Rough and unedited. So angry about this I almost don't care how unpolished the syntax is...
So, back in November, I completed a 50-mile race, during which my knee began to act up.
Here we are, almost four months later, and there are still troubles. This is so so so very uncool. With the exception of a three-week hiatus several years ago, I have run most every other day since fall 2001. Since this latest knee business, running's been pretty much out of the picture. If running is in fact addictive (see above re: running a 50-miler), withdrawal symptoms should be long past, right?
My family doctor thought maybe this was a torn lateral meniscus, which is very rare. My first orthopedic surgeon, whose bedside manner was, well, not satisfactory (for the record, the fact that his radiologist left me on the table in me shortpants with the door wide open does not increase my affection for his practice), said I had rough cartilage under my patella, said my xrays look fine, gave me some drugs and for all intents and purposes told me to call him in the morning. Second-opinion orthopedic surgeon sent me to physical therapy. Physical therapist (and all of her colleagues) put me through the works, had lots of good conversations about my weird knee problems and appears to be very curious about what's wrong. Because PT seems not to have fixed things, orthopedic surgeon ordered MRI. Saw OS today to talk about MRIs. MRIs reveal no problems at all. OS says let's do arthroscopy to figure it out.
The whole saga blows. My knee doesn't really bother me unless I run. I get these occasional twinges that feel like a bruise, but they go away quickly. When I run, it's not stabbing and terrible pain, but tenderness that I read to mean something like, "OK, dude. There is something wrong with your knee. If you try to run a marathon, surely things will be wrecked." So I'm faced with the possibility of surgery that doesn't fix things but leaves me with the task of post-op recovery. Or maybe surgery that leads to A-ha! and a fixed knee. Or I could quit running and continue the downward spiral into un-fitness again.
No more ultramarathons. Not that there's anything prima facie wrong with them - plenty of runners do plenty well running more than 26.2. My experience tells me, though, that I should stick to less-than-absurd distances.
Posted by dave at March 5, 2007 7:41 PM | TrackBack