My husband is the artist of the family.  He doesn’t practice, nor make time for his talent.  It’s just something he occasionally does.  His talent comes from his mother who got her talent from her father.  Our eldest daughter and granddaughter have this same talent.

I’m incredibly impressed and proud of his (their) talent. 

Meanwhile, I run and play with learning French. 

Knee pain – 

J’aime courir.  Mais mon genou me fait mal tous les jours.  Donc, je vais rouler mon vélo.

I completed a trail marathon in November, 2018 with my ole friend – knee pain.

The was the same trail where a year earlier, I completed my first 50 miler (with the same ole friend).  This year, like last I was under trained and over stubborn.  The same knee pain, which kept me from training roared its roar again at mile 3 and stayed with me for the entire marathon.

During, I carefully gauged each mile and as usual the pain settled in between a 7 and 8 on a 10 point scale.  I took precautions ensuring each step was with good form.  I also made sure not to stop running – so to avoid additional stiffness setting in.

After the marathon, I could barely walk.  The knee was SO stiff as was the rest of my body, due to the under training effect.  Feeling like I may have caused serious damage, no running was to be had for the next 5 weeks.

Knee pain, had led to under training, which led to more pain as I pushed my body to complete the 26.2 miles.  Again missing my goal of 4:30, this time by 7 minutes, last time by 5.

Examining my mile splits, I see exactly where I lost those 7 minutes.  I will beat you 4:30, mark my words.

Frustrated with my running like my French, I know I could meet my goal(s) if I were only able to train / study (really devote some time).

I’m registered for a 50K trail race in March and a 20K trail in April.  But, am basically unable to run more that 3 miles at a time.  I’m keeping my cardio up by cross training.

Struggling with bi-lateral knee(s) pain for years.  I’ve tried different shoes, resting the knees, massage, stability straps, joint supplements and yoga.  But still struggle with knee pain.  I’ve even tried the blue cream from TV – which actually seemed to help.

I’ve had the knee x-rayed and there’s nothing broken.  So I keep going.

I try to stave off age related stiffness with movement.  I’ve read that you don’t want things to become more stiff – rusty per say.  So I continue running and walking and dancing – however, I don’t engage in high impact jumping anymore (but I still like to leap over logs and puddles).

Recently, I read joint pain can sometimes be associated with hormone levels.  And being 5… (when the hell-o operator did that happen) my levels are all over the place.

What came first the knee pain or the under training –

Everyone remarks jokingly that I am able to complete events with very little training.  It’s become who I am by default.  I balance my training with the knee pain and then totally exhaust myself on race day.

But what actually came first?  The knee pain or the under training?  I don’t even recall.  I’ve struggled with it for so long.

I truly believe (hopefully without delusion), that I JUST need to really focus on stretching my hips, quads, and hamstrings and really focus on consistently training, while gradually increasing mileage and adding in the bike.

I haven’t biked regularly since July 2016, when I completed the half ironman in Muncie, Indiana.  J’aime la bicyclette, mais je n’aime pas la route.  Or more accurately, the cars on the road AND loose dogs.  Until the weather breaks, I will ride the bike on the trainer in the house, in front of the TV.

Cold weather running is one thing, cold weather riding – not happening.

I ran today in the snow.  A beautiful local lake served as the back drop.  The sun was shining and I felt alive, I felt twelve.  After just a few days of focused hip stretches – the knee felt stronger and more stable.  It still fell apart at mile 3, but it felt stronger (vraiment) before it fell apart.

Are you a runner who has experienced knee pain?  What did you do to finally conquer this beast?  If you have any suggestions, please comment. 

Merci beaucoup –

Suz!