Sadly, this week’s training log is empty. Fully and completely 100% empty. No running. No yoga. No spinning. Just resting my angry knee. I told myself I’d try a short run if I could get through a day of work without my knee feeling off and that never happened. So I rested it. And on Friday, I made a doctor appointment for next week to get it looked at.
Your menisci are the “cushions” that keep your leg bones from banging together. They’re pretty important. Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have a pretty good idea of what I did – I’m about 95% sure that I’ve got a small meniscus tear in there and I’m 100% sure that I did it on that annoyingly aggressive trail run I did two weeks ago. (Going downhill, not uphill.) The good news is, because it’s not a huge tear (because my knee is responding to rest and isn’t insanely swollen or painful), there’s a good chance that it’ll heal on its own, especially if it’s on the outer part of the meniscus (which it likely is). However, as I can’t evaluate my own meniscus, it’ll be good to have it looked at and confirm that it’s not going to require something more than time.
Meanwhile, I’m going to hit the pool next week. This could take a few weeks to heal (especially since I’m now in a job situation where I’m on my feet and walking, kneeling, and squatting all day long) and I really don’t want to lose more fitness than I have to (as I really don’t have all that much to lose). I feel pretty confident that swimming won’t aggravate it and, in fact, dunking it in the pool for an hour or so every couple of days will probably feel really good. Plus, it’ll get me started on swim training so I can squeeze in a triathlon or two this summer.
That’s where things are this week. Keep your fingers crossed and watch this space for updates.
Be careful with that knee! In my experience, one of the most important ways of protecting your knee as a runner is to make sure you have the correct muscle balance. Maybe some stretching and pilates could help a lot – I know it has done wonders for me over the years. Hope you feel better soon!
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