Posted by athena lopez on March 19, 2006 at 23:30:56:
After training and even eating healthy for four months preparing for the Azalea Trail, I injured my left knee. This pain is different then what I have felt before. It is similar to my injury I had in 2003 that put me out for nearly a year. I went to a Physical therapist that did a wonderful job, but after 24 hours the pain was back. It hurts even if I am just standing. Here is the strange thing: It does not hurt while I run just normally after I run. It initially started hurting bad 2 days before the Luck of the Irish Run. A mile and a half into the race my knee was killing me. I didn't want to stop so I slowed down. When I slowed down it did not hurt as much. After the race was the biggest problem. I felt like I had torn something. I was sore for days. I had not run since the Irish 5K race till this Saturday morning. Since then I have been training on a stationary bike. After work Saturday morning I decided to go for a slow jog just to see how my knee would feel. It didn't hurt. I ran a mile and I felt fine. I ran another mile and my knee still did not hurt. Just to be safe I stopped after two miles. I stretched and iced my knee. The problem was later. My knee hurt very badly. I am sure it was because of the jogging. So my question now is, what would you do if this were you? I am registered for the ATR race. I do not plan on training after the ATR. I really want to at least complete the run, but concerned I may do more damage. I am so sad that this injury occurred just before ATR. I wish it were after or not at all. I cannot go to a doctor at the moment due to not having health insurance. I would be okay to jog the race wouldn't I? I wonder if I could not cause more harm than I already have. Your input would be appreciated. It makes me so sad that I keep getting set back every time I get close to being back into shape. I sometimes wonder if I should give up running.
Thanks for reading.