The Bees Knees

Did I miss posting for the entire month of April? Oops. I have been running, I just haven't been getting the chance to post. However, the race is in exactly one month so I'm going to try to get back on this.

I've been running regularly with my running group, and the long runs have been getting, well... long.

Unfortunately, my knees are not keeping up with me. I have never had knee problems before, but about three weeks ago I noticed a tweak in my right knee. It felt small, but it started nagging and started really bothering me when the runs increased over 13 miles. Two weeks ago, I had to bail at 14 miles of a 16 mile run and call for a ride home.

Last week, I did 14 miles. My knees ached but I could run through it. It was a terrible run, though--I just felt slow. And tired. Towards the end, I literally felt like crying. Were it not for my utter aversion to crying in public, I probably would have. For a few minutes I let my breathing sort of shudder like I was about to, and that released some adrenaline which made me feel better, but I would have felt best just bawling. I'm not much of a crier except under fairly intense stress, but I was feeling really frustrated with how much my knees hurt and were slowing me down.

Last night we had an interval runs and running hard up hills was killing me. When I slowed it to a jog it felt a lot better, so I'm going to take the 17 miles this weekend pretty slowly.

I did go to the doctor for my knees, but I have been less than religious about my stretching. However, I think I need strengthening exercises as well, so I asked for a referral to a physical therapist. I hate being injured, but I love PT.

In the meantime, I am going to do my stretches, work on my core--and take Tyelenol before my runs to help with inflammation.