6 months on from my last competitive event and I've finally been told what i half expected about my knees, which have been aching, cracking and creaking for most of the year. I have arthritis in both knees, with the left showing more deterioration.
The last blog was from the World Duathlon Qualifier race in Stockton, where i ignored the onset of knee pain and took to the start line, had a decent race and managed to gain selection for the GB team in the 45-49 Age Group category. I've since learned that the race will take place near Amsterdam in Holland in September 2020. Plenty of time to sort my injury out? The problem is that arthritis is not a curable condition, and is actually degenerative. How long has it been eating away at my cartlidge? Who knows. My kneecaps are showing as tracking to the outer edge of where they should be, thus further narrowing the gap between the femur and the kneecap, which explains the worse pain on the outside of the left kneecap.
In the downtime between limping into A&E after Stockton, waiting on an MRI Scan (12 weeks) and follow up appointment, the resulting tendonitis from running at Stockton eventually subsided and i started some light running, albeit too early in my recovery. The knee would eventually warm up and I'd be pain free on runs, but the initial subconscious limping was putting a toll on my right hip and the TFL muscle over the pelvis. Within 2 weeks of starting some Glucosomine, Chondroytin and MSM supplements, the knee pain was nowhere near as bad when running. I still had the tendon cracking noise, but now it was almost pain free, the swelling was gone and the action of running kinda felt ok.
The issues were now around re-adjustment, which i am still dealing with. The body needs to now re-track itself and the muscles in the thighs, hips and quads are having a tough time. I am not helping as i have not had much massage nor stretch or do any strength exercises. The hip continues to breakdown so weekly running mileage is restricted to around 20 miles a week. I've managed around 2 months now and have started to lose some weight and not feel like I'm drowning when running 7.30 pace!
I held my entry for Lake Vyrnwy in September, after all, how hard can a half marathon be? I soon found that a diet of 5 miles is not sufficient and my early miles of 6.30 were soon slowing until i hit 10 miles where i was down to 9 minutes per mile - goes to show that mileage is what you need for fending of fatigue in the big races.
Some days i run and am pretty much pain free. Its the best i can hope for - one run in several that goes ok. The majority of my body is freshly prepped to run, but the knees feel 80 years old which make the experience miserable. The hip compounds the experience and so I'm pressing reset, having a few days off (whilst still biking, biking is good! No pain!) and starting the exercises given to me by the physios at Bronglais hospital which aims to track kneecaps back straight - if they ever were straight. That should buy me a few more years. The specialist says to avoid anything that hurts, and says its unfortunate to get arthritis at my age (46) but that it can happen, but how would stopping help? Running is a great focus, healthy for the mind as well as most of the body, great friends and social environment. I think I'd like to run for as long as i can. The routine suits my job/lifestyle, with the steps done from running being only significant steps that i do daily!
There may be a surgical answer to tracking my kneecaps, but that may start a whole new can of worms. I'm not sure if running is the reason for my issue. I've been running regularly since 2005, but have never been a mile eater. My average weekly mileage has been around 25 miles, with some 35-40 mile weeks during marathon training. Before that i was cycling around 6000 miles per year from 1990-2004 with a few slower years mixed in there. Before that was endless football matches both at school breaktime, after school, and real matches for the village team, between 1983-1991. So maybe the answer is there. Always active at something or another. My feeling is that its genetic with my Grandmothers side of the family hit hard by the condition. It seemed to miss a generation!!
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