It’s been a whole year since my first half marathon. And looking back I can’t help but feel jealous of my first 6 months of running – so many firsts (first double digit run, first sub-8 min mile), a new love of sport and fitness (did not see that coming) and most importantly injury free running. No aches, no pains. How did that happen? Beginner’s luck is the most obvious (and unsatisfying) answer.
After 4 full days of rest I headed to the gym on Saturday for an hour of strength training. Sunday was 6.5 miles on the elliptical followed by one mile on the treadmill. It was amazing! I had missed running so much. Monday 3 more treadmill miles + 1.5 miles on the elliptical. Tuesday morning more strength training.
And the good news – my foot feels so much better. A couple of aches and twinges yesterday but completely fine today. I am planning on doing a mixture of running + elliptical this week to ease back in to it.
But there’s always something……..and with me it’s my right knee. I’ve been having some kind of knee pain since the end of January (4 months!). My physiotherapist seems to think it’s due to weak glute muscles and should be ok to run through. But it’s still painful after taking complete rest days. So frustrating!
My current thought is that since my left foot was all tendonitis-y that I was overcompensating with my right knee and aggravating it. So now that my foot is better the knee pain should subside. Right, right………please tell me I’m right. I’m going to see how it goes and arrange a physio appointment for next week. Somebody told me yesterday (at a very strange personal training appointment that I’ll fill you in on later) that I need to be an advocate for my body.
Four months after my first physiotherapist appointment I am feeling worse than ever despite following all her advice and religiously doing all the prescribed exercises. Maybe it’s not me……….maybe I need to try someone new. Someone new who accepts my insurance!
It’s pretty quiet around our place right now. That’s what happens when one person is nursing injuries and the other is doing the last set of long runs for his marathon. We did get a bunch of (much delayed) spring cleaning done including spring comforter. One of my absolute favorite things in the world is getting into a freshly made bed. And we grilled like there was no tomorrow. Eating dinner outside makes everything taste awesome-r.
BBQ pork. J is the man behind the grill. Check out those impressive grill marks. My job is to make the sides. Healthy potato salad and a carrot salad with pine nuts, raisins, cilantro and a cumin-garlic dressing.
Mexican salad (I think lime and cilantro are my two favorite ingredients). Plus this cool new beer from one of our local breweries. A benefit of having a home-brewer in the house is a constant supply of new beer to try out.
Paprika potatoes and tequila-glazed chicken thighs. All of our grill recipes come from this amazing book we found at Costco. I think it’s a Cooking Light BBQ book. Everything in it is amazing.
If you live with me and run 17 miles in one go I will make you pancakes. That is the deal. I hope J reciprocates in 4ish months.
I also made a trip to REI and picked up a Spibelt ($15 using my coupon). It’ll be holding my phone and Gu s (99 cent each right now at REI) for my next half marathon. I’m hoping to try it out as soon as I can.
irishrunnerchick 
Oh wow, amazing grill skills and cooking skills indeed!! You both make some delicious foods!! Really cool!! Also, I’m glad you’re incorporating some running back into your workouts!! Good to hear!! I hope you keep getting stronger and stronger!!
OMG I want to get back running so bad! Maybe I should try your workout to get some strength back!
If you’ve been doing all the exercises and truly don’t feel better, I think going to a new doc is a great idea. I had a dr I loved after my torn knee ligaments and he was so helpful and awesome and a triathlete himself so I really trusted him. But after 6 months, even a mile was still incredibly painful so he wanted to do surgery. My GP insisted I try another doc, an older non-athlete so I didn’t think he’d be as good as the one with experience working with runners. Wrong, one month on his program and I was running again and never did end up needing that surgery. Might be worth a try to see if someone new can fix you too 😉
That’s good to hear! I think I’m in a similar position – my PT is the head of the running clinic and specializes in running injuries so she seemed like the perfect fit. But I think I might need a second opinion.
Congrats on a full year since your first half! I thought you had been running forever! I had “beginner’s luck” too. I was injury free until after my first half! Boo to being injured, yay for running!
Boo and yay, indeed! Oh I’m still a newbie trying to figure out what I’m doing. And making all kinds of beginner mistakes.
I’m sorry you’ve been having such issues. I know it all too well, and I really hope that you recover for good soon. On the plus side, your food is to die for….
Thank you – I know you’ve been battling injury woes too. It’s incredibly frustrating. So passion number 2 cooking!
You’ve got good priorities.
Must feel great to be running again, even with the aches – I agree that a new doc may be able to help you work out the rest of that pain…
Hope your return to running is going better. I think a second opinion is needed.
FOOOOOOOD. (Those are some seriously impressive grill marks!)
I can relate so much to this post. From April to February I just ran and ran and ran without a care in the world and I loved all those firsts too! And then BAM tendonitis pain in my leg. Then my foot. Then a little bit of knee pain to round it all out. All the doctor visits and the chiropractor. WTF. Why can’t we just go back to our regularly scheduled running all the time??
I’m so glad you had a good treadmill runs though! That first feel-better run is amazing. I hope you continue to heal up so fast. It sounds like you are making a lot of great progress!
Exactly! I though humans were designed for long distance running? My knees have obviously not gotten the message yet. When I have my first pain-free run I will be singing from the rooftops!
I know what you mean, it’s always something. All we can do is try to keep it all to a minimum. Yes, I like how your doc said the knee pain is due to something else. Too often we focus on the point of pain and not the actual cause.
I used to homebrew, but man, it was a process! It’s just easier to leave it up to others. Haha. I need to check out our REI and see if we have the same deals!
That’s why I prefer going to the physiotherapist because they figure out the cause of the problem and not just fixing the symptoms.
REI sale is on til Memorial Day.
And looking after two little kids is not compatible with beer making! Beer drinking is much more time efficient!
don’t feel bad if you end up switching people. i switched several times last year when i was having severe back/leg pain. looking back on it, i’m so glad that i took control of my own care. while the caregivers are highly trained…at the end of the day they are not the ones living with the pain. and getting a second opinion is always a good idea.
I hope you are feeling good now? You’re right – every body is different and getting a second opinion seems like a no-brainer. The physiotherapist I am seeing is the director of their running clinic but maybe we’re not a right match (sounds like internet dating………)
Well…. After lots of therapy and pain management, I had back surgery last August. And now I’m feeling amazing! Even though I did everything to avoid surgery, it ended up being the right thing for me.
I think a change up might be helpful. That is awfully frustrating. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. I am really sorry to hear that you are suffering with nagging injuries right now. I definitely have had times during running where I was so frustrated with what felt like one after another. It does get better and once you are back 100% you will have an even greater appreciation for it.
It’s definitely worth looking at other options. Even just to know what else is out there. Always think you need to have a ‘click’ with a doctor or physio, even the dentist.
Love the grill skills too. We had our first bbq of 2014 last night. It’s always a good event.
Anytime you workout with a healing injury, your body will naturally compensate for it. Don’t stress…once you are fully back, your knee will be fine. Just motrin and ice.
ps. That grilled food is making my mouth water! 🙂
Sorry to hear your hip is still a problem! I hope you get some good solutions for it soon!
Pancakes!!! 🙂 Glad you got some miles in and hope you recover soon!