Knee bone is connected to the leg bone

Lets  talk about another important learning in my running journey.  The knees.

The skill of running I learned is all about forward motion.  DUH!  you are moving quickly  toward a goal.  This is great if you do so at a gradual pace letting your muscles, tendons and ligaments all adjust as you increase your workout intensity and mileage.

You can do this by adding strength training to your workout routine like cross fit or yoga for runners.  This is the smart way.

I did not do that. I tried to keep to a running schedule but also pushed myself every time I felt good at the end of a run to go a little faster.

I tried yoga  a couple of times, but had a tough time with calming down enough to enjoy it. I used the elliptical as my rest day workout, not the best choice.

I was so confident that I moved my first half marathon up by 3 weeks and ran it after only 2 long runs.  That landed me with a classic case of runners knees.

Runners knees are kinda like shin splits in the knee.  They don’t hurt until they do and then when they do you can’t move.  I discovered we have these muscles called  IT bands on each leg and they were PISSED.   I had another half marathon to run, the one I had planned to run and the one that really counted so I had to get better.

I went to PT which I just finished ( 6 weeks later)  and it cost me a good amount of time and a  lot of out of pocket insurance money to learn that you need to cross train to protect your knees.  It makes you a better runner.  In just the three weeks between my first and second marathon I took 8 minutes off my time.

Now, I have a series of exercises that I have do everyday and won’t run unless I do them, so if I skip the exercise and want to run.. forget it!  PT first.   Sure, it takes more time but my knees gave me a warning sign and I don’t want to get another reminder!

signed,

your galfriday4hire