fit, but not running fit

Well, two week have passed since I had the second knee injected with the hyaluronic acid. This is meant to add extra fluid into my joint and stop any crunching between the patella and joints. It seems to have worked. What I did find out was that when you don't run for a while (in my case a LONG while), you sort of lose your running stamina. All of the long walks that I have done, the tai kwon do and the CrossFit - sure, I am fit. But not running fit.

Only one way to fix that!

thought for the day

"Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself." 


-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

knee #2 done

Ahhh! Just when you feel like you are invincible, it is time to head back the doctors and get another injection. Thankfully this is the second and last one!

The doctor today decided to inject through the front of the knee. Last week he tried to go through the medial and it didn't work, so he ended up going through the front. It went a lot smoother today, thank goodness. Still feels strange though - it is like when you go to blow up a balloon and you get to that point of resistance where you have to blow harder to stretch it and get more air into it. Well - my knee feels like we are at that point of resistance.

So far it doesn't seem to have swollen up as much, so I am happy. Two weeks! Only two weeks and I can try it out. How exciting!

Check this photo of my knee out. The angle is sooo flattering, but hopefully you can see the difference. Slight swelling after two hours.  I can still bend it slightly - which is a good thing! I wonder if knees are like trees and you can tell my age by those gnarly lines around them?

good form

this popped up on one of my Facebook feeds. I liked it and thought I'd share it. Not sure who to credit for it though... (apologies)

knee #1 done

It has been one week now since the doc injected that stuff into my left knee. Today I was able to get back to the gym and try it out. They feel a bit unbalanced now, with the right giving me a bit of pain and the left still a bit stiff from the swelling resulting from the injections.

The injections last year didn't hurt as much as this one did. Nor did they take so long for me to get back full mobility. Last year I was able to take it for a test run (around 5km) on day five after the injections. It has been seven days and I am a tad bit scared as there is still a bit of pressure in the joint when I fully extend. I have no idea if this is because it is a different brand of "lubricant" they injected. Or if it is because the doc couldn't inject in through the side of the knee, so he went in from the front of the joint where one of my arthroscopy scars were?

Anyway, we will see next week when the doc shoots up my right knee what the go is... All I know right now is that my upper body is getting hammered from all the pushups and pull-ups that I am doing and I could not be happier! My biceps feel rock hard! My core is getting stronger, and will keep me in good stead when I get back to hitting the pavement.

here we go again!

Well, if you have been reading the other entries to this blog you will note huge time differences between posts. This occurred when we moved from the US to Dubai and again from Dubai. Time gaps also occurred when I became so fed up with this and the whole running and exercise thing.

But - I love running and I love training for events and competing, so how could I get fed up I hear you ask. Well, it is not so much fun when you get injured. And, it is not that much fun when your injuries are just due to the makeup of your body and the only preventative measure that can be taken are to QUIT running and what I deem enjoyable exercise altogether.

I have been lucky so far since finding out and dealing with my patella chondromalacia stage 4. I had injections in both my knee 12 months ago and they worked fine. Pity I was off with the hate fairies and loathing everything running (understandable after training hard for 12 months for one race only for it to end before it began).  I am over my hate, ironed out the chemical / hormonal imbalance and now finally back into fitness and starting to think about, and get excited about running again. I have my eye on a few events - including toying with the Marathon des Sables.....

Before I can get too serious into it all, I have a duty of care to ensure that my knees are up to standard. This is why I am getting my knees injected again with the hyaluronic acid. Uggh! That sounds terrible - but its not. My patella has worn down and it causes pain. I think the joint fluid in my knee has lost its ability to lubricate and cushion my knee. Thus a little vicious circle has been created and the 6ml of hyaluronic acid injected into my knee joints relieves the pain caused by my patella rubbing and also helps to stop or slow down any further damage to my patella's surface. Basically this hyaluronic acid is synthetic lubrication for my knee joint!

I had the first injection into my left knee two days ago. The knee is still a bit swollen, but I can get around. I am enjoying increased mobility with each hour. From past experience, I should be able to have full mobility back within another 24 hours and get out for a run :) The follow up on the other knee is in two weeks!

So - here we go again....but this time in a positive, kick arse and have fun way!! :)

a ninja, I am

One month before the 2012 Marathon des Sables I found out that I had patella chondromalacia grade 4. While researching the ways I could control this and the pain it was causing when I ran, I started training with the tae kwon do ladies who were involved in my kids tae kwon do club. For whatever reason that boggled the minds of myself, my physio and my ortho-specialist, tae kwon do did not cause me pain. So while I took my forced 12 months break from running I trained to become a ninja.

12 months down the track and I am looking into getting my booster hyaluronic injections in my knees so I can dust off the running shoes and start planning for the 2014 Marathon des Sables. In the meantime I have kept up my tae kwon do and tonight I am testing for my Blue Belt. This is fourth belt above the white and is pretty much half way to the black. What is super awesome is tonight I get to break a board with a front kick. I can't wait!