Last Tuesday’s appointment at Pivot Physical Therapy went well and I left the office feeling positive about chances of a return to running “pretty soon”. TJ was pleased with my progress and after a thorough examination prescribed several more exercises to assist with the rehab – mainly ankle mobility/stability exercises which will hopefully reduce some of the impact on the knee. Incidentally, I found a great article about alleviating knee pain through ankle mobility over on the Trail Runner Magazine website. Well worth a read if you’re interested.
With the knee feeling good throughout the day on Wednesday, I decided to test things out with a short jog after work. I warmed up with a brisk one mile walk, jogged a couple of [pain-free] laps around the local football field, then walked back to the car feeling pretty pleased with myself. Rarely has a 1/2 mile jog felt so good.
Thursday and Friday I did a walk/jog on the treadmill for about 35 minutes, and on both afternoons did another 1 mile run on grass. No real issues, just a little discomfort in the left groin area probably from compensating a tad for the weak right knee. Friday after work I also picked up a roll of RockTape RockFloss from the local Fleet Feet Running Store. I’d read good things about using RockFloss to reduce muscle and joint pain and to improve flexibility and mobility as part of a rehab program. The “floss” is a 2″ wide/7′ long latex, elastic band that can be used on the knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle. I’m still getting used to the product, but so far, so good – it’s definitely helping with flexibility and appears to assist with tracking of the knee joint too.
RockTape RockFloss Knee Tutorial
Saturday should have had me racing the Tidewater Striders Distance Series 15 Miler at Fort Monroe, but with a long run of just 1 mile in the last 6 weeks, it was a no-brainer to just hang out and spectate. I did make the most of a beautiful morning though and tested the water with an easy run. It felt good to stretch the legs and with no issues after 30 minutes, decided to quit while I was ahead and amble back along the Fort Monroe boardwalk to the start/finish area to cheer on the runners.
Sadly, the knee stiffened up a bit on Saturday afternoon/evening. Was 4 miles too much too soon, perhaps? Who knows, but it definitely felt fine at the time. Thankfully there was no swelling and no real pain on Sunday morning, but with the medial side slightly “catching” on something, I opted for a longish walk instead of another run. 5 miles felt good which I followed up with the usual therapy exercises and flossing.
Here’s how the week panned out:
- Mon – 2 mile walk (435 ft gain)/2 mile walk
- Tue – 2.3 mile walk/1 mile walk
- Wed – 2.1 mile walk (500 ft gain)/2 mile walk/0.5 mile run
- Thu – 2.7 mile walk|jog (565 ft gain)/2 mile walk/1 mile run
- Fri – 2.7 mile walk|jog (600 ft gain)/2 mile walk/1 mile run
- Sat – 4 mile run
- Sun – 5 mile walk
- Total – 11.9 miles running/20.3 miles walking (2,100 ft gain)
What next?
Well, I guess I should be pleased with more progress – a 4 mile run is definitely a step in the right direction. But, if I’m honest, I figured I’d be back at it with no issues after 6 weeks of taking things easy and being diligent. Perhaps it’s time for an x-ray/MRI to find out if there’s anything else going on?
In other news, it’s only 5 days to what should have been my first big race of the season at the 2019 Rocky Raccoon 100 in Huntsville, Texas. Rocky was never an “A” race for the year, but I was hoping for a 5th Rocky finish (and 500 mile jacket), and must admit I’m a little disappointed to likely miss out. Ah well, it’s only a race and in the big picture not really that important. Main thing is to figure out what the issue is and start planning for the rest of 2019. Thanks for reading, and good luck with all your training and racing!