Picture the scene, I am warmed up after a 2 mile jog, stretching and drills and have set off on my first 800m rep on the track. Then after around 20m something in my right leg snaps and I am left hobbling the 2 miles home in excruciating pain. A simple muscle pull you might say. No. Lesson learnt the hard way.... I ignored the cardinal rule of all runners; I had a niggle in my right knee and instead of resting I took it upon myself to ignore and soldier on, thinking I knew best. Big mistake.
This happened almost a fortnight ago and after a few days of the ritual of ice, heat, elevation and rest, it was no better. I was getting both worried and increasingly fed up through not being able to train. My weekend was spent cooped up, not leaving the house with my leg propped up on a cushion resting on the coffee table . I have single handly increased sales of Voltaren through the application of heat patches and massaging the gel religiously into my aching joint.
The pain itself appeared to move and was not isolated in one area alone. It ranged from a shooting pain up my quadricep to an ache deep in my knee, the side of my knee and when I did venture out on a recon short trip, the back of my knee. It is pretty much the most frustrating injury to happen to me in a while, but also the most worrying. At the age of 14 I had a lot of scar tissue removed from the same joint due to running competitively at club and county level since the age of 11. My biggest fear was that this old injury had reared its ugly head and would possibly put me out of action for good.
Cabin fever had well and truly set in. I needed a professional. I found Dr Pierre Huwiler on an Expat Chatroom for Sports Specialists in Geneva. I explained my history and he ran some quick exercise and joint tests before promptly sending me down for a number of X rays. He examined these for what felt like hours but in reality was probably 10 seconds before concluding it was not a bone injury. I have never felt happier in my life, nor was it ligament damage. OMGGGGG, I have never felt so relieved. My diagnosis was severe acute inflammation and I was ordered further rest, a 10 day course of industrial stength anti inflammatories, of which I am only allowed 1 per day and a follow up appointment. If I wasn't in so much pain I would have skipped out of the clinic, such was my joy.Let this be a warning to all of you....If you have a niggle or an ache that does not feel quite right, DO NOT ignore it, just take a rest day. I should have known better really as I did a 20 mile bike on Saturday with some steep hills thrown in, 11 mile hilly trail run on the Sunday then a 6 mile tempo run on the Monday. The previous week I set a PB at the Lausanne Half Marathon. I clearly did too many strenuous work outs and too little rest, when I could have probably done without going to the track on Tuesday. But no, I chose to ignore and am now writing this blog as a cautionary tale.
Take heed of my advice readers....The odd rest day when you feel a little out of sorts is not going to make a difference, if anything it will probably make you stronger. And 1 day is better than the enforced 2 weeks I am currently suffering...
Yup they say the most important training days of the week are the rest & recuperation days. It's always difficult to resist that urge to 'get another session in', but sometimes maybe an easy swim, some stretching exercises, 45mins flat cycle or a walk does us more good in the long run. Since I'm nursing a dodgy knee myself you have my sympathy.
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