knees suck balls

UTA is Over. I'm not sure if im in mourning or feeling a little purposeless but there's definitely mixed emotions going on.

I mentioned in my race recap that I struggled with knee pain in the back half of the course and that's certainly been a lingering issue there whilst the dust has settled over the last three weeks.

Frustratingly, it doesn't hurt walking or in daily life, at the gym or at any other time.. other than running. I went for my first run a week ago and felt absolutely fucking fantastic, legs felt so rested and full of beans. A short lived victory though as at 4k I felt that twinge in my knee again and by 6k I called it a day as the pain got worse and worse over those final two kilometres.

I tried again a couple of days later on the treadmill and I was reduced to a walk run session which was really quite unpleasant. A couple of similar sessions throughout the week saw no real improvement despite a handful of strengthening gym work on the side as well. Frustrated, I haven't even wanted to look at a race calendar to pick my next adventure.

Without pretending to have any medical training any more indepth than the Anatomy and Physiology Units I studied as part of my Yoga Teacher Training, the knee is a hinge joint, responsible for weight-bearing and movement. It consists of bones, meniscus, ligaments, and tendons. It supports the body, allows for efficient movement and stability, momentum and is an amazing shock absorber. It's a complicated joint with a lot going on, so there's a lot of things that CAN go wrong. Sprains, strains, fractures, meniscus tears and (drum roll please) overuse injuries.

In my case I'm pretty sure it's a case of quadricept tendonitis of the knee... meaning those big strong quads of mine are overloaded and super tight, so the tendons that attaches these muscles to the knee are pulling, causing pain. Yay! Ironically, the strength work I've been doing has probably not helped at all, potentially even made it worse. Go me and my damn ego!!

The treatment: good old fashioned time, stretching, heat, rolling, massage and probably a few strengthening exercises thrown in for good measure.

With the programming from my amazing coach i've got a gentle run rehab plan in place. I started today with a short 50 minute session broken down into :

3min Run 1min Walk x 5

4min Run 2min Walk x 5

I'm also now procrastinating from doing a good post run stretch... what a shit yoga teacher I am! I'll just make a cup of tea first....