My knee hurt so much that I had difficulty just going about normal life. I figured that I would lay off the runnning until the pain receeded and then start up again. This time, I was going to make sure to do those shorter mid-week runs.
We now had a group of five friends that were planning on meeting up in DC for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October.
It took about 10 weeks for the pain in my knee to subside. By that time, it was the beginning of April. The first week of May marked 26-weeks until the Marathon so I decided to play it safe and not run in April even though my knee felt ok. I could start my training in May and, barring injury, be ready in October.
A friend recommended that a group of us do the Marine Corps Mud-Run in June just as a fun way to stay motivated for the marathon in October.
Five of us plunked down $50 each and we signed up as team "Dirty Martini".
The first week of May arrived and I began running again. I was very careful to "listen" to my body as I ran and I tried to take it very easy.
I stuck to the training schedule religiously. This was it, if I suffered another 10-week injury, I may not be able to run the marathon on October (not to mention that I had already ponied up the $100 for the entry fee).
Into my third week of training - it happened.
Excruciating pain in my right knee - the same one that I had injured in January. I had to stop. It was time to see a doctor.
I went to a guy that specializes in sports medicine and he put me in an MRI machine. The MRI confirmed that I had a stress fracture in my right tibia.
I was unaware that your bone density changes in response to your activity. For instance, someone who has been running for years has denser bones than someone who has not been running.
It is very important to build up your running very gradually if you do not have any experience running (such as myself). Your muscles, tendons and ligaments might be fine but your bones are not ready for the repeated impact.
Nothing I had read online or in print had pointed this out to me. Truth be told, I would have probably ignored the advice to start slow anyway but at least I would have made a conscience decision to ignore the advice.
The only way to heal a stress fracture is to try and stay off it as much as possible. Running was out of the question.
My registration fee for the Mud-Run was non-refundable so I went anyway, collected my $50 t-shirt and played camera-man for Team Dirty Martini.
The DC Marathon was 21 weeks away. It hurt to walk. Time to come up with a Plan B.
(to be continued)
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