Less Shoe, Less Pain?

If you know me, you’re probably aware that patience is a virtue I just don’t possess. As such, sitting around waiting for my knee to heel has been, well, torturous. Yes, I have my stretching and my icing and my exercises, but basically, my doctor just didn’t give me enough information or treatment advice to satisfy me. There has to be more I can do to make my knees recover faster and function better. I need a plan.

The first thing I did was formulate a recovery/return to running schedule – a loose combination of this plan from InjuredRunner.com and my own adaptation of our half-marathon training plan. It’s pretty intense, and didn’t make me feel very optimistic, so I put my schedule aside and moved onto more research on how to improve my healing process and prevent my runner’s knee from coming back. My first stop was The Vitamin Shoppe for some supplements.

The Glucosamine & Chrondroitin with MSM is supposed to promote cartilage healing, and has been shown to help knee pain in studies. (See here.) The reviews and anecdotes I’ve found online are pretty encouraging.

The Omega-3 Fish Oil is supposed to be a kind of super-supplement for runners: it reduces joint pain and inflammation, lubricates the joints, and enhances the body’s ability to recover more quickly after runs. (See here.)

The Zyflamend, Vitamin D and Folic Acid are also supposed to help with inflammation, among other things.

We’ll see if any of these make a difference. I’m most hopeful about the Glucosamine & Chrondoitin supplement – I’ve read accounts from runners whose knee pain disappeared for good after taking it for just a few weeks. I won’t expect anything quite that drastic, but I can at least be optimistic, right?

But buying the supplements still didn’t feel like enough. You know how people who have gone through a difficult situation are so desperate to assign blame that they’re really easily influenced by new ideas and ideologies? Well, consider me one of them – I’ve been drinking the minimalist running shoe Kool-Aid. I haven’t read Born to Run yet, but I’m interested. My friend Bianca is reading a book by Dean Karnazes – otherwise known as the guy who can run hundreds of miles without stopping – and he recommended InjuredRunner.com. I read their page about runner’s knee, and it suggested that the “pose method” of running may reduce knee pain. Some quick research enforced the theory – while minimalist running is tough on your feet and calves, it’s been shown to be much easier on the knees. It’s not that I don’t take injuries like plantar fasciitis or stress fractures seriously. It’s just that I’ve had knee issues my whole life, and now here I am with a knee injury. Clearly, my knees are the weakest link in my body. Shouldn’t I look into trying something that might better protect them?

The Vitamin Shoppe is in the same plaza as the New Balance store, so I couldn’t resist checking out my dream shoe – the WR1400.

The store associate explained that the 1400 is a hybrid shoe – it’s on the minimal side, but offers more cushioning and protection than something like their Minimus. I told him about my situation, and he agreed with the newly-common belief that forefoot striking is much easier on the knees than heel striking. He also told me that there are both positives and negatives to the idea of transitioning to a minimal shoe while recovering from an injury.

Pros: Transitioning to a minimal shoe requires easing slowly into higher mileage and faster paces, and I’ll already be doing that, anyway. Plus, since I’m going to attempt to train my muscles to work differently in order to prevent the runner’s knee from coming back, I’ll be more mindful of the way my body is working, and might be in just the right mindset to change my stride. Then, of course, there’s the obvious: I have a knee injury. Forefoot striking puts less pressure on the knees. Duh, right?

Cons: The adjustment and transition period between heel striking in cushioned shoes to forefoot striking in minimal shoes isn’t easy. I’ll experience soreness and stress in new places, and that might be the last thing I need while I’m trying to recover from an injury. Also, if I fail to transition properly to forefoot striking and instead end up heel striking in a shoe with less heel cushioning, there’s going to be a lot less shock absorption, and my legs and knees are going to take an even heavier pounding. And lastly, while I expect to ease back in slowly at first, I’m going to have to pick up the pace as soon as possible if I want to run the half marathon. If I start adding a lot of mileage before my legs have adjusted to running in a minimalist shoe, I might run into new issues.

My thinking is that I could try out the 1400s on the treadmill for shorter distances and see how it goes, and stick to my cushioned shoes for running outside until I feel comfortable. If I tried the 1400s on the treadmill for a little while and it seemed like they weren’t going to work out, I think I could still return them.

So? Good idea or horrible idea? Does anyone have experience with this transition? Any advice?

     

Pretty Rooms & Cheerful Things

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m still drowning in the deep end of the self-pity pool over my stupid runner’s knee. Every night, I do my doctor-recommended exercises and stretches, and then lie down with my ice packs, feel the pain radiating through my kneecaps, and know that I’m not getting better; I’m not going to be able to run again when my two weeks are up; I’m never going to be able to participate in the half-marathon. The hundreds of dollars I spent on my entrance fee and our prime location hotel room were a stupid, foolish waste, and I should have known this would happen – deep down, I had an inkling, I think, which is why I waited so long to sign up, but not long enough, I guess. I haven’t been this depressed in a long, long time, and all the while I feel so guilty for being so bummed because my situation could be so much worse. But it is what it is, and I can’t help how I feel, and how I feel is miserable.

Let’s just move on and talk about something else, shall we?

I’ve got an Ikea Rast hack in the works (see a preview here) that was heavily-inspired by these re-done Rasts by Naomi of Design Manifest.

Naomi’s apartment was featured on Design*Sponge last year, and I pretty much died over it, so when she stopped by Small Shop on Friday to share the secrets of her boho glam style, I was beyond excited. It’s too good not to share!

According to Naomi, the key elements of a boho glam look are faux bamboo, animal accents, gold, woody/rustic elements, and black. I am SO ON BOARD.

The nook with the bar cart in front of the black wall with that gorgeous painting is my very favorite, but you have to check out the original Design*Sponge post to see the rest of the apartment. Check out the Small Shop post to read all Naomi’s advice, and see this older Small Shop feature for more advice on boho glam. And of course, visit the Design Manifest blog and website!

What elements of boho glam would you incorporate into your home?

     

Rest, Ice, Stretch, Repeat

I went to see my primary care doctor on Tuesday. He poked and twisted my legs a bit, asked me some questions, and then was kind enough to give me the satisfaction of being right: he diagnosed me with runner’s knee. He said my kneecaps probably don’t track correctly and gave me some print-outs with generic quad-strengthening exercises and a few stretches, and said to incorporate those with two weeks of resting, icing and a prescription anti-inflammatory. If I’m not better after two weeks, he’ll send me to a physical therapist or orthopedist. He doesn’t recommend cross-training for the first week, but I can try a little bit the second week if I absolutely must.

I guess it could be worse, but two weeks is already three weeks too long. (Keep in mind I spent almost a week resting before I even saw the damn doctor.) I want to run NOW! But I’m going to try to stop complaining about it, because a lot of runners get sidelined by injuries, and runner’s knee is really common, and blah blah blah optimism and shit. But does anyone else think I should be concerned that the doctor only gave me quad-strengthening exercises? What if my tracking issues are caused by weakness in my glutes or hips instead? What if I start running again after it heals and then it just comes back?

At least I have a good spot to stretch out and do my resting and icing.

We have this really random, awkward room in between our kitchen and bedroom. Its main purpose seems to be to take up space between other rooms. It only has one wall that isn’t completely made up of doorways. It’s almost like a hallway, but it’s like, rectangular. It’s odd.

We’ve never known what to do with the room, so our dining table used to live in it. We never, ever used the table, so finally, we decided to sell it on Craigslist. We took a trip to Ikea, and henceforth our random awkward room became known as our “sitting room.” This dark grey beauty is the Kivik Chaise in “Dansbo Gray.”

The gold pouf is on loan from my office until we can find a small, low, round accent table – for holding mugs of tea and bags of Pop Chips, of course. Any suggestions? We’re leaning toward the Martini Side Table from West Elm – mostly because we have a West Elm gift card – but we’re not 100% convinced.

What kind of accent table would you put in our “sitting room”?

Also, any advice or anecdotes about runner’s knee? I’d love to hear your experiences! Unless it’s something like “I took six months off from running but it never went away and I never ran again.” I don’t want to hear that, if that’s OK.

     

My Knees Are Assholes

It’s been six full weeks since we started running, and I’m injured and could not be more frustrated.

Last week, we did four miles on Tuesday, and it felt a bit fast. It was only 30 seconds per mile faster than our usual pace, though, so I figured it would be good to push myself. I didn’t have any pain during the run or for the rest of the day, so I figured everything was fine. On Wednesday, Brad set our pace again, and once again, we went 30 seconds per mile faster, just for three miles. This time, my knees were bothering me during the run, but it was just mild discomfort, so I pushed through. As soon as we finished, though, I started walking up our front steps and knew I was in trouble. Something was very, very wrong, and the pain was in both knees. It hasn’t gone away since.

My poor neglected sneakers – all laced up and nowhere to go.

I’ve been over and over this in my head, and while I think the slight pace change was probably the culprit, I just don’t see why I’m in so much pain. What drives me insane is that I have been the most proactive and cautious runner on the planet since Day One. I did everything I could possibly do to protect my body. I went to a specialty running store and had my feet and gait analyzed so that I could get the right shoes. I planned out a training schedule with plenty of rest days built in, and ensured that we’d never increase our weekly mileage more than 10%. I started a strength training program to build up my muscles and protect my joints. I faithfully did dynamic warm-ups and thorough cool-downs, with tons of stretching. I religiously used my foam roller every single day on every muscle in my legs. I iced at the sign of every twinge. I avoided the side of the road to keep the slant from over-taxing my left side. I tripled my daily water intake and ate carbs after my runs to supply my muscles with recovery fuel. I adjusted my diet to give my body everything it needed to succeed. I spent countless hours reading books and articles about every running-related topic under the sun. I obsessively over-prepared to the point of insanity, and here I am with two busted knees. I know this will sound immature, but it just doesn’t seem fair.

I just can’t sit around and wait for this to get better. It’s driving me insane. Brad and I are signed up for a 10K on March 4th, and I want to run it, damnit. Plus, we’re in the thick of our half-marathon training schedule, and I can’t stop adding mileage now if we’re going to get anywhere near 13 by April 28th. I rested on Thursday, and on Friday, I decided to try an easy jog on the treadmill. I physically could not run through the pain. So again, I rested on Saturday, but today, I just had to get out there. I picked up a patellar strap and some tape from the drugstore, and out we went. I barely made it two miles. The helplessness of the situation is just killing me.

Remember when I first talked about picking up running, and I said that I thought my body was strong enough for this, but my mind might not be? God, I hate being wrong. I never, ever expected to find myself sitting inside, dying to put on my running shoes, but unable to surpass the limitations of my own malfunctioning legs. It’s not a good feeling.

I’m going to call my doctor tomorrow. We just switched to the HMO for 2012 – figures, the entire time I had a PPO plan, I never once needed to see a specialist, and now that I finally need one, I’ve got to wait around for a referral. Not that I would have even been able to afford a specialist with my PPO – not even close – but still. Sweet, sweet irony. Here’s hoping I can get to a physical therapist fast, because I refuse to stop running. I’ve got to get this thing taken care of before I make it worse. (For anyone wondering, my guess is that I’ve got patellofemoral pain syndrome – runner’s knee – probably caused by a tight IT band or weak quads or something like that. I was told that I had patellar tracking issues back in high school. Probably should have dealt with it then instead of ignoring it, but I was a teenager and therefore convinced that I was invincible.)

I know some of you have dealt with this and shared the same frustrations. Any words of wisdom?