Running nightmareSo in December and especially during my holidays I went out for runs quite often and one Sunday I had one objective and objective only: to run 30K around Nagai park. I was ready; woke up and immediately had my energy drink for before training, stretched for about 40 minutes, heated my legs and even taped my knees just to be sure I was okay for the next two and a half hours. Before starting I decided to slow my pace on previous runs so I could control my heart rate better (according to research). Anyway, I was ready to tackle this new challenge, get on my gear and step outside to do some extra stretching before my run. So here it goes, the time has come for me to start running. I start my Nike+ app on my Apple Watch and even start my Runstastic app on my phone as well, as I like to compare the data. I start running, the day is perfect, the weather magnificent, perfectly warm to do this; I felt motivated, I felt this is the day Ill do it for the first time. I do my first circle around the park, saw other runners, some even I’ve seen before and said hi by nodding and basically saying, today”s the day! They smiled and saw each other several times as we were running opposite ways. |
As I was about to start my second lap, I felt something weird and remembered I forgot to do something before walking out my apartment, something so important it can ruin anyone’s run... to poop. I was so frustrated, how could I forget to do that? So I go to the toilet and take care of business. However, right before walking in, both knees started to feel tingly. I felt weird and thought maybe I didn’t stretched enough or maybe it is because it’s a bit cold and they need to get warm “but how can that be if I already ran over 4K?” I didn’t stop (big mistake) and decided to keep going until the pain goes away.
Of course, the pain continued to grow until the point I thought “maybe I made a mistake with the tape?” So I took it off, stretched my knees for a bit more and continued my run. I was able to do four rounds (12.2K) before having to give up and call it a day. I was so frustrated since it was a beautiful day, I wasn’t tired at all nor my legs were giving in or whatever excuse I could come up with... the reason was my knees. December 22nd was the day my training for the Shizuoka marathon got halted and here I am, almost a month later not being able to run.
The next two days were awful. I went to visit my girlfriends family in Hiroshima and couldn’t walk properly at all. Couldn’t go up the stairs, and didn’t want to think about walking down them. Lucklily, my right knee was able to take the hits and heal pretty quickly but my left knee was my problem... A problem I am still dealing with.
Of course, the pain continued to grow until the point I thought “maybe I made a mistake with the tape?” So I took it off, stretched my knees for a bit more and continued my run. I was able to do four rounds (12.2K) before having to give up and call it a day. I was so frustrated since it was a beautiful day, I wasn’t tired at all nor my legs were giving in or whatever excuse I could come up with... the reason was my knees. December 22nd was the day my training for the Shizuoka marathon got halted and here I am, almost a month later not being able to run.
The next two days were awful. I went to visit my girlfriends family in Hiroshima and couldn’t walk properly at all. Couldn’t go up the stairs, and didn’t want to think about walking down them. Lucklily, my right knee was able to take the hits and heal pretty quickly but my left knee was my problem... A problem I am still dealing with.
almost a month laterThat happened on December 22nd and have only been able to run four times since it happened. The four time resulted in pain on my left knee but weirdly enough if I ran slowly the pain would grow, if I ran quickly the pain was bit more tolerable. Today was another day I felt, “maybe, maybe tonight my knee won’t be a problem” I felt like this because today walking up and down the stairs I experienced little to no pain. I get back home, very excited I get my gear ready and start stretching... first call, while doing some Yoga I felt a little tiny thing on my left knee. Kept on going and thought, maybe it is because I haven’t been exercising for a while so it might take a while. The tiny thing disappeared and kept on stretching. I changed my clothes, walk outside the building and started to walk... I walked and walked and then started doing three quick steps. Walk walk walk, three quick steps and so on. Then I did eight quick steps, walk walk walk eight quick steps and so on. I’m ready, started jogging and around 20 steps, the tingly sensation looks at me in the face and says “ I ain’t going anywhere” So frustrated go back home, turned on the heater in the shower and did some Hot Yoga. |
I was angry, very angry. I couldn’t believe that I still needed to wait, especially with the Osaka Half-Marathon coming up next week. So I started jumping, stationary running if you will. I was able to do so for around 13 minutes straight with some tiny little tingly sensation. I don’t know if I should call this a win but, I am for sure desperate for some answers...
Let’s see what happens between now and January 27th.
Q
Let’s see what happens between now and January 27th.
Q