My first drop out + solving knee pain

Last week I briefly mentioned in my July recap that I had to drop out of Hood to Coast due to some knee pain. I'm not one to back out of a relay (or any race I've booked travel to) so its actually a big deal for me to say no. I wish this was the first time addressing wonky knee issues, but sadly there were 2 other incidents while #racing50states, so I had an idea of what was going on.

 3 years ago it was  a bad case of ITBS that lasted months and 2 years ago an even more debilitating plica inflammation.  (not to be confused with PICA which Kim misunderstood me when I first blogged about it-- pica  is an eating disorder where you have an appetite for chalk, dirt, clay, sand etc.)--- yes its an actual disorder and there was even an episode about this on My Strange Addiction- is that show even still on?

Aside from all that, this time it was different. The previous two incidents it only hurt when I did high impact repetitive activities such as running, jumping, and of course going down stairs, whereas now it hurts all the time. My knee pain triggers when I'm walking, when I do squats, even when I lie down at night to go to bed and I sleep on my side. The most frustrating part is that this came out of NO WHERE. ITBS onset was in the middle of Tybee 1/2 marathon, I heard a pop, fell to ground then knee pain- boom. Plica inflammation I was in the middle of my 21 miler training for Air Force Marathon and at mile 18 my knee gave weigh. This time, I went to bed and woke one day and the pain was just there #worstinjuryever. 

Last Monday I did my normal run group and was in pain within 1 mile but somehow managed to squeak out 3. Luckily there were massage therapists ready for the runners on this particular night so I took advantage of being one of the first to finish and had a very painful and tear-felt 10 min deep tissue IT Band and quad torture session. My masseuse specializes in sports massage and since she knows my old roommie, Leah, she suggested I see her to get a better idea of what is going on since it appeared to be more than ITBS. 

Luckily in TN you don't need a Dr. referral to have insurance cover physical therapy, so I made an appointment with Leah for later in the week and after a few tests she found that I have both infrapatellar fat pad irritation and patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS).

My first goal is to just get the irritation down which will remove the pain, so she spent quite a bit of time performing Astym therapy - the before and after not only on my ROM, but also the decrease in pain was pretty significant. She also noticed that my knee cap was pretty "free floating"?? To help immobilize and support my knee, she did some fancy restrictive taping to last for 48 hours. Aside from changing how I walk and making it extremely difficult to bend knee (especially when first getting in the car to drive), I loved how it completely removed all the pain I was experiencing... even walking downstairs!!

As far as icing goes, I was given dixie cups to freeze and then peel around to ice my knee until the majority of the cup has melted- obviously messy, but quite effective and cuts down on amount of time spent icing as it typically lasts 10 min. 

Notice the difference in swelling after a few days?

Lastly as far as what caused this issue, along with injuries from previous years, all stem from poor hip strength and an asymmetrical pelvis. For everyday running this doesn't impact me, but when I make changes, over time, that is why I get injured. This go round the cause was taking so much time off + inconsistency when I did run.  My monthly mileage for the most part was around 50 miles which broke out  to 0-2x a week running. and if I did get in 3 runs it was because I added in a long run here and there. Mentally 10-12 miles doesn't seem like a lot based on what I was used to, but my body felt otherwise and my ligaments / tendons hadn't been properly "re-introduced" to those longer distances. 

Exercises

Aside from making love to my roller every day, I also have to do the follow exercises to increase the strength in hips...I assume strong hips equates to great child bearing hips so I can get a twofer out of this??

Side-lying Hip abductor raise... or as I like to call, the Jane Fonda 

Did you know there are different levels of the trusty clam shell exercise?? I can't decide if the fact that I have to do level 2 and level 4 means that I'm awesome to skip 1 and 3, or I'm terribly weak and need the advanced moves to make a difference?

Level 2 clam shell is just like traditional clam shell, only you separate your feet instead of keeping them together... burns that much more quickly 

Level 4 clamshell- this one is no joke. Top leg gets extended backwards until your top thigh is in line with torso. keep the knee still and raise your foot toward ceiling then back down.  I'm supposed to 25 of each of these exercises, but so far I can only manage 20 of these before the burning wears me out. 

Lastly no running for at least 2 weeks. Sunday I tried the elliptical yesterday to see how it felt. Thankfully I met Leah at the gym and we talked the whole 40 min. My knee felt fine but seriously I shouldn't be able to carry on a conversation the whole time, let alone the machine tell me I only did 3 miles and burned 200 calories--- no wonder some of these ladies are on these machines forever #aintnobodygottimeforthat.

Yesterday I went to kettlebell and modified my squats and skipped the lunges- still feel great! 1 week running free and my body is slowly coming around that I really do think I'll attempt a short run next Monday. 

It's amazing my mentality today vs. a few years back. During then I HAD to run races regardless of pain, thus 13 of my states were run / walk / shuffle with knee pain. I had TERRIBLE calf pain last summer / early fall which accounted for 6 more states- 5 of them being back to back every weekend. Needless to say I've asked a lot of my body and its time to finally treat her right.  I have 2 relays coming up in October (Bourbon Chase & Ragnar TN)- ideally I think I'll be better by then, but if not, I have no shame in putting me first and adding 2 more drop outs to my roster. 

Here's to the start of an injury free / strong rest of 2014!!

Do you experience the same injury over time?

When do you push through it and when do you call it quits?

5 for Friday

ONE-  I normally don't do too many races outside the half marathon distance, (outside of relays) but this year I signed up for 5k foam fest (similiar to a mud run, but yet with foam) If you live in Nashville area or are wanting to potentially travel here I will be giving away race entries for the May 4th event sometime in March. The other "no need to worry about pace" run I signed up for is the Tap n Run 4k the following weekend, May 11. Costumes + beer + ridiculously short distance, I'm in! These two races + my Wyoming half Memorial Day weekend with my favorite racing ladies = one great month thus far!!

TWO- Counting today I have 5 days left on the ultimate reset. I really don't mind the food aspect now, but I'm itching to be able to workout again. Wednesday is my first day I can do activity and I already have a lunch run set up with Ashley. I'm nervous that I'll be gasping for air within 5 minutes, but from what I'm told of others who completed the Ultimate Reset is it actually helps with your stamina as it makes your body more efficient during workout. I don't think this may be the case with the very first workout back, but definitely after a week. Side bar: down 8.2lbs so far!!!

THREE: I've been on a cooking spree lately. I've found great comfort in spending hours in the kitchen re-creating or tweeking clean or paleo recipes I've found. Last week my absolute FAVORITE find was Paleo Almond Fudge

Last night I made coconut fudge bars (dates/ cacao powder/ ground almonds as base), and although I haven't ate one yet because they are for our Wine @ 5 today, I'm counting on them being tasty- Paleo AND vegan friendly --- will post recipe next week. 

FOUR:  My right knee is in excruciating pain. It literally feels just like how my plica problem felt during running this late summer / early fall, only right now I'm not running or doing any strenuous activity at all. You know how when you have a bad bruise and then you touch it and you flinch because its extremely tender? That's how my knee feels ALL the time- whether I walk, just sit there, lie down to sleep, my jeans rubbing against it... everything.  I'm so confused as to what caused it or if its anything serious. I'm slightly hoping that once it gets more mobility with exercise, the pain will lessen.... but that may just be wishful thinking 

FIVE:  Two things going on right now in "Because I can land" - Bluezones Book Giveaway ends 1/21, AND

submitting your name for the Healthy Valentine Exchange ends 1/25!

Seawall to Seawall (Iowa) Race Recap

Race:

State # 32, Iowa. 

Stats:
Official time 1:54:05 my first time in 1:50s since March :(
Division Place:  6/10
Gender Place: 11/69

Iowa is one of those states that I was less than thrilled to visit, so I managed to somehow convince Kim to spend her labor day weekend with me doing a double half mary weekend in Iowa and another equally exciting state, Nebraska!

Since there wasn't  a lot to do in Clear Lake, we got our kicks at the World Market in  Des Moines before making our 2 hour BORING drive up to Clear Lake... have you seen anything so glorious?!?!

The Before:

Best Western was the host hotel and it just so happened to be within a 5 minute drive to the start line. There was no address for where the start line was, just that it was 'at the seawall'. We decided to scope out the area Friday night to see where we needed to go, however were disappointed that we still couldn't find the elusive 'sea wall'. Naturally Kim and I were suspecting something quite obvious, and it was only on race morning that we found out the below structure was considered the "sea wall" - crazy Iowans don't know the difference between a barrier and a wall. 

If you're looking for entertainment on a Friday night in Clear Lake- apparently you have to go to the football game because downtown, is not the place to be

Otherwise you could just rent one of the village bicycles and take that for a spin.... thats how I like to spend my nights, cruising around town

After our tour we grabbed some dinner at the Bennigans attached to our hotel and attempted to call it a night. We ended up chatting till just shy of midnight about relationship history(s) as well as Kim educating me on some information that I can let her share with you since both my parents read my blog ;) 

Race day:

As said earlier, we didn't realize that small retaining wall was infact the sea wall, so we had to ask a guy walking his dog if he knew where the race start is--- gee, how could we miss it?

Once we established where the start was, I realized I left my newly purchased knee brace at the hotel, so we had time to drive back to get it and still take some photos before race start

we had to make sure to get a pic with the seawall.

*as a side note- we were supposed to be "matchy matchy" with purple skirts, but I'd like to take a moment to recognize that Kim forgot hers. Despite my many travels, one would think I'm an expert when it comes to packing. Quite the opposite is true and I ALWAYS forget something. Although Kim not bringing her skirt meant we couldn't match, I was thrilled that it wasn't me this time, end side note*

After a prayer from a local pastor (a sign you know its a small race) the air horn blew and we were off. Due to continued knee pain, the fact that this was race 1 of a double header weekend, AND that my marathon weekend was in 2 weeks, I knew I wanted to take it easy. The problem with taking it easy is I didn't realize how fast Iowans are and I clocked my first mile at 7:36- surely I knew I'd pay for it. 

I made it to a whopping 1.8 miles before I fell apart. My right knee started throbbing, my left arch was bothering me, and the heat was causing me to sweat more than normal, BURNING my eyes- at this point I knew any goal I had of placing in this race was a fat chance. 

The first few miles were through some neighborhoods, and then we were graced with the lovely sights of cornfields and creepy windmills... as an added bonus, NO SHADE. 

Due to heat, they made sure there were water stops at every mile, which I happily stopped at and took a breather, stretched, wiped the sweat off my face etc. 

The combination of knee pain + sweat burning my eyes made them water thus I felt like I was crying for a few miles- thank goodness for waterproof mascara :)  I kept trying to wipe my eyes on my shirt, but it wasn't enough and I had to keep lifting it up every min or two. 

Finally at mile 5 I did the absolute unthinkable, something I have NEVER done during a race, let alone during daylight (except in highschool)- I took my shirt off and ran the rest of the race in my sports bra. I know you're probably thinking "so what?" but for me my stomach is the one part of my body that I'm super self conscious about (after I got over my membership card to the IBTC), so the last thing I want is to be worrying if my stomach is jiggling while I'm running.  

Let me tell you.... it was FAN FREAKING TASTIC! Right away I cooled off and it was nice to just be able to carry my shirt and wipe the sweat away as it came--- it did nothing for the knee pain though. 

Right when I got to mile 6 is when I lost the mental battle- I wasn't even half way done and I was wondering if I could finish the race. I made my mind up there that the marathon was out of the equation if I was this miserable when it would be less than 1/4 of an actual distance. As soon as I made the decision I  ripped off my knee brace since it obviously wasn't helping, then facebooked the marathon was a no go--- it's not official till its facebook official right? I knew by putting it out there, I couldn't retract my decision and too often I'm stubborn enough and forgot about the pain once its over and I couldn't put my body through that. 

Next few miles sucked and then somewhere around mile 9 my gu kicked in. It just so happens my power song came on which gave me the mental push I needed to pick back up the pace and push through the pain a bit. Once I got a good rhythm going, the knee pain was manageable and I started passing people that has all passed me during my many, many, many walk break b/n miles 5-8.

It's weird because as the miles ticked by, the knee pain subsided a little bit, but the pain in my left arch was increasingly getting sharper- such an uncomfortable feeling, almost like a bruised arch? Looking back I'm not sure if the knee pain was less or if it was just there was a new pain to focus on. 

The last few miles were run alongside the lake vs. cornfields, so that made it more tolerable. It's been awhile since I've done this, but that last mile + .18 was pure guts as I had ZERO left to give and my pain threshold was wearing thin.

I crossed the line and started to limp toward where everyone was congregating in hopes to find some ice. One of the volunteers had to chase me down to give me my medal. Turns out, NO ICE on premises, ugh. I grabbed a banana and peach and made my way toward the car to take off my shoes, ifitness belt, and grab some sun glasses.

Literally the second I took off my shoes I developed HUGE charlie horses in both of my feet, what is going on? I managed to stretch a little, cheer Kim on, and carefully walk barefoot over to meet her at the finish area, no way was I putting shoes back on feet.

I was happy the race was over and more so that I was able to rally and actually finish stronger than I thought I could. The big question lingering was how in the world was I going to do this tomorrow on a hillier course with hotter temps?!?!

Mile 1 7:36

Mile 2 8:02

Mile 3 8:08

Mile 4 8:23

Mile 5 9:01

Mile 6 9:34

Mile 7 10:06
Mile 8 9:16

Mile 9 8:07

Mile 10 8:58

Mile 11 8:43

Mile 12 8:23

Mile 13 8:22

        .18 7:31

State #32, Iowa, done. Next up, #33- Nebraska. I thought Iowa was boring, Nebraska has it beat!

Legacy Midnight Run - Race Recap

Race: 

Legacy Midnight Run- Farmington, Utah

Half Marathon #35

State #31

Weather: 

low 80s high 70s at start (NO humidity), cooled down throughout the race and was high 60s, low 70s by end, slightly chilly

Official Stats:

Time: 1:48:10

Overall Place: 39/358

Gender Place: 12/100

Age group: 4/40

Due to out of the blue knee pain that occurred during my 18 miler last weekend, I was having difficulty walking pain free and didn't know if I'd be able to race this weekend. Through extensive icing and keeping anti-inflammatories in my system all week, the pain was starting to die down and I could walk slightly normal. I went to a sports med orthopedic and he told me I had Plica syndrome- which in short means uncomfortable and painful inflammation in my knee. If you can tolerate the pain, you can push through it as it generally doesn't cause damage. Those words were music to my ears and I went ahead on to SLC the next day. 

Pre Race:

Over the last couple of years reading blogs, I've drooled over a lot of the Utah blogger's photos of different restaurants that are local to them. I remembered there was a restaurant, Pizza Factory, with crazy breadsticks, pasta and all you can eat salad bar- that  seemed light enough to eat on race day... how do you even fuel for a same day race?!?!

Both Laura and I were stoked about the parmesean garlic breadsticks that we each got two, then for dessert we were going to split the cinnamon & sugar breadstick. (we were over ambitious) 

Between the all you can eat salad bar, the pasta we ordered, and the size of the breadsticks, I was unable to finish my helping so we decided to save one for when we picked Kim R up at the airport. They give you to go bags to put your bread in, but you're supposed to leave the stick at the restaurant. I think the stick is part of the appeal, so I secretly took it out in hopes Kim would appreciate "bread on a stick"

*

After picking up Kim we retreated back to check in hotel and relax for a few hours. Despite the race not starting till 10pm, packet pickup was b/n 6-8, so we had to leave our hotel at 7:15 to make it there on time.

Kim was sad I wouldn't be matchy match with her, but since it was a night race and that meant bright colors, I had to take advantage of wearing my sweet "animal print pants outta control" spandex again - carpe diem!

Glow sticks galore! Every runner got 1 necklace and 2 bracelets. Later the half marathoners got LED bracelets which were AWESOME

Podium finishes (or pretending to be) 

Race:

• Half marathon started at 10pm- it was a point to point so the half marathoners were shuttled to the start line where as the 5kers and 10kers did an out and back at the finish line. 
• Naturally our bus driver got lost and everyone on the back of the bus was growing anxious and yelling how he needed to turn around- made for annoying introduction to the race, but we got there by 9:30 so still had time before everything kicked off. 
• As said earlier, all half marathoners got LED bracelets in your choice of red, green, or blue... I took green and blue. 

Flash Off

Before walking to the start: Kim, me, Laura 

We all walked up the hill to the start line together, but Kim and L didn't want to be near the front, so we parted ways. I'm not big on having a "plan" for the race, but I told myself I would just go out like normal and adjust pace / stride as necessary based on my knee... maybe bank some time in the beginning with anticipation that I would have to stop and walk / stretch.  (at the very least I just wanted to break 2 hours and finish before midnight) 

First mile I felt like I went out strong and fast... maybe too fast as my breathing was getting a little heavy- when the first mile clicked by it said it was a 7:59 pace... what?!?! I could have sworn it felt like 7:20s, 7:30s slowest, but a 7:59 first mile- there is no way I should be tired with that. Then it dawned on me, elevation change. I train at 500 ft, and here it was around 5000. Back when I ran the River Platte 1/2 in CO, I didn't have any problems with elevation due to running at someone else's pace, so it didn't occur to me to "take it easy" to allow lungs to acclimate, awesome. 

First mile was a really good indicator of how the rest of the race was going to go--- working way too hard for sub par times. The only other mile that was sub 8 was the last mile, everything else ranged from 8s-8:30s. My mile splits are off due to losing satellite in a tunnel, otherwise I'd do the breakdown. 

Knee wise I was very aware of how sensitive it was--- every step I took it reminded me to "take it easy", but I guess my pain tolerance is getting higher --- luckily the race was in the dark otherwise I'm sure I would have received a lot of strange looks / comments with my "adaptive stride / hobble" to lessen the pain. I was surprisingly one of the few people that wore a headlamp- it was definitely needed on this course as there was minimal if any lighting majority of the way. A few times people would sprint up to me and then get in front of me to share my light--- it was kind of annoying but at the same time it was motivation to eventually pick up pace and pass them (my light did save someone from stepping in a HUGE pile of horse poo, so that was my good deed for the night) 

I noticed I was taking much shorter but quicker strides. I seriously felt like I was sprinting, yet it seemed the  more effort I exuded, the slower the split was--- how aggravating.  I walked and stretched at all the water stops which enabled some temporary pain relief as well as being able to  play leap frog with a few fellows who chose not to stop.  I love smaller races because chances are you'll find someone around your pace, AND its a great game  to try to catch someone in the distance.... especially when I see a blinking light up ahead. 

The course was flat as pancakes which some people love, but my muscles get tired with that much repetition and I was starting to feel it. By mile 10 BOTH my IT bands (despite my stretch attempts) were toast and my right calve was getting tighter and tighter trying to take more of load off my knee. I'm not sure if the fact  that I've ran so many halves my mentality can get me through them, or if I was just ready to be done, but my last mile I turned it ON. There was a girl who looked to be my age in the distance ahead and I made it a goal to just catch her. It took the whole mile to do so, but when I turned the corner to the last straight away I blew  right by her. (it also helped that the last .1 was all big gravel and I had my headlamp to get my footing and she didn't) As I'm approaching the  finish line I hear Ashley U cheering for me, how awesome is that to be in a foreign place and have someone cheering for you! (reason #434390 why I love blogging) I was elated when the clock read 1:49:07 because I knew that meant my official time was in the 1:48s. (my garmin doesn't show total time on the first screen, so I do everything by avg pace now) 

Immediately upon finishing I walked over to talk with her and her friend Jess--- Ashley was there helping Jess complete her first 10k in preparation for her very first half marathon this fall, what a supportive friend. Ash and I were SUPPOSED to be on the original blogger Colorado Ragnar Relay before they changed the dates, so this was actually my first time meeting her. ( she is now the 3rd blogger that I was looking forward to meeting from the relay that never happened- Kara T and Rachelle are the other two) 

After chatting with Ash and Jess for 20 or so min, I said goodbye in search for some ice to strap on to my knee and then call my mom. Yup even though it was about 12:20am mst, it was 2:20 est and she wanted a call to make sure I was okay and see how everything went... thats love right there ;) 

L and Kim made their way over to me, we grabbed some food, then were ready to get a shower then much needed shut eye

Kim- State #10, L- repeat state, Me- State #31 

 Overall I'm glad I made the decision to come out. Race field was small, which I generally prefer, and it was fun to do something different. When you're racing the states, it can get repetitive, so anything to throw some uniqueness into the mix is always welcome. With that being said, I just now found my stash of glow sticks back home, L and Kim said that means I have to do another night race soon :) 

State #31- Utah done. 

Next up is DOUBLE header over Labor Day: Iowa, and Nebraska- 2 boring states, 1 swoop. 

Why having a PT as your roommate is AWESOME

So end of July I went to a music show with a few friends and the next day after reviewing the photos I noticed something...

Do you see anything wrong with me?!?!?

Close up-

Look at how uneven my knees are! Back in February the chiro told me I had 'short leg syndrome' and my left leg was longer than my right, but with regular adjustments it could be fixed. After a solid month of chiro + 2 months of 'taking it easy' with running, I felt fine / 'normal' aka my right knee no longer made its presence WELL known while running. 

Fast forward to yesterday. I decided to do my first run in my new shoes: Saucony Mirage

Although its a lightweight shoe, its still a stability shoe. It was too hot to run outside, so the plan was to run for 40 minutes on the treadmill- my right knee started bothering me + my quads were tight so I cut it down to 30 min. 

All day today my right knee was feeling slightly tender, but I wanted to get a longer run in, so I decided to do 5 miles in my normal saucony guides- although it was manageable, I definitely noticed my right knee being a little more 'sensitive'- PLEASE don't let it be my IT Band again. 

Get home and decided to seek the advice of my roommate. 

Meet Adam- my wonderful, easy going, physical therapist roommate. (and his niece) 

I had him take a look at my legs and in literally 5 minutes I found out the following:

My left tibia is about 1/3 of an inch longer than my right, and somewhere from beginning of my femur to my hip is also longer (he couldn't pin point without doing a bunch of tests) thus my left leg itself is about 1/2 an inch longer than the right, which is why the right leg / knee/ it band gets messed up since it has farther to 'come down' on the pavement with every stride I take. 

Then we have my hips- ah my hips. Left hip is higher than right and after doing a few simple tests he found that my trunk compensates for the height difference, thus what is causing some of my back pain I experience DURING the run. 

So the potential solution?!?!

He recommended I check out Fleet Feet to see if they have a slight running lift to even out my legs.

Has anyone ever used these or know someone who has had success with a lift suitable for running?!?!

So why the pain now?!?! Basically when I run on the treadmill, I go much faster than my normal ability- aka around a 7:30 min/mile once warmed up- this allows me to really open up my stride and focus on my form. What it also means is that there is more 'bouncing'  and 'pounding' than normal which puts extra stress on legs- hence why it started acting up last night and was still tender today. 

To make me feel better, Adam got out his massage table and gave me a deep IT Band and  around the knee massage- IT.WAS.AMAZING! I told him I would cook him dinner all week if he did this for me once a week... we're working out an agreement. 

Dealing with IT band this winter was enough of a lesson to not want to have to go through that again, so I will be resting until Chicago Rock n Roll 1/2 on Sunday. 

Please send happy INJURY FREE thoughts my way!