Injury Update

I had planned to do both the office party on Friday night and the race on Saturday morning, but both only half-hearted. I ended up doing neither. My knee was too sore to move and I stayed glued to the sofa. It was very strange, I felt reasonably comfortable either sitting or lying down, but every time I got up my knee would be so sore for about half a minute that I thought I would pass out from the pain. Then the pain would subside and I was again reasonably comfortable walking around. It was the shifting of position that was brutal.

I tried to rest as much as possible on Saturday, but you can only rest so much if you share the house with a bossy wife 4 young children. I had to look after the younger two when Niamh brought the twins to their CTY courses, which required a lot more walking around the house than I would have liked. However, after a lot of icing and trying to rest as much as I could I eventually noticed at bed time that the swelling must have reduced; after looking grotesquely deformed all day I could make out the shape of my knee underneath the skin again, so I knew things were improving.

I took it easy again on Sunday, at least as much as I could under the same constraints as on Saturday, but the difference to Saturday was quite spectacular. The swelling had gone down substantially overnight and I could move around again without pain. A major plus, I can assure you. I had planned on going to the doctor on Monday but now I don’t think I’ll bother. This is clearly improving all by itself and I don’t see the need of spending upwards of €50 for consulting the expert.

I carefully and slightly reluctantly prodded the affected area and located a sore spot right at the outside of the knee. While the whole area is clearly swollen, the rest of it is not actually sore, just one hot spot, possibly where the lateral collateral ligament ("fibular") connects to the fibula, but my entire knowledge of the knee is based on wikipedia, so I may well be wrong.

I have no idea what exactly caused the problem. I certainly did not fall on the ice, I did not twist the knee at any stage nor was there anything else that would have caused a trauma. I woke on Friday with a barely noticeable twinge that I did not think much about, went running, cycled to work and one hour later I was in agony. I was seriously despondent on Saturday, thinking I would be out for several weeks, losing all the fitness just as I was feeling on top of the world. I really do not think it was an overuse injury. I have run both further and harder in the past than during the last few weeks; in fact, training had never felt so easy, so much so that I felt like I was not really training at all, things were happening so easily. To lose all that was a massive blow, but on Sunday my world became a much happier place again.

I still did not run. Monday’s cycle into work was a bit of a test that went well enough. I had no problem getting into work, the knee held up well and there is no real pain. But there is still some swelling, it still feels warm to the touch and while it does not hurt it feels a bit stiff. The last thing I want is another setback, but at the same time I’m aching to get out on the road again. The cold spell is supposed to be over by around Thursday, and while I'm no expert I do suspect that the low temperatures and/or running on ice have something to do with my problem. As much as I loved running in the fresh mornings, what I have just been through was not worth it.