Hey All,
Thanks so much to all of you for your amazing votes of confidence and asking all the good questions. I figured it’d be easier to answer in one swoop, so here it is…a quick rundown of what is going on and what I am doing about it. I am trying to not visit the doctor because I have been x-rayed a bazillion times this year, and that’s just not healthy. So if push come to shove, I will go but I just hate going there to only find that I need to rest. Geez, doc thanks!
As someone who has studied group fitness, danced forever, and taught a bazillion classes, I usually can tell the difference between pain and soreness. Currently, I am just extremely sore. However, when I run, I feel dull aches on the outside of my right knee, and occasionally my left, but never at the same time. Directly after running, my knees get extremely stiff and when I move them it feels like I shouldn’t be moving. Hard to explain but it feels wrong. When I run, I don’t feel like I am being super heavy on my feet but I don’t feel like I have any cushion and unless I’m running on mud it feels like pounding on my legs. As a result, I notice myself not stretching my legs as much and have found that my hip-flexors are feeling tighter than normal.
I have had my feet checked at a specialty footwear store a year ago, but it is quite possible I need new shoes already. I’ll have to defer to you all on that. I started to stop by the store on my way home today. However, I think I’m going to try a different store, just in case the place I went to before led me astray. And I figure I can take my shoes with me and ask them if they see any excessive wear.
I am prone to kidney stones and prior to running I was ordered by my doctor to drink 100 ounces of water per day. I drink about 60, not because I am being stubborn, I just forget. Damn it, it’s a lot of water.
I don’t eat particularly healthy or bad. I used to “forget” to eat but have gotten better now that I am running. I get sooooo hungry that my stomach has learned to say “Bitch, feed me” when it wants to eat. I am a pesca-turkey-tarian. I don’t eat red meat, pork, or chicken. But I do eat a lot of beans and nuts in addition to my pesca-turkey.
I do not sleep enough simply because I have two jobs and about 120 people needing things from me every day. I hate disappointing people, so I do all that I can to get people what they need. As a result, I sleep very little and never have a chance to have sex. (TMI, I realize but just saying…COBWEBS!)
Since, REST is not realistic, I try to remember to ICE and ELEVATE after the more painful runs. The other day, I tried wearing my old knee brace but apparently my knees have grown since then and putting that thing on was like squeezing “big” Oprah in a size two pair of Seven jeans. So I forego that torture.
A couple of months ago a student brought me some glucosamine chondroitin, which seemed to help. The only problem was it gave me so much gas, it was UNBELIEVABLE! So I stopped.
Outside of that, I don’t know what else I can do but I am trying to be patient with my body, positive about the experience, and confident that whatever happens, I will be ok knowing I did the best I could have.
Thanks for writing, and reading, and supporting. I will get through this and if I don’t, just think of all the funny stories you will have to read =P
Hope your runs are going better than mine!
bgirl875
