I'm Not Invincible After All

On Thursday this week I received a warning that I need to look after myself more.  I know I'm not immune to injury, but I did have a belief that I have a fairly strong and resilient body that can take quite a bit of punishment before becoming injured.  I expected to feel a few little aches and pains on the way to running 12 marathons this year, but I really believed that I'd get at least halfway through the year before noticing any ill effects.  Unfortunately, I've had what I hope will only be a minor twinge much earlier in the year than expected.

Immediately after the marathon last week all felt good.  I felt a little stiff in the legs on Monday, which is perfectly normal after a long, hard run.  On Tuesday everything felt pretty normal.  Wednesday I ran with the Sweaty Betty Running Club, the first run following the marathon, and my legs felt fine.  I also ran with a client Thursday lunchtime, again, all felt good.  Then Thursday evening, whilst training a client mostly with kettlebells, I demonstrated a jumping lunge and got a sudden sharp pain right under my left knee cap.  Ouch!  It's been feeling a little painful ever since, although it has felt a little better with each passing day.

I've been resting as much as possible ever since, along with icing and plenty of foam rolling for my quads.  I believe I've over loaded my outer quad muscle (the vastus lateralis) which caused a brief spasm causing the muscle to tighten up and then pull my patella out of alignment causing the pain in my knee.  If I'm correct it should be relatively easy to fix.  I have a sports massage appointment booked for tomorrow.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll still be able to run my third marathon next weekend.  I'm also applying a gel to my knees called Regenovex.  It's a new product that is suppose to help with lubrication of joints.  I'm a little sceptical, but willing to try anything.  I liked their strap line on the packaging: "because movement should be a pleasure".  Indeed!