Running
I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the pavement a few weeks after my son was born. My knee didn’t hurt and things didn’t feel that different. I took things painfully slow- alternating walking and running, being uber diligent not to overdo things.
While things were ok at first, it quickly became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to give myself the consistency I needed in order to train properly. As we reached the peak of the no-sleep debacle, I just didn’t have it in me to get out there and run on a consistent basis- slowly cutting down the walking intervals and gradually building mileage. I definitely didn’t have the time the dedication to commit to my rehab exercises in the manner I needed to in order to see progress. You don’t build muscle or gain strength by haphazardly doing a few PT exercises every few days. So after awhile I sort of subconsciously through in the towel.
Once the baby started sleeping {halleluiah} I started to get some of my energy back. Before long I was itching to get back out there, but the lack of sleep and breastfeeding had taken it’s toll on me. Even with a good warm-up, five steps into a run I was limping in pain. While I was angry and frustrated to still be dealing with this old nagging injury, I knew what the problem was this time- I had {and have} zero muscle.
Forget muscle imbalances – a leading cause of injury – I had a serious case of muscle wasting. Lack of sleep destroys you, both mentally and physically. Add to that the physical burden of breastfeeding and I was a lost cause. I love nursing my son and I think it’s the best choice for him, but it requires a TON of calories. Even when I stuff my face, I can barely keep up with the demand. There are no extra calories left for me to build muscle, gain weight, or fuel a run.
Even though I’d love to just lace up my neon shoes and dart out for a run, it’s a back-to-basics approach for me. Instead of waiting for injury to knock me on my butt, I started where I left off last time around- with my beloved chiropractor. He’s a sports-focused chiropractor specializing in Active Release Technique. He’s an athlete himself and I knew from my past experience with him that he could help get me off on the right foot {pun intended}.
Turns out it may not really be my IT band that’s the culprit. Over the course of the month he gave me a whole boatload of new exercises to target my weaknesses, kneaded out some of the kinks in my leg, and helped me work on my running form and cadence {again}.
Now it’s up to me to be a good patient and find the dedication to truly focus on the rehab and rebuilding my strength. Committing to the rebuilding phase is what will get my back on my feet, running like I long to be. I can’t wait for the physical and mental relief a nice long run brings. 
Running
After I got injured running last June, I found myself with some free time on my hands. I couldn’t run, so I started reading about running instead. {Self-torture much?} I picked up the infamous “Born to Run” book, and was immediately enraptured with all things barefoot running, pinole and chia seeds.
In fact, if you’ve read Born to Run and didn’t walk away completely enthralled by these things, I’m guessing you didn’t really read the book. 
You can read more about the barefoot running book here, but one of the main takeaways is that this group of ultrarunners run 100s of miles in tiny thin sandals that might as well make them running barefoot, and they never get injured. Perhaps this stuck out to me more as I was sitting on the couch with a bum knee, but I think the idea would have appealed to me regardless.
At the time I was in physical therapy for my knee. Since I had a professional at my disposable, I chewed his ear off with questions. It wasn’t hard to tell he was pretty much over the whole barefoot running and Vibrams thing; the number of injuries he’d seen had gone up drastically due to the popularity of Vibrams.
So I pushed the idea out of my head thinking it was just another passing fad and didn’t have much merit. Then one day early last spring, the husband and I were outside doing yard work. I, of course, was barefoot, as I almost always am.
I wasn’t paying much attention when suddenly I heard the husband yell out. I looked up with just enough time to see him running towards me… with a dead rat. Yes, a rat. I didn’t think two seconds before I took off sprinting towards the front yard.
It was only later when the horrible, disgusting creature was far, far out of sight that I realized what had just happened. I ran. And it didn’t hurt.
Up until then, every time I tried a short run, it would end in knee pain. I was just about giving up. But then I ran across the yard without a thought. The only difference? I was barefoot.
I took the precautions of my physical therapist, but decided they only way I’d know for sure about the whole barefoot running thing was if I gave it a try myself. I got a pair of Vibrams, and set off on a walk around the neighborhood the next day.
It couldn’t have felt better. To me it felt completely natural- I spend so much time barefoot that these shoes just felt right. Slowly, I started to jog in them. They felt great. No knee pain. I was already a mid to forefoot runner, so running without the support of sneakers wasn’t a big deal to me.
As I worked my way up in mileage, however, the knee pain would return. The difference with the Vibrams and my regular running shoes was that the knee pain would stop as soon as I stopped running- it didn’t stick around for the next few days.
So I trained for a 5k mud run in my Vibrams. {The mud run was the perfect first race back from injury since it was on a soft surface.}
If you were reading back then, you might remember my knee didn’t fair well after that race.
So did I blame the Vibrams?
Find out tomorrow.
Pssst. We finished painting the nursery! Go check it out and tell me what you think.
Injuries
Playing weekend catch up?
The manly-man’s perfect meal: pimento cheese smothered filet
Turtle cookies: caramel filled chocolate chip cookies (plus an inside look at casa de SoS)
One hundred and twenty eight days.
That’s how long it’s been since I’ve run.
To be honest, excluding a number of bike rides I can count on one hand, it’s the last time I exercised.
(Oh the irony of having a fitness blog…)
My four-month running injury check-in with the sports medicine doc reveals I’m getting closer and closer to a date with a surgeon.
But I’m stubborn, and luckily my doctor went with the flow. He’s giving me four more weeks to get up and running again or it’s time to seriously talk about going under the knife (which I’m against FYI.)
Countless hours of physical therapy, 128 days of rest, anti-inflammatories, ice, orthotics, cortisone injections, and taping haven’t cut it yet, so this time we’re trying a knee brace.
I resisted going for the knee brace because I assumed it would just mask the problem- not cure it. But that list above is getting pretty long, and I have absolutely no desire to add knee surgery to that.
Apparently my 4 month hiatus of pretty much anything physical (per doctors orders…plus laziness + frustration) has left the muscles in my legs so weak the little bit of strengthening I get from physical therapy exercises isn’t doing my knee justice. The best way to rebuild the muscle is to start running again.
Catch 22 huh? I can’t run because a muscle weakness led to knee injury, but my knee injury is preventing me from correcting the muscle weakness…
That’s where the brace comes in. I only need to wear it when I run, and I’ll continue doing all the other therapy so eventually (fingers crossed) I won’t have to wear the brace.
It’s kinda cool as far as braces go- it has a piece of flexible plastic that pushes my kneecap into place.
Doctors orders: today I get to run 1/4 mile. Woohoo. Hooray!!
If I don’t hurt the day after my super long run, I get to run an additional 1/4 mile the next day, with a 1/4 mile walk in between. And so and so on. If it hurts, I can’t pass go or collect $200.
So now it’s time to go for my run. I’m excited. I’m terrified. I’m restless. I’m going!!
Injury talk on SoS.
The path to injury & recovery.
Never Ending Injury Society.
5 ways to get back to exercising after an injury
Stop running injuries before they start
Learn about 3 common running injuries
Hopefully all that talk will end one day soon. I’m hoping the injury finish line is in sight…
And this would be a super appropriate time to say congratulations to all the Chicago 10-10-10 marathoners!! You guys rock! And way to do it without getting injured 😉
