Injury Frustration

I was feeling invincible.  I hadn't had a knee problem in seven years.  Then, in an ever so subtle way, my knee began to hurt.  Then, I noticed it was swollen.  What caused this?  I didn't know.  I looked over my training logs and tried to pinpoint the cause.  Was it the week that I went from teaching two bike classes to four bike classes?  Was it the slippery 15km train run?  Was it the impact from falling directly on that knee in the trail run?  Was it the 31 mile hilly American Birkebeiner race with no training that riled up my knee? 

I stopped running.  I rested.  I massaged.  I got electronic stim.  I got ultrasound.  I tried a warm, moist poultice of cabbage leaves.  I tried essential oils.  I tried EPAT sound shock treatment.  I tried Aleve for 10 days.  I iced.  I only used the bike that didn't cause knee pain.  I gradually brought back running but only on the Alter G treadmill under the advice of my doctor.  I ate an anti-inflammatory diet.  I tried a brace.  I tried K-T Tape.

Where did all that get me two months later?  Nowhere!  And now, my other knee hurts in the same spot almost as much!

At this point, my season is in jeopardy.  In fact yesterday, I had to race the New Orleans 70.3 just to the second transition and then turn in my chip.  There was no way that I was going to limp through a half marathon. 

So, tomorrow, I will get an MRI.  Hopefully it will tell me what is wrong and what I need to to.  Ugh!

Injuries are frustrating, painful, expensive and time consuming.  Don't mess around with a tight or sore spot.  Rest, ice and head it off before spending weeks or months recovering.