Thursday, November 27, 2008

An unexpected running partner

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's definitely not easy to go without running when you have an injury. The knee has been feeling OK, so I was tempted to give it a try this week. Lani and the girls have been out of town :-(, so Boston (our little dog) has been home alone while I go to work. I was feeling sorry for him, so I decided to take him for a long walk just to get him outside. I really needed some fresh air too, and a little bit of exercise. So, out we went. We had only made it around the corner when Boston started trotting along, pulling on the leash. What's a guy to do, especially when he is looking for an excuse to run? Up the road, and down the bike path we went. He was really moving along. Then I got to thinking, "Dude, Boston, you're just a little Shih Tsu. You weren't made for running distances." So, I slowed him down to a walk. Not much longer after that, he wanted to go some more. Who am I to stop a puppy from having a little fun after being so alone all day long? We ended up jogging/walking about a mile and a half. It was great! It felt so good to be moving again. The knee held up just fine, but it still doesn't feel quite right.

The next day, we did it again, and we actually ran most of the way. This time, I noticed my knee a bit more. I've come to the conclusion that it is not my ITB. Feeling around, I was finally able to pinpoint the location of discomfort. Up until now, it has just been general discomfort on the outside of my right knee. It is most sensitive right on the top of the head of my fibula. What could have caused that? The only thing I can think of is over training. I'm kind of wondering if it is a stress fracture, but a stress fracture on the fibula is very rare as it is not really a weight bearing bone. It might also have something to do with my lateral collateral ligament, which connects to the fibula, but damage to this ligament is usually caused by something hitting the inside of the knee, pushing it outward. I'm pretty sure nothing like that happened. So, I'm don't really know what's going on. Any ideas? I should probably go have it checked out, huh?

With Lani out of town, I didn't have to worry about feeling guilty about leaving her home this morning getting Thanksgiving dinner ready (don't worry, I've got a couple brothers and a sister-in-law coming over for dinner, so it won't just be me and Boston). I decided to volunteer at another local race. This was the Thanksgiving Day Classic, a 5k and a 10 mile run. It was raining pretty hard last night, and it was still raining when I got up this morning, so I was a little worried for the runners. But just in time for the start, it had started clearing up and the sun began to peak through the clouds. They had me working the registration table again. I'm getting quite a lot of experience there. I think I'd really like to work a water station sometime. Maybe another time.

Anyways, I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving!

5 comments:

Will Cooper said...

happened on you blog, and noticed your mile times. That is so cool, and focused. Thanks for sharing. Any chance your efforts here contributed to your injury?

Unknown said...

That little dog is a trooper. It's great to find a new running partner out of the blue.

Vava said...

That's pretty cool about the running pooch!

On the knee front, I don't know if this is what you are feeling, but a number of years ago I had pain on the outside of my left knee, but a little below the kneecap. Turned out I had tendonitis in the joint where the fibula connected to the tibia. I didn't even know that WAS a joint, but apparently it is and it's supposed to be able to move a little - on the order of a millimetre or two. I had physio on it where they did some mobilization, pulling the joint a little past it's normal range of motion and such, and after three or four weeks the tendonitis got better.

Anyway, not sure if that's what you are suffering from, but your description brought this to mind.

Michelle said...

Hey hope you had a great thanksgiving!

Must be very cool to run with your doggie!!!

Be well, take care of yourself!

Anonymous said...

Hello!! I am just starting tonrun again this last week. Man it is hard!! I was starting to get used to not running!! I got a few miles this week and it felt great.

It's always good to have a good inspiration like boston to run around!

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