Well, I wanted the 30 Minute Project to be a real-life training experiment in whether I can run a fast 5k in 30 minutes of running a day.
It just got real.
My knee is definitely in bad shape. After my workout on Saturday, I tried an easy run of about 4 miles on Sunday. At about 2 miles into the run, my knee basically said, “I’m tired,” and started throbbing with classic “runner’s knee” pain.
The proper term for my specific condition is probably patellofemoral joint inflammation. Yay.
Runner’s knee pain is sort of unique – it’s not a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks pain like plantar fasciitis or achilles tendonitis, but it is definitely annoying and will only get worse if you continue to run on it.
Fortunately, I was able to get back to my house without the knee getting unbearably sore. I then proceeded to throw on some ice and drown my miseries with a nice cold glass of chocolate milk.
How Did I Get Runner’s Knee?
If you’ve been following this project, you know that I first sensed knee pain about a week ago. It started out barely noticeable, so I did what any normal runner would do – I trained through it.
The funny thing is that I actually blogged about being concerned about overtraining, but honestly, the damage probably was already done prior to that post.
The bottom line is that I jumped into a hard 5k race and two speed workouts per week after not having any speed training in years. I think my mistake was thinking that, due to the low mileage of the 10-20-30 workout, it was not a “real” speed workout.
Well, I found out pretty quick that it is an intense workout – especially the sudden speed changes between each interval.
My Common Injury Pattern
It’s just so classic of me to do this to myself. There is a pattern to my running injuries that goes something like this:
- Denial: When I first feel pain, I immediately deny that it is a big deal and don’t even allow myself to think about taking a day off.
- Self-Treatment: After the pain has been around for a few days, I start to freak out a little and turn to icing and self-massage and hope for a miracle cure. Of course, the idea of taking a day off is still crazy to me.
- Compensation: Thanks to my refusal to take a day off, the pain continues to get worse and I can feel my body compensating. For example, with my left knee issue, I could feel that my right hip flexor was getting much tighter after runs. Obviously, the right side of my body was compensating. This is a big problem and can lead to additional injuries.
- Resignation: After about a week of fighting with myself, I finally give up and take that much needed day off (which can stretch to a week off or more). Of course, if I had simply taken a day off in any of the above stages, there is a chance that I could have taken care of the problem much sooner. But no – I’m an idiot.
The amazing thing is that I know this pattern all to well. It has been repeated numerous times. However, running has a way of making me so irrational.
In the beginning stages of my four-stage injury pattern, I always have this thought that taking a day off would be so bad for my training – even though I know that the eventual week off in the resignation stage is the real killer.
Where I’m Going from Here
Well, I took Monday and Tuesday completely off. I’ll have to “play it by ear” towards the end of the week and see how I feel. As of now, one 10-20-30 workout this week is definitely canceled, and I might also skip the one scheduled for this weekend.
The good news is that I don’t believe that this is a major injury yet. The knee is not swollen. It is just irritated from been overused due to my underdeveloped left quad muscle.
I really hope that things can get back to normal next week, but I have to be much more cautious and smarter about my training.
Have any of you trained through injury and regretted it later?
It would be great to hear some stories that I can read when I’m icing.
I have regrettably trained through a serious bout of PTFS. When I finally resigned myself to seeking help, it took a second opinion to get a correct diagnosis. My most valuable tip: seek your opinion through a sports medicine specialist.
Not only was PTFS diagnosed, but I was also told part of the issue developed from a 3/8 height difference between my left and right leg (the shorter of the two and same leg I have the injury to). In addition to a stubby leg, too much speed too fast, too fast on downhill runs, and excessive training, I was also reprimanded about the limited amount of stretching it’d been doing. No, rolling-out is not sufficient.
While I was satisfied that my whole body strength training and running specific training was where I did not lack, I was surprised to discover more muscle target training needed incorporating. To that end, I now attend two sessions of physical therapy a week. Go me.
At this point, I’ve been gradually adding mileage back to my run and the PT is working wonders. Sadly, it will mean no half next month, but perhaps in May.
I have found, as I mentioned in the previous comment I made, that I only am able to run “injury free” when I do not run many days in a row. A pattern of “every other day” seems to work for me, keeping injuries and problems to a manageable level, ie not needing to skip workouts or take several days (or weeks) off. To me, it is well worth the extra effort needed to find ways to cross-train, and perhaps the ding to the ego that we aren’t “real runners” because we aren’t racking up the big miles that so many dogmatically claim is necessary to be “fast”. I am still able to run as fast on 3 days per week as i was when I was running traditional program with 40-50+ miles/wk, and I currently have no serious injury problems. The off days I spend on the bike/exercise bike and lifting weights, I feel, has also helped to balance my muscles and ward off injuries.