am i mental?!
a big problem. a problem in the form of possible/probably injury... a week before my MARATHON. a possible knee/head screw up that could side-line me...indefinitely.
(ok thats being a bit dramatic, but i've been mulling over this all day. we're at catastrophe level here folks)
woke up this morning feeling fine. actually kinda feeling like i didnt want to go on the group run and felt as though running tomorrow morning would be a better idea, but for sentiment's sake, i went to our last group run, for our last 8 miler, on our last saturday before our M.
Tall Blonde and i started out together, running and talking, at a pace just fast enough that i could still talk, but... was breathing kinda harder than i'd like?! so at a little after 2 miles i had her go on w/o me, strapped on the headphones and ran at my own speed. (still havent quite conquered the running partner thing!! 5 months later.... sheesh. anyway. not the point!) i ran to the water stop, little after 3 miles, and downed my one GU for the run.
kinda a little too fast. felt very heavy in my stomach, but...meh. its 8 miles. i'll be fine.
so i keep running, and eventually catch up with Tall Blonde at 4.04 miles.
at this point i look at my watch and i'm like DAMN!!! 4.04 miles. 41 minutes. i'm thinking...sweet. 5 hour marathon is looking good!! i might actually pull this off!! so we start talking again, and all of a sudden i'm hit with a side-cramp. holy bejeesus this hurts...this is... wow. so i pull of the trail, she goes on ahead, cuz i'm like its a side cramp. it'll pass?! and i start doing some deep breathing nose/mouth stuff while bent over cradling my side in pain. everyone that passes me is like "OMG ARE YOU OKAY???!!"... i must've really looked awful.
anyway, at some point i remember having been told that the best thing to do for a side cramp is run thru it.
YEAH. well whoever told me THAT was smokin' somethin' cuz i was cursing them in pain. running thru the cramp was just soooo not an option. went like this... walk....think i'm better....run....YOWCH. #$%&@. walk....think i'm better...run...YOWZA. #@#$$#%. walk....run.... HOLY$#@%^. screw it. i'm walking. so i walk the half mile to the water stop, take a breather, chat with coach and just kinda chill for a bit.
as we're standing there, this chick comes up, looking like death. "wow, are you okay?"..."no"..."what's wrong"..."my knee. i dont know what happened. its never hurt before".... so i'm like ooookay. think i'll let coach handle this one...and i'm off.
and i'm feeling great. no more side cramp, i'm still trotting along at my super-human 10 minute/mile speed (which i still am just so excited about)....and....what happens?!
what happens?! my KNEEEEEEEE starts HURTINGGGGG. and huh. ITS NEVER HURT BEFORE!!!!!!
but i'm like okay...okay... just walk a second, run thru it, its a glitch...its...its nothing. not a big deal. one of those minor like "whoa that hurts...okay its better now" things.... so i run...and kinda hop...and kinda yelp out in pain. and decide nope. this is not happening, and walk the 3 miles back.
by the time i'm back to the start/finish point, i'm almost in tears. my knee. its bad. its make me want to cry bad. i have one week. ONE. WEEK. what am i going to do? what if i can't run? what if i somehow injured the crap out of it and i can't run? what am i going to do, dear God what am i going to do?
so i find coach, and i'm like HELP!!!! and he's used to be my now, so he kind of chuckles and is like alright. what's up. and i'm like MY KNEE!!! MY KNEE!!! IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS!! and i point to it.... and he's like ahhh. thats your IT BAND.
and i'm no dummy. i know what that means. that means running death. and i'm like ooh no. nononono. what to do. what to dooooo. and i'm like so. uh... whats that mean? and he explains to me that it starts in my lower back and goes down my outter quad and to my knee (or at least thats what i got out of it) and thats probably where the pain is coming from.... he tells me to stretch it, and to just do the bike or elliptical this week, not to run, but that..... a lot of its probably mental.
and i'm like wha?? so he informs me that every week before a marathon he has people coming up to him telling him that they have a new pain they've never felt before... and a lot of it, "most" of it is mental. so i'm like well, ya know...i thought of that (cuz i did)...but then i walked down a hill, and it made me want to take a knife to my leg.... so i'm pretty sure i'm not making it up. and he's like no, no...it doesnt feel mental. but i think you'll be fine. just stretch it, blah blah...
so i'm like ok. sure. trust the coach. if i've learned anything, its to trust the coach. i come home, take a nap, wake up and...
its not better. i took a nap so that it would fix itself. i'd wake up and not be mental anymore and it'd be fine. dammit. so but i gotta go to the store, i can't deal with this now..i'll put it outta my mind and forget about it and it'll go away.
i try to walk down the stairs and practically take a tumble by the sheer shock of SHARP SHOOTING PAIN in my knee. #$%&@!
so my entire day has pretty much revolved around this new found pain that started oh-so-suddenly after hearing about some other girl that had a knee problem.... and then, at the game (KU vs. OU and yes. we lost.) my uh...my lower back and outter quad started hurting.
hmm. go figure.
so now, i dunno. i'm at a loss for what to do. stretching it feels great. superb. but it doesnt fix it. i have no idea if ice is good now, or heat. going down in any way...stairs, hill, lowering myself from truck... horrid pain. my friends all think i'm a major drama queen and "you'll be fine, you run like 90 miles a day, don't worry about it"...
oh yeah thanks guys. this isnt one of the most important things in my LIFE. i havent just spent the last FIVE MONTHS dedicating myself to crossing that finish line. i dont NEED MY KNEES TO RUN or anything.
i want to pull my hair out i'm so frustrated. and i'm quickly coming to the conclusion that my coach is a quack.
so... am i mental?! is this going to be fine?! or did i mysteriously get severe IT problems in the span of a half mile? cuz i am freaking over here. like normal, everyday "i'm freaking out" type of freakage is like a 4 on a scale of one to ten. currently, i'm at a solid 8, and it's looking to get worse by the hour. at this rate i'll be renting a wheelchair by the end of the weekend.
i so should have skipped that run. i knew it!!
Comments
DATE: 9:56 PM
OK - first, Brent's pic is FREAKING me out with the eyes thing! Now chill! I mean that in two ways, first - calm the crap down :) you'll be fine. And two - do ice your knee and take some IBUP. The same EXACT thing happened with my knee in the same EXACT place. Did you change your shoes recently or something? You may just have a little overuse injury - it'll go away soon, you're not crippled for all eternity ;) You've done all the work and you're as ready as your going to get. My knee mess hit two weeks exactly before my first marathon and I was SO mad - but I did fine. Just don't run anymore until the marathon - walk it out, stretch, no pounding. Bring some advil or tylenol with you on the marathon in case it starts to hurt again while you're out there. Mine didn't really act up again, so you'll probably be fine if you rest now.
Posted by: Wil | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 6:34 PM
ICE your damn knee, don't run on it (you've done the hard part!), and stop worrying!!! LOL - easier said than done, I know. What you are experiencing is called "taper madness" - You are going to do great!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 7:21 PM
I had severe knee pain when I started running a couple months back and I went to a sport's doc and it was caused by a weak muscle in my butt (around my IT band). Is that your problem... I don't know. But it could be, and, if it is, that could be easily fixed. You may want to go see sports doc and he'll fix you up in no time. Now, apply your breathing techniques as your sitting in your chair reading this and relax. You'll be fine. YOU'LL BE FINE!
Posted by: brent d. | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 4:29 PM
holy cow, this sucks! Can you see a sport's doc tomorrow, so you can get a definite diagnosis? I don't know if you have ITB syndrome or not; it sounds similar to what I have (which is ITB apparently). Everyone will have advice for you, and be willing to diagnosis you long-distance, but that gets confusing! Susan (finally running) just went thru this too, and she did her 1/2 just fine/The cho-pat brace has been my savior, though i haven't run in like two weeks (well, i did my 8 miles in the pouring rain, two saturdays ago, but that did me in). Not running SEEMS (oh please cross your fingers!) to be helping along with the regular pounding (see photos for proof) i've been getting from my PT., plus here are the stretches, and you want to do these like it's YOUR JOB:stretches;then go here and read Susan's entry, and click on the stretching links and DO THEM.and DO NOT RUN until you are without pain. This has been pounded in my brain, and now I finally get it. You should be able to use the elliptical or the bike. But you gotta stretch that sucker out.On marathon day, pack some ibuprofen with your other stuff, and take it before and during the race. It made a difference for me in my "fake" marathon. T minus 15 for me, and I don't even know if i REMEMBER how to run.Ok, i'll stop, this probably isn't helping. Just do not run.
Posted by: jeanne | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 2:26 PM
Hmmm... I have the same issue, and what Jeremy said above is the exact opposite of what my coach said yesterday. That pain is your knee cap running out of track, and it's creating scar tissue right where the knee should be "gliding", so ignore it and it will get worse. But, Ice..stretch...ice...stretch.... and yes, going downhill/downstairs hurts like hell! But it always subsides within a day for me after a long run. And I rarely feel it during short runs. Maybe a massage would be good because they can work out that scar tissue. Active Release Therapy would be great if there's a practitioner near you. :) Good luck... you'll get through it!!!! :)))
Posted by: Tammy | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 1:43 PM
Sorry about your knee issues. Hopefully alot of icing and advil and rest during the week will help. You might consider going to The Sports Medicine Shop (I think that's the name of it) is located on 95th and Metcalf. This is also where Metro Walk and Run is now located. They can recommend an appropriate knee brace...they are great! My daughter always has knee and ankle issues from soccer and they were very helpful.
Posted by: DGC | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 10:23 AM
Seems like you've got enough advice. My only advice is "Stop freakin' out." You're gonna do great.
Posted by: atownrunner | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 11:50 AM
missing your runs a week before the marathon isn't going to make any difference to your marathon, the only thing it will do is make your injury worst. So don't worry about not running this week. Your coach is right, get on the bike or elipitcal. As for the IT band problem, I'm with everyone else, ice and stretch! repeat repeat repeat. Also and this is just from my personal experience, go to a really good sport massage therapist, and have them help stretch the IT bands, no later than Tuesday, to give you recovery time. Warning it will hurt but will help!
Posted by: Ali | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 10:19 AM
Ice will help relieve swelling. Ibuprofen (Advil) does pretty much the same thing and relieves pain. Take Ibuprofen regularly. I have tried ice for various problems and to tell you the truth I think Ibuprofen works better (and isn't freaking cold!)Also keep this in mind. You've done your training. You're in shape for a marathon right now! For the next few days you're letting your body rest and heal. Keep stretching. Get on your bike and warm everything up regularly, but you've done the running. You'll get there!
Posted by: DREW | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 7:55 AM
I've been fighting a bout of ITB syndrome for about 2 months now. After self diagnosis of the pain my knee I tried everything Dr. Google could find about it. Ice, Ibuprofen, stretches, not running to let it heal. None of that made a huge difference. The pain would go away after a few days and come back after my next run.I finally went and saw real sports medicine doctor about it. He said to ice it and stretch after running like it was my new religion. He also gave me a Cho-Pat Knee strap to keep pressure on the bottom of the band when I run.He assured me that it wasn't something that could tear. So as long as I can put up with the pain I can run and even race with it.So with the compression strap and a positive mental diagnosis (from a real doctor even) I've continued training and racing. I just realized in my run this morning that I don't have any knee pain anymore. NONE.So um, short answer. You'll be fine.
Posted by: Jeremy | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 6:08 AM
I have had mental injuries two times before a big marathon and both ended up being just that, mental. They were both the week of the event and both did not bother me on race day, or afterwards. Not that that is the case for yours, but it does happen the week before a race. Good luck.
Posted by: robtherunner | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 6:27 AM
I agree with everyone else's advice. I had a mysterious foot injury two days before my first half-marathon for no apparent reason, but as soon as I started running the race, it was gone. :) Calm down! Ice, advil, stretch, etc. Try to stay off it as much as possible and it will be fine by race day. And even if you don't run a five-hour marathon...big deal, it's your first one! You will be exhilirated to just finish.
Posted by: toughcookie7 | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 4:07 AM
The question is not whether you're mental or have a knee problem. It's whether you're mental and have a knee problem. (You're definitely mental. That's why we like you!)Seriously though, I would be freaking out too. But really, what choice do you have? You have to listen to your coach. No running. Stretch as often as you remember, like 4 times a day. Ice as often as you can for the next day or two. I know you don't want to hear a simple "everything will be fine", but it probably will. My point is what other option do you have?Do what you can, and try not to worry about it. Let us do the worrying for you.
Posted by: Danny | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM
DATE: 1:38 AM
Wow, I'm so sorry... Unfortunately I don't have any advice on how to heal your knee... But it seems like a good idea to rest for a while... and to calm down for sure. A lot of physical problems are linked to your mental state like your coach said... Good luck!
Posted by: plods | July 4, 2006 08:03 PM