so I walk for about about a quarter mile.  I start running again and in about a half mile, it happens again.  I feel myself getting really angry because I have put a lot of effort to train for the marathon and I don't want to throw it all away.  I walk for the next mile.  I start running again and I am able to make it the rest of the way to the gym to shower up.  Can you imagine if I fell on the treadmill at the gym?!?!

When I get back to the office, my boss, who really is a nice guy, starts asking me how the running is going and how my knee is holding up.  I snapped at him and told him I didn't want to talk about it.  You know, he didn't deserve that so later in the day I told him what happened this morning.  

I have a doctor's appt scheduled for November 6th, but I think I need to see a sports medicine doctor or an orthopedic specialist.  I am coming to the realization that I need to have my knee examined.  I am really tempted to run on it again.  The marathon is about 6 weeks out.  I would like to think that I can do some training and at least run/walk the distance.  I don't know… I don't like to think I got beat.  The reality is, however, that my knee hurts like hell.  It hurts right now as I type this post.  I am icing.  I bought a knee brace this evening and it helps while I walk.  Since my run this morning, I have a noticeable limp (I hate being gimpy).  Lateral and twisting movements are excrutiating.  I commute on a motorcyle everyday and it hurts to mount and dismount the bike because I have to put my left foot down and swing my right leg over the seat to get on and off.  The twisting motion on my knee kills me.

Ok, enough of that.  Its like I'm whining now.  HTFU (as a Christain, I don't really want to translate that for you – triathletes know what that means).