So I just got my marathon mojo back. And behind curtain number 2? Another mild set-back.
My left knee has been bothering me for a while. It was most annoying first thing in the morning, and after an hour or so of movement the discomfort would go away. My GP initially said it could be the beginning / early signs of arthritis (or something along those lines). I could accept that. I'm a big fan of Advil and Aleve. But then the pain started sticking around longer and longer. Finally it was bad enough that I was limping during the day and actually decided, on my own, that it was a bad idea to run. It was time that I sucked it up and visited an Orthopedist.
Just got home from my appointment and am drinking my 3rd glass of wine. Not terrible news, but not great either. There's fluid in my left knee, most likely due to "...a slight tear in the meniscus". And according to my new best friend the Orthopedist, "....there shouldn't be any fluid in the Cathedral that is your knee". X-Ray's were clean, so after a lot of poking, prodding, pulling, tugging, and torquing on my knee, that was his expert opinion.
Let me preface that last bit with this. After looking at my X-Ray and eyeballing at my knees. He smiled, laughed a bit, and said "you runners and triathletes are all the same. You'll suppress the pain for as long as you can, won't you?"
Um, yeah.
So, I still didn't know exactly what all this meant. I was waiting for him to say something along the lines of "...so, we'll shoot you up with X, Y, and Z, and you'll be good to go!". But that's not exactly how it went.
He started out with this question: "I'm assuming I have a deadline to work with, right?" I told him yeah, a triathlon next weekend. He shook his head.
So I countered his head shaking with the date of the Steamtown Marathon in early October. He said "...okay, I can work with that."
Basically, I can't run for 10-14 days. But I can still ride and swim, which is a relief. My Ortho said that "....you should feel welcomed back to running after a couple of weeks..." This was encouraging! But he followed it up with "....if not, then we do an MRI and I most likely see some things that need to be cleaned up".
Hmmph.
So, I'm on Naproxin (500mg) twice a day. No running. Will be riding and swimming tomorrow. I'm not ruling out the Steamtown Marathon and my bid to qualify for Boston. But the Park City Mossman Triathlon is out of the question next weekend. I can't lie, I'm bummed about not being able to do the triathlon. It's a great race and I was in peak shape for it. But the fall marathon is still in play.
Oh, the joys of be an aging athlete.
(P.S. My niece Paige is an RN - recently passed her boards. She was visiting this past weekend, and after hearing a 30 second description of my knee issues, told my wife that she didn't think it was an arthritis issue like my GP had thought. She was concerned about my meniscus. She's a smart little RN, isn't she?)
My left knee has been bothering me for a while. It was most annoying first thing in the morning, and after an hour or so of movement the discomfort would go away. My GP initially said it could be the beginning / early signs of arthritis (or something along those lines). I could accept that. I'm a big fan of Advil and Aleve. But then the pain started sticking around longer and longer. Finally it was bad enough that I was limping during the day and actually decided, on my own, that it was a bad idea to run. It was time that I sucked it up and visited an Orthopedist.
Just got home from my appointment and am drinking my 3rd glass of wine. Not terrible news, but not great either. There's fluid in my left knee, most likely due to "...a slight tear in the meniscus". And according to my new best friend the Orthopedist, "....there shouldn't be any fluid in the Cathedral that is your knee". X-Ray's were clean, so after a lot of poking, prodding, pulling, tugging, and torquing on my knee, that was his expert opinion.
Let me preface that last bit with this. After looking at my X-Ray and eyeballing at my knees. He smiled, laughed a bit, and said "you runners and triathletes are all the same. You'll suppress the pain for as long as you can, won't you?"
Um, yeah.
So, I still didn't know exactly what all this meant. I was waiting for him to say something along the lines of "...so, we'll shoot you up with X, Y, and Z, and you'll be good to go!". But that's not exactly how it went.
He started out with this question: "I'm assuming I have a deadline to work with, right?" I told him yeah, a triathlon next weekend. He shook his head.
So I countered his head shaking with the date of the Steamtown Marathon in early October. He said "...okay, I can work with that."
Basically, I can't run for 10-14 days. But I can still ride and swim, which is a relief. My Ortho said that "....you should feel welcomed back to running after a couple of weeks..." This was encouraging! But he followed it up with "....if not, then we do an MRI and I most likely see some things that need to be cleaned up".
Hmmph.
So, I'm on Naproxin (500mg) twice a day. No running. Will be riding and swimming tomorrow. I'm not ruling out the Steamtown Marathon and my bid to qualify for Boston. But the Park City Mossman Triathlon is out of the question next weekend. I can't lie, I'm bummed about not being able to do the triathlon. It's a great race and I was in peak shape for it. But the fall marathon is still in play.
Oh, the joys of be an aging athlete.
(P.S. My niece Paige is an RN - recently passed her boards. She was visiting this past weekend, and after hearing a 30 second description of my knee issues, told my wife that she didn't think it was an arthritis issue like my GP had thought. She was concerned about my meniscus. She's a smart little RN, isn't she?)