Last week I noted that things are looking so good with regard to my participation at Ironman China. I was waiting on the results of an MRI on my knee and possibly a report from my physical therapist clearing me to resume training. Well, I've done both and they confirm what my aching, throbbing knee is telling me, no Ironman in China for me--this year at least.
Training for the Ironman China has been the dominant goal in my life (okay excluding the real important stuff like work and family but once we get past those it has all been about the April race). Ironman racing is rather consuming as it is but for me this year it was even more so. Last year I had surgery for plantar fasciitis so I haven't done an Ironman since 2006. In short, I'm due. The fact the race is in China has added even more focus to this year's prep. But there are times where will power is not enough, the body has to cooperate as well. In December I felt a little twinge in my knee. It slowly grew to be a sensation, then discomfort and now pain. Worse, all of this has come about with almost a complete cessation of training other than swimming. I've been doing the "rice" method (rest-ice-compression-elevation) with no apparent improvement. That lead me to the doctor, an MRI and now physical therapist. Here is what they told me.
First, now that I'm (significantly) over 40, all have told me to get used to joint problems . It's called "aging" and it sucks. Yes we can deal with this particular affliction but the underlying problem, they tell me, is that I'm getting old. More specifically I have "chondromalacia patella" and "mild joint effusion." I had something similar for a few weeks in high school cross-country and it just went away without me doing much of anything. Oh, those were the days!
The PT did a thorough evaluation and came up with a number of interesting findings--mostly things like strength imbalances, lack of flexibility in key areas, and a knee structure (genetics) that might have made me prone to this type of injury. The fact that I've run tens of thousands of miles in my life without having a problem was met with a shrug and them pointing at the MRI results.
This morning was my first session and it was light stretching and a few strength exercises. This is a day that I'd normally be going for a long ride and a transition run. Instead I was sitting on a small examination table slowly lifting one leg at a time while chatting it up with a young physical therapist only a year out of school. It is hard to imagine how the little work that she and I did today is really going to stop my knee from throbbing. Then again I said the same time when my back hurt and did ab exercises in physical therapy. The exercises helped me then so it makes sense that these will help me now.
I'm trying to keep a positive mental attitude. I have to remind myself that I will get better and am lucky in comparison to others afflicted with physical problems that are not so easy to address. I could easily have required surgery--as so many of the people at the MRI facility the day I was there. I could be like the guy who was ahead of me who was getting a brain scan to see if the tumor in his head had stopped growing. But it's hard not to think "what if?". What if I had been running less, stretching more, or had found out about my leg imbalances before my knee went out? But that is a no-win game. Instead I need to focus on what I can do (right right now is swim) and follow through on my treatments so that I can get better as quickly as possible.
I hope to spend my downtime by following the China training and race through some of the people that I've met doing this blog, like
Ken Glah. I want to keep hearing from those of you who are training for China or another Ironman. (My hotmail address: "pacifico555"). Here are two examples:
Adrian wrote: "Working in Taiwan right now until race day and having problems finding
safe places to bike(was clipped twice by cars back in DC area where i
was living before), dealing with pollution here (which is bad when they
burn the rice patties)."
And Joe wrote: "Prior to the 2007 Mighty Man Half in Montauk LI and
the NYC marathon, I had sharp knee pain on my inside right knee. I
cut back on my running mileage and iced down my knee on a regular basis.
The icing and light strength work (i.e. standing squats, leg extensions, leg
curls) did the trick for me."
Picturing Adrian dodging cars in Taiwan and Joe telling me to suck it up and that it'll be better before I know it are exactly the images that I need to put the same energy into healing as I was in training. While the reward my not as apparent (no finisher's shirt for completing physical therapy), in terms of longevity in the sport, not to mention quality of life, PT is just as deserving of my focus. Thanks guys.