Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Ow!

Yesterday my friend and I decided to swap our run day for a strength training day. I devised a fairly simple routine focusing on muscles used for running. I was excited to do some strength after not doing any for about a month.

Our routine was 2 sets of 8 reps of the following: Squats, Curls, Dead Lift, Triceps Extension, Lunges, Push-ups, Heel Raises, Dumbbell Rows, Good Mornings, Superman and Crunches.

I was good until the first set of lunges.  I went into the first lunge and thought I was going to fall down. I had intense pain in my left knee. I started to try a second and decided that I couldn't do them. The second set of squats hurt, and I didn't even attempt the lunges.  I used a foam roller on my knee instead.

On the way to the train I noticed that going down steps caused intense pain, while going up caused some, but not as bad. I started to worry about my running plan.  What will I do if I have a serious injury?  How can I continue running?  Will I make it to my 10K?? I put myself into a bit of a frenzy about this.

I decided when I got home that I needed to calm down.  I needed some good old RICE.  So I did.  I took a bath to relax first then I elevated my leg on a pillow with some ice and an ace bandage and watched TV with Jonas. I tried leaving it wrapped in bed but that didn't last long.  I put some Biofreeze on and slept just fine. 

I thought I was OK this morning. I was able to do the steps to the car without much issue, but getting out of the car at my mom's I realized I was not OK.  So I snagged a knee brace and some Aspercreme from her and went onto work.  The stairs on the walk were killer, but I figured out a way to do them without causing pain in that knee.

I'm resting today and possibly tomorrow.  We'll see how the pain is tomorrow morning.  I did some reading about the type of pain and where it's located. While it says that some non-impact activity is okay if you ice for 10-20 minutes afterwords, I should say away from impact activity, ie running for a while.

My question is, how long??

Sure, I set up a 10 week training program, and there are 8 week ones out there... but I think I need the 10 weeks.  What happens if this doesn't get better?  When do I seek medical help? Is this going to completely blow my 10k training out of the water?

I'm trying to think positive on this... really.

2 comments:

Ann said...

I'm so sorry you are going through this!! My husband was having knee pain too. You need to see a doctor. Turns out his was an IT band injury and he was warned about stretching and the consequences of not stretching. See somebody, stat. Good luck, I hope it turns out to be nothing!!

♥ Trisha ♥ said...

Thanks Ann!

I figure I'll likely end up at the doctor on Friday when I'm working from home. I don't think the pain will magically disappear in the next couple of days. :)

I hope it's nothing too!