It’s now been confirmed by two docs. I continue to be a genetic freak. I have a misaligned patella which will result in a nasty case of runner’s knee until I get it sorted out. First step includes lots of ice to reduce swelling.

Next steps:

1. series of exercises to strengthen muscles around my kneecaps,
2. x rays to check for scarring, ligament damage, etc.
3. no running/walking/stairs or leg related weight lifting until doc or physiotherapist OKs it

Future stuff:

1. new shoes – When I run again I’ll need a different type of shoe. Whether or not that will be neutral or motion control will depend on whether or not I’ll end up with orthotics to correct the alignment.
2. custom knee brace for sports *eep!* – there’s a possibility that I may need to wear a custom knee brace if I plan to continue on the fitness route.
3. knee surgery – as I understand it, it’s likely inevitable. Doc hopes to help put it off for a while by strengthening the muscles and assorted knee rehab goodness.

After the doc gets a look at my x rays she’ll have a better idea of how long it’ll take to rehab my knee and what I’ll need to do in order to become fully mobile again. In the meantime, I’m scheduled to see her again next week.

Exercise is going to be a challenge for the moment. For the time being I won’t be able to walk for any significant amount of time or distance. I can’t continue to take every set of stairs I see. Running is completely out. And Curves – well, it’s out for a little bit too. I can’t do the “rest” stations at the moment and definitely can’t do the leg machines. Hopefully I can get back to the circuit, sans leg machines, in a week or so. For the time being I’m pretty limited. To quote the doc, I can “exercise anything above the waist”. I can also swim or ride a recumbent bike/machine. My friend J has a recumbent bike in storage so I may just end up asking to borrow it for a little while…

Guess I’ll have to cut back on my calorie intake a little bit to ensure I don’t over eat while my exercise regime slows down.

And yes – I’m still determined to eventually run. After all. If it weren’t for my attempts to learn to run, I’d never have known about my underlying knee issue. Which means I could have done additional (unintentional) damage to it over the years to come.

Either way, I have to drop out of this running clinic and hope they’ll shift my registration to the class scheduled to begin in a few months.

After a few days of my knee not seeming to improve I headed off to the doctor yesterday afternoon. Only to be informed that my left knee cap (patella) is slighty off centre and caused a few muscles surrounding the knee to perform a battle royale over which direction it should be manoeuvered.

Since I’m off kilter, my knee needs the muscles on all sides to work in harmony in order for me to run without strain. Good thing I’m headed to see a specialist on Thursday. She’ll teach me new exercises to improve muscle strength around the knee and in a few weeks – assuming I’ve solved my shoe problem – I should be good to try running again.

In the meantime the ice/gel bag and I are becoming very good friends. No running, walking, stairs or leg workouts (weights) for me for one to two weeks. Which also means I’ll be skipping Curves for a little bit.

At least I can still work on my arms, shoulders, back and abs while I’m babying my knee. Sadly, I’ll also have to eat less as my exercise routine is reduced. Guess I’ll have something to look forward to in a few weeks – more food!

I survived my first week of running fine – no pain, no problems. Sadly, starting this week I’ve begin to experience some pain in my left knee. Surprise. Surprise.

About 70% of the way through the run on Monday my knee began to ache. It slowed me down but didn’t stop me from finishing. A bit of ice and rest and all seemed well. I thought the problem might be my shoes. After all, I’ve done some heavy walking in them over the past few months. It’s possible they might be wearing down.

So I tried wearing my backup shoes.

Big mistake.

Turns out that my backup shoes, seemingly fine for walking, increased the pain in my knee and added the joy of shin splints to my evening. I barely finished tonights run and definitely brought up the rear of the pack.

So, definitely a shoe problem for the second set. Might keep the around for walking or the gym for a bit longer as they don’t seem to be totally shot. That said, I’ve learned my lesson and will never try to run in them again.

I continue to suspect that my knee pain on Monday may be related to the shoes. They’re not as bad as the pair I was wearing tonight. No shin splints at least. But the location, timing & manner of the pain, along with it’s near immediate disappearance when I’m not running (i.e. walking, ascending or descending stairs), makes me hope it’s not a developing or permanent injury.

Post run I was back at the store getting my gait rechecked and testing out new shoes. Luckily for me the store allows me to return shoes after testing if they don’t work out. As long as I don’t wear them outside while I’m testing them and make a decision within 30 days.

Enter the treadmill. On Thursday & Friday I’ll be testing the new shoes. Hopefully one of the two pair will reduce the knee pain so I can run in semi-comfort on Friday. Also, my budget would prefer the return of one of the pairs of the shoes…

Here’s hoping the knees are only a temporary setback and that I manage to make it to week three…

Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

This week I started the learn to run clinic at a local Running Room. Tomorrow is the last practice and it’s at 8:30 am. Not looking forward to getting up at 7am on a Sunday to travel across the city and run but I think it’s really important to do the practice running. I can’t imagine what Monday’s run would be like if I wasn’t doing the practices.

Practices are on Wed, Fri and Sunday. About 1/2 the class showed up for Wed practice but only 6 of us (we started with about 30) came to Friday’s practice. I know we can run at home but I don’t think I have the skill or motivation to try running outside of the group at the moment.

The first week we walked for 2 mins and ran for 1. Rinse and repeat 7 times. Next week we run 1 min and walk for 1 minute x10. I’m told it’s the hardest week of the entire program. By the end, if we practice 3x a week, we’re supposed to be running 10 mins and walking for 1 x2. I can’t even begin to imagine what running for 10 minutes straight would feel like.

So far my knees have been holding out well. I’m pretty impressed with them overall. I was expecting to be hobbling about after running and that’s just not happening. Of course, the day after a run I do have a bit of trouble with taking the stairs. Hopefully that will pass.

I’ve upped my calories again. Now I’m shooting for a 1600 day instead of the 1400 – 1600 range I used to eat at. Mostly it’s to account for the extra exercise I’ve gotten in since I started lifting (small) weights 3x a week and have joined a learn to run clinic.

I’ve dropped 3 pant sizes and (depending on the cut) 2 shirt sizes. I’m pretty impressed with me these days. I wish I could say the scale is moving quickly but it’s pretty slow and steady. Good thing I’m tracking inches lost or I might be in danger of losing some of my motivation and momentum.

That said, I should cross a decade and be in the 170’s by sometime next month. Pretty decent accomplishment overall. I’d like to be 165 by the time I go home to see my mum in mid-May but that’s likely a bit unreasonable and too high of a goal to set.

School is kicking my ass right now. I really wish this semester were over and done with. Finding it so hard to care. I wonder if it’s a common feeling amongst people only a few credits away from finishing their degrees?