Totally Ticked and Aggravated!

Ok so how do I really feel? I am ticked off and aggravated that I have not been able to train and its been 3 days so far! Tuesday morning I woke up with pain in my right knee and the pain seemed to be sporadic but when it would rear its nasty head let me tell you it hurt! Yesterday seemed to be a bit better but not to much but today is much better but I am not at the point where I think I should hit the pavement running. The crappiest part of this is that I only have 7 more days until my 8 week training period for a 5k is completed. This set back has really bothered me and its on my mind constantly but I have to remember that my body is telling me to give it a rest and just let me recover so that is what I have been doing but I do not like it. This running thing has become an important part of my life and one that I find in a strange way relaxing if you can believe that! It's like its become a friend that allows me to clear my mind and also spend some quality time with the Lord. I tried to set up my trainer for my bike but ran into some difficulty so I am going to take it and the bike to the Flying Fish where I bought my bike and let them give my some direction on how to set it up correctly but until then I hope to do some riding while waiting on my knee to get back on track but I hope it will be quick....like tomorrow would be nice!

I decided to do some investigating of my own and I found that my injury could be "Liotibial Band Syndrome" (what a mouth full) .DESCRIPTION:  Pain on the outside of the knee (not usually accompanied by swelling or locking.) The pain is sporadic and disappear with rest, only to reoccur suddenly, often at the same point in a run. Depending on the individual, this could happen at four miles, two miles or just 200 yards. The pain often goes away almost immediately after you stop running. LIKELY CAUSES: This is and overuse injury. The iliotibial band is a band of tissue that begins at the outside of the pelvis and extends to the outside part of the knee. The band helps stabilize the knee. If it becomes too short, the band rubs too tightly on the bone of your leg and becomes irritated. The tightness is usually the result of too much strain from over training. REMEDY: Patience (my favorite!) This one takes a while. Give yourself plenty of rest, reduce your miles and ice frequently. You can keep running , but cut your run short as soon as you begin to feel pain. Cut way back on hill work, and be sure to run on even surfaces. Look into some deep friction massage with a physical therapist.  The other part of this is to do some leg raises to strengthen your hips and  be conscientious about the iliotibial band stretch.

Well there it is in a nutshell but I am no doctor but I think that my research has hit the nail on the head for what I am feeling. I am ready to get back on track though NOW.

The picture above is my youngest Jack Russell Areana, she turned 1 the end of December 08. 

She keeps my on my game!

Gotta run!

Karen