"If we don't suffer enough we won't remember it."

I decided not to do the St. George Marathon tomorrow.

I took 800 mg of Ibuprofin at 6:00 a.m and went out for a run at 7:00 a.m.  I ran 1 mile loop, stopped, stood in the road thinking in front of my house, ran the loop again, came inside, went back out and ran the loop again.  My knee hurt every step I took.  It was the type of pain I could live with for a 10k, or maybe even an easy 10 mile run, but not a marathon. 

I wanted to enjoy St. George and hopefully run sub 3 hrs.  I think with that type of pain I won't enjoy it.  The pain would wear on me and I would stress the whole time about whether it would become unbearable etc.  I think I'm in shape to run a sub 3 hr on that course, but it's just not going to happen tomorrow.

I am encouraged my knee didn't seem to swell up more afterwards and doesn't feel any worse from the run.  I also don't think I did any permanent damage as it just still feels really bruised, etc. 

Good luck to everybody else running St. George tomorrow!

Met my brother Mark for his 10 mile run up/down Provo Canyon.  I rode a bike most of the way.  About 1 1/2 miles from our turn around point I parked the bike and ran up/down for a total of 3 miles.  Then I hopped back on my bike and rode home.  The canyon seemed deserted with all the St. George marathon runners gone.  My knee hurt on the run, but actually seemed a little better at the end than the beginning and didn't swell or hurt more afterwards.  I know I did the right thing to not do St. George.

Met Marie, Desiree, Rebecca, Melody, Amanda and Catherine for a run.  I ended up with 7 total, about 5 with them.  My knee still hurts every step I take, but after I got going I didn't notice it as much because of the conversation.  Avg 7:33 (couple of 7's but mostly 7:45's)

I keep thinking any day my knee will feel better.  I got all ready for a 10 mile run, cell phone, gel, hat, water, etc. and about 1 mile into it decided I should only go 4.  It's very frustrating.  I don't have a lot of visible swelling, but there is some swelling right at the base of my knee cap, and a hint of black and blue.  I think I'm bruised under my knee cap.  It doesn't hurt when I land on my leg, but bending/lifting my leg after each step causes pain.

I'm so frustrated with my knee.  Running doesn't seem to make it hurt any more, but it hurts when I run, or walk or just about anything else for that matter.  I can't bend my knee all the way as that causes a lot of pain.  It's tender to the touch all around the joint, but the main concentration of pain is in the lower inside part of my knee just below the knee cap.  I still have a little visible swelling here.  I ran 6 miles on some hills and it hurt a lot worse going down than up.  I've massaged my quad and hamstrings and around the knee to try to loosen things up.  I'm doing hot/cold/hot/cold each night.  Maybe it just needs more time.  I hope I didn't tear something.  Any insight anyone? 

I ran 5 miles with Marie today.  She had a baby in Feb and is still getting back into it.  I think she's in better shape than she thinks she is because we ran avg 7:13 pace. 

Still pain in the knee.  I saw Dr. Pratt today.  He thinks I bruised my patella and everything else it smacked into when my knee hit the ground.  He thinks I have small tears in the tendons around the patella.  This can take weeks and even months to completely heal from.  By the placement and severity of the pain / swelling he doesn't think I broke bone or tore cartilage etc.  If I don't feel continued improvement he'll do an x-ray in 2 or 3 weeks.  If it's getting better than I'll just keep getting better, but it may take a long time. 

I spent the weekend totally "babying" my knee.  I didn't do anything to cause it any pain, in an effort to let the tendons heal.  After "limping" for a couple of days I can now walk normally without pain, only minor discomfort doing stairs, and am able to bend it much farther than before.  I went to the fitness center this morning and did the elyptical for 55 min and it didn't hurt doing that either.  I still feel a little swelling and some pain when I bend my knee to far or twist my leg etc.  I'm encouraged that I think I will be able to run again in much less pain at the end of the week.

I decided I was going to run today and so I did.  We drove to Arches National Park yesterday and hiked around with the kids.  When I woke up my knee hurt again.  I ran becuse I planned to, but only went 2 miles.  After 1 mile I turned around and ran back to the hotel.  I feel like I just undid my week of rest with a few hours of hiking and a 2 mile run. 

1 mile on treadmill.  Knee hurts.

45 minutes elliptical at fitness center

Ran 5 miles with Amanda.  My knee was feeling so much better until I put too much weight on it when I knelt down to say my prayers last night.  I've been sort of laying on my bed with my legs hanging off and the knees hovering a few inches above the floor etc.  My knee only hurt a tiny bit while running so I finished feeling really encouraged.  However it started to hurt after I iced it and swelled up over the next few hours.  I could hardly walk around for about 1/2 the day then it started to improve.   

45 min elliptical at fitness center

45 min elliptical at fitness center and 1 mile on treadmill.  It started to hurt after 3/4 mile so I stopped as I didn't want to be in pain the rest of the day.