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!

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.

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!