As many of my reader's know I'm an avid runner, who seems to have a knack for having crippling knee pain. I've never not finished a race but man, I've come close! I finish the races and immediately find the nearest place to get ice, it really has become my best friend! If you've never used it to help you recover, I strongly recommend you start.
Now, as I'm sure many of my fellow Runner's know, registration for the Chicago Marathon opened Feb. 1st. It is MY race! I have run it the last 3years and it was my first race EVER! I know, I know, who chooses a marathon as their first race? Me, clearly... So, now I reach my dilemma... There's something about running the same race every year, the race that I started on that keeps me coming back every year. How cool would it be to say I've done it every year since 2008 in 30years, 50years, etc?
But should I do it? As I've mentioned before, I've been working with Jose (my trainer) at the gym to strengthen my knee. So far, I've felt great as I mean that! Almost no knee pain on a daily basis and even when i do things that should or normally would aggravate it, I still have no pain! But... I am only running about once a week! ONCE A WEEK! It is brutal and I long for running more and more but am terrified of the pain...
I am tired of my knee being the excuse and the reason for not achieving the goals that I've set for myself. I want to qualify for Boston, really really bad! I KNOW that I have it in me, despite the skeptical people in my life! My plan was to run Chicago this year and hopefully qualify to run Boston in the spring of 2012!
So... What do I do? Register and train like crazy or give myself a full year to really recover and focus more on my triathlons?
Help!
Hey Emily,
ReplyDeleteI know how much you love running, but I recommend trying another sport, of similar intensity, but more knee-friendly, viz. weightlifting. I would try it for a month or two, after learning proper form for the exercises from a trainer. You will find it just as gratifying as running, with much less toll on your body.
Skip the Chicago marathon; it's not worth blowing out a knee over, or having permanent or chronic problems develop.
Thank you for the advice! I have in fact taken up some weight training and I like it more than I expected to! It has worked well as a good way to cross train and will hopefully benefit my triathlon goals.
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