I had to take a slight break from running due to the incredible amount of pain my knees were in. We went to a play on my birthday and I could barely climb the steps to the seats. It is excruciating. Sparked by my inability to walk, I looked into those straps I saw another girl running with a few days back. Turns out, these are pretty common and you can get them anywhere. Of course, I did an obscene amount of research. Some people swear by them, some people swear at you for using them. I even dragged Husband into a local running store (very exciting) to see what brands of straps they carried. After talking to the guy there about the type and location of pain I was having, he assured me that I would need straps that sit below my knee cap. I decided (FINALLY) to just buy a cheap set at Wal-Mart. If they didn't work, why spend a ton of coin on them. I still couldn't fathom how they would even stay on, nevermind work. Although, the guy at the running store did try one on me and it SEEMED like it would stay on.
I've also been toying with the idea of getting some new shoes. My first pair were quite inexpensive and I have worn the tread completely off of them in places. I have some birthday cash that would get me a decent pair of shoes, and now that I know I want to stick with running, I see no reason why I shouldn't invest in the proper equipment.
I talked to my boss about it and she said different shoes probably wouldn't really help my knees. We figure I probably just tried to do too much too fast and didn't build my muscles up enough to support my knees when I came back. She also talked about how fast she wore her shoes out (she runs halfs). I kind of decided to just stick with more inexpensive shoes - they'll get worn out just as fast. I actually did some research on my shoes that I have been using and people online seemed overall quite happy with them, so that's that. For now.
This was going to be an evening run, after having a bad headache all afternoon. It took forever to psych myself up. I knew people would be out, because the weather was frakking perfect, and I did not want to deal with other people, at all.
Alas, I strapped on my super-nerdy knee braces and set out. I walked 4 minutes, past the first house at my corner/turn-off. Here, I had a bit of a realization about how much I hate seeing my "neighbors" when I go for a run. WHEN we eventually move away from here, I suppose I will miss seeing things like adult men sitting in dining room chairs in the middle of a relatively busy street. When we live somewhere quasi-normal and people aren't inbred hillbillies, I suppose it will be boring to just run past other runners and apparently average human beings all the time. I should embrace the insanity I get to see each time I leave the house, because someday I won't have this. Right?
Anyway, I took off running, and I had no knee pain. I had taken a brief break from running, but this was amazing. I felt like I was capable of going faster, too. I ran 11 minutes, up to the end of my figure 8, into the neighborhood, back up a block, and halfway onto the first mini block back towards the figure 8 when I was crippled by cramps. It had been building for a little over a block, but I assumed it would pass. Now, here I am, nearly at the farthest point that I get from home and I almost can't stand up.
This was one of the admittedly rare occasions that I had to stop running for physical reasons. I broke into a cold sweat. I thought I was going to be sick. I was very slowly making my way towards home. Of course, as I suspected, the whole universe was outside. I was walking a portion of my route that I don't think I have EVER walked and I was not enjoying the scenery.
I considered calling Husband. He was at home, napping. IF I woke him up, it would take him a few minutes to get ready to leave the house and a few more to drive out to me, and I just kept thinking that the cramps would pass by the time he got to me anyway.
As I walked past the school, I noticed a little bench by the door. I almost sat down, like I almost sat down on so many stoops that I went by, but I feared I wouldn't be able to get up. I just kept stumbling along, taking a different route than usual to get back (I didn't want to walk past the guy in the middle of the street when I was doubled over in pain). Finally, the pain eased up enough that I could at least straighten up and walk semi-normal, but there was no way I was going to attempt more running. It took me 20 minutes to get home.
When I took off my knee straps, my legs were numb from the knee down. Me thinks they were on a bit too tight (I still don't understand how they stay on)! The right knee was slightly painful, but nothing like how I expect it would have been without the strap.
I was hugely disappointed to waste the perfect running weather on this, but then I measured my route, and had actually ran 1.48K/.92 mi, resulting in an obscene (for me) 11:58 pace.
Time: 7:30pm
Weather: 72, Sunny, 8 mph, 62%
Just run: 11:00
Distance: 1.48K/.92 mi
Elevation: +25.1/-35.1/net -10.1 ft
5K/10K: 40:58/1:26:36
Pace: 11.96
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