JUNK MILES

And this has become my NEW mantra of 2012 as of late…..

In less than 6 days I will be in Galveston, TX about to embark on 70.3 miles I’ve been itching to conquer for over 3 years now.

As luck…or maybe fate l would have it, as I rounded the corner to start tapering something went drastically wrong with my knee. One minute it was basically fine (well, NOT FINE, but ok) and the next I was limping 4 miles home from an 8 mile run.

That was almost 3 weeks ago. The Tuesday after my “warm-up” race to be exact.

I’ve tried twice, since that day, to run and haven’t been successful. The stabbing pain at the lateral femoral condyle hits almost as soon as I start. My 2nd attempt DID go better than my 1st, but I still wasn’t able to muster more than 2 miles.

So, I’ve swam and I’ve cycled. A LOT. And have been grateful, every single day, that I can continue to do so with zero discomfort what-so-ever.

But mostly I’ve been trying to come to terms with what’s going on, formulate alternate strategies, and at the same time attempting to find ways to heal rapidly.

Once my knee started to buckle my husband insisted on an MRI to make sure nothing was torn. I was pretty sure I knew the diagnosis, but before I sought out treatment, we needed to be sure.

No tears, just a lot of fluid and inflammation. Some deep-rooted, probably from my bike fall; some right there at the femoral condyle.

The working diagnosis has been IT Band Syndrome brought on by the new bike and the overly aggressive position. I wasn’t smart enough to ease into the change, thinking my huge cycling base would cover me. But having a pre-existing hamstring tear on that leg puts me at a greater biomechanical disadvantage than most and I should’ve known better. I rode over 100 miles the 1st week I had it and they were not easy miles. It was windy and we went north and tackled some pretty serious hills. I felt fine doing it, just a little tight and sore. Combine that with being sick and skipping my post-ride stretching routine because I just wanted to shower and rest…and well

Here I am.

It never effected my cycling aside from making me tight and reducing my power. I have since had the position tweaked and I’m back on Lola for a while. Well, right now I’m not on anything.

I’ve found an ART (Active Release Therapy) practitioner and sports chiropractor here in town and in 3 days he’s got me feeling like I CAN run. The PT gave me exercises to strengthen the glutes/adductors as the relative weakness seems to have started this spiral. The chiropractor is leveling the pelvis and working out the kinked fascia brought on by the tight muscles locked in permanent spasm.

And for the past 96 hours I’ve been on repetitive motion rest in the hopes of healing the so-called scab at the lateral part of my knee. It’s hypothesized that while the problem may indeed be fixed, the damage is still there.

Luckily it’s not chronic, but it still has to heal. Every time I cycle or run, thereby taking that hip and knee through the same motion a zillion times, I’m essentially picking off a scab….

OUCH! Message heard…

Today after my ART session, I’ll finally be allowed to run again. I’ll also be off cycling restriction and will be allowed to resume my normal cycling mileage.

So I’ll KT Tape my IT band and knee to the point that someone might just confuse me for Humpty Dumpty being held together by neon blue duct tape.

If it works, we could always rewrite the story!!

So those are the cards I’ve been dealt, but I’m not folding just yet!

6 days to go….I’ll keep y’all posted!

Run Happy, My Friends!