Injuries

Back in the summer, I started getting a leg pain while running that was pretty intense. It was in the back of my leg, kind of behind my knee, and sometimes radiated down the leg to my foot. I would try to run through it, but I couldn't. It would stop me in my tracks. The weird part about it is that it took a few miles before it started. I replaced my shoes, and the pain pretty much went away.

Well, it's back...

It started back during my first 11 mile run. The good part is, this time it isn't as severe. As soon as it came back I immediately replaced my shoes again. It's been about 5 months, and it was about time to replace them again. But as of this week, the pain is still there. I guess it is more "discomfort" than "pain." It doesn't stop me from running, but I notice it. It usually kicks in after 2 miles or so. However I am only upping my mileage each week, and I was starting to fear that it wasn't going to go away.

I went to a sports medicine doctor yesterday morning, and he was great. He is the director of sports rehabilitation at NYU. He was very thorough (xrays, the whole nine yards) and very knowledgeable. It turns out that I pronate my right leg (the one with the pain) when walking and running. He could tell this by looking at me, and by looking at my shoes. My left shoe leans in slightly. He also said I have problems with my IT Band (very common in runners) and my hips are too weak. All these things are causing the calf strain and the pain behind my knee.

He said he wouldn't switch my shoes now, but maybe after the marathon I should try some shoes to help with the pronating. If I change the shoes now, I'll just end up with some other pain somewhere else. He also said that the more important thing is to try to fix me, not just fix my shoes.

I'm supposed to do 6 weeks of physical therapy to strengthen all my weaknesses, and fix up this IT Band problem.

I'm so glad I went, and I'm so glad he was good. I'm not worried about running through the discomfort now. He told me that taking Advil before the run was fine, but I have to be careful about dehydration if I take it. I'll be sure to drink my Gatorade.

The Bronx Half-Marathon is in 2 days, and I'm kind of excited about it. This will be my longest run ever (13.1 miles), but I think it will be fun. The only bad part is how early we have to get there! I'm going to have to get on the subway around 6:15am. Ugh!