not benched yet

I went to the sports medicine clinic today. It started off well when I had to change into the clinic's version of a hospital gown - shorts with a drawstring that did not draw small enough requiring me to roll them over four times and finagle a boy-scout-level knot.

When the doc came in, I had to stand up straight, facing away from him.
Doctor: Um, can you straighten your left leg?
Me: Is this not straight?
Doctor: Oh boy.

He then pushed and prodded my knee and kept telling me I was tense. I explained that since his poking felt similar to a steak knife it was a bit hard to release my muscles. Following the torture, he determined I have IT band strain (called it!) and bursitis, which means the sacs of fluid around my knees are very swollen.

Long story short, I have an overuse injury despite the fact I did everything right. Except that one time I ran on a treadmill because it was raining. Which means I started the misery there and then continued to overcompensate for it while running outside.

My instructions 
1) Ice after running for 20 minutes
2) Moist heat three times per day, for 20 minutes
3) 500mg Naproxen (strong anti-inflammatory) twice a day
4) Run up to my pain tolerance
5) Follow-up appointment in two weeks
6) Never run on a treadmill again.

As for running my half-marathon in 11 days?  Doctor: "You definitely can. But you'll pay for it in pain the next day." The good news is I can't do any severe damage to my knee if I do decide to run. The bad news is I am the one who has to make the call. I did however get our ever-handy supply of codeine refilled.

I'm not deciding anything until the swelling goes down because last night I couldn't even make it through an hour-long church service with my knee bent. But I'm feeling a bit more optimistic that I'm not completely benched.

mad pain

Today I was supposed to run 12 miles while Shea went to a baseball game. Instead, I'm lying on the couch in pajamas with an ice pack on my knee and choking down four ibuprofen every four hours.

And it makes me mad. Mad, mad, MAD.

Thursday it wasn't awful. Just like a headache in the outside of my knee. It was stiff after sitting too long, and the pain only was bad when walking down stairs. But last night the pain was so bad I cried until the ibuprofen kicked in, and I fell asleep. I figured it was too much walking around the cider mill.

But today it's still hurting, and I've only walked from the car to a coffee shop. So tomorrow the plan is to call sports medicine doctors until someone has a same-day appointment opening.

I am hoping it's something that can get better in two weeks and I can still run my half-marathon even though it's not going to be as fast as I trained for. If not, maybe I can just run with my dad who is also racing but at a more manageable pace for someone with an injured knee. If I can't run because there is risk for permanent damage, then fine. I will be the loudest spectator on the sidelines.

But I'll be really really sad.

"You must listen to your body. Run through annoyance but not through pain." - George Sheehan  

Sunday night update: Leftover hydrocodone is a beautiful thing.