“You’ve got to listen to your heart. It’s going to tell you what to do. It might need a lot of runnin‘ but it don’t need you.” -Tom Petty (lyrics re-written by Chris Barber, 2009)
I’m not listening. I’m concentrating on playing guitar while singing. That’s called talent. However, sometimes you’ve got to stop what you are doing and just listen; to your body and heart. My knee is hurt. I was pushing myself too hard. After a half-marathon goal of running under 1:25, (I ran 1:24 in case you care) I decided I would take about a month and start training for a difficult 50K trail race, the SweetH20 50K Trail Race. My next goal would be about a month after that to run the Peachtree Road Race, the World’s largest 10K, in under 36 minutes. I like to race different distances to keep myself interested and challenged. I also run smaller races during my training to keep myself competitive; maintaining one universal race goal, to finish in the top 1% in any race. I’m an outlier.
At any rate, I over trained and didn’t listen to my body; and I’m paying for it now. I starting putting too many miles on too quickly after running a moderate amount of mileage in my Half-Marathon training. Both of my knees started hurting directly after the race for some reason. I took some mileage off for about 5 days after the half marathon before starting a training plan again. I may have started running too much, too soon. The last two weeks the pain got worse so I starting trail running 4 or 5 days a week and running on roads instead of the sidewalk as much as possible. This past weekend my left knee buckled on me. It was a sharp pain that shot quickly from my knee up my thigh. I began to hop on one foot. I hopped a bit and then kept running; slowly. It happened again about a mile later. I stopped and walked about half a mile, I was on my way to meet some other runners for a morning jog. I hate walking. So I started to jog again. About five strides into it and; sharp pain! I stopped and walked the rest of the way. I told my friends I would try to run with them if we could do it on the grass. As soon as we started I said, “I can’t do it.” I don’t say those words very often.
The point is, you have listen to your body. I probably should have started listening to my body two weeks ago and stopped piling on the 50+ mile weeks when my knees first started hurting. I’ve learned. I’m listening to my body now. I used to know I could do anything. Now I know I don’t have to do everything. I’m mature.
This is my first encounter with a knee injury. I know my knees have deteriorated from jumping out of airplanes in the 82nd Airborne Division and the countless times of getting “on a knee” on concrete surfaces while in the Army. I’ve had trouble with my right knee from one jump in particular but this buckling was my left knee which leads me to believe I’ve just put too much stress on my knees. I’m on day two of no running. I did an Army work out today and am going to get to the weight room soon. Maybe I’ll jump in a pool. Maybe I’ll ride a bike. Maybe I’ll just use the extra time to to write award winning blogs. You deserve only the best.
Sincerely,
The Most Interesting Man in the World (I have a website)
Oof. Sorry you’re hurt. A good reminder that even when you’re on a roll race-wise — ESPECIALLY when you’re on a roll race-wise — it’s helpful to remind yourself that rest is, in fact, training. Recover quickly, and keep the award-winning blog posts coming. 🙂
Thanks for the support. You know I’ll continue the award-winning blog posting! Now I just need to get find an award.
Or maybe I can start a band with the extra time I have and base all of the sounds around running tempos and running mantras. Genius!
I’m at 4 days no running right now and my knees are feeling better. I’m going to stay off of them until they are 100% and then will just have to start building it back up. That’s what I get for pushing myself too much. This is your warning kids. You don’t want to end up like me someday do you?
Dude, sorry to hear this stuff. Hope you get out on the trail again soon.
Two questions – 1) what’s an army workout regimen? 2) have you thought about swimming? It would keep up your endurance but virtually eliminate stress on your knee…right? I know this is a running website, but like Amy Reinink commented above, rest *is* training – and so are other forms of exercise that can bring you back – and keep you in – running shape better than ever. Any thoughts?
1. Army work outs usually focus on working 3 major areas, running, upper body, and abs because these are the areas that are measured for fitness on the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). Usually physical training is done 5 days a week for about 1.5 hours a day. The types of work outs are left up to the individuals leading them but there approved methods of exercise in Army Physical Fitness Manuals. Most work outs do not utilize equipment. Sometimes work outs can be based around carrying things, putting things together, or working as a team. Skills that relate to the job of an Army person. Bottom line: variations of push-ups, sit-ups, and a lot of running.
2. I have thought about swimming. However, I’m not the most efficient swimmer so I have not tried to master this skill. I have enough skills. Including Bow staff skills. Chics dig dudes with skills.
After pushing my body to injury I have been giving it a rest. I plan on finding other ways to exercise after my doctor’s appointment in a couple of days. Just don’t tell running I may cheat on her. It’s guy code.
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