Background
This past spring I had a knee injury on a treadmill that prevented me from running as much as I would like. Its really easy to fall off (training, not the treadmill) when these types of things happen. I found that using a knee brace worked well. I used it while training, and never felt better. My confidence would be high and I would remove the brace, then it would hurt, and I would have to stop due to pain. Getting frustrated, I think, "well you just have to run with a brace". So then I would start with the brace again, and all would be well. I continued on this cycle expecting different results, each time realizing that its not going to work. I think Einstein would think I was crazy ;)
A New Path
So I decided to take advantage of my awesome healthcare (thanks to my awesome wife) and go get it checked out. Scared that I was going to have to have surgery or they would simply say "well, your getting old". So I went in, got a look over and got some handouts on knee related injuries and stretches. I, of course, didn't do the stretching and went back to my old routine. A couple weeks later I was stuck on the IR list again.
A New Path : Attempt Two
So I made an appointment with a PT doctor to try and get good stretches to do before/after my runs. I think they will help a lot (trying to be positive). I also got some good advice with something that I've been doing wrong. So my whole running career (that sounds fancier than it should) I stretched first, ran, then I was done. My PT doc threw the red flag on that one. Turns out you should stretch before, run, then long static stretch after to help your muscles stretch back out after working them. In theory it makes sense, now to practice that.
My goal is still to make it to a 26.2 mile race (full marathon) and finish. Hopefully this is a start of something good and new. The key to success for me is saying I can.
Wish me luck, I'll let you know how it goes.
