Saturday, October 23, 2010

Getting Back to Business

So my week of recovery ends tomorrow. And hopefully my month of knee pain as well. It still doesn’t fell 100%, but I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s not 100% or if I’m being a (synonym for) kitten because I had an owie. (BTW – if you haven’t read Patrick’s blog post yet about this subject, I highly recommend you do). The bottom line is if I don’t do  something soon, I can pretty much write off next year too.

Not all is lost though! While I’ve been sitting around enjoying my visit from the spreading stern syndrome, I did some research on Runner’s Knee. It turns out that in most cases, runner’s knee is caused when your kneecap does not run neatly up and down in a small groove in your thigh bone. The two most likely causes are improper foot stabilization (shoes) and weak thigh muscles (synonym for kitten).

Since I’ve resolved item #1, the next step is to work on item #2. And for that, I have this machine in my garage exercise studio that can do wonders for quad strengthening – my Concept2 ergometer. So – starting Sunday for the next month, I will row a 10K three times a week and add a couple short runs (3 to 4 miles) to break up the boredom. Hopefully I won’t go brain dead watching the walls.

20 comments:

  1. Runner's Knee.. aka patello-femoral syndrome. Yeah, I also heard it can come from improper overtraining, which causes an imbalance between the large muscle groups (quads vs hams?). Seems like the rower is perfect.. very low impact, and works all muscle groups?

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  2. I think the rower is a great idea...staring at the wall will give you plenty of time to contemplate what to hang there...maybe a picture of a kitten?

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  3. That is a long ways to row :-0 Hope it starts to help out, though, as it is a more complete solution than trying to pinpoint the individual muscle group. Good luck Glenn!

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  4. for the life of me I can't think of the synonym you refer to.

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  5. Oh runner's knee! Really causes problems. I hope that my problem was just weak hips and not bad shoes, otherwise I am going to have to take a trip to the shoe store soon! Cross training is in my future too! Tomorrow is the start of the road back to exercising and hopefully running!

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  6. Just remember to maintain good form while you're rowing, or you won't be strengthening the right muscles.

    Row, row, row your boat, gently down the streeeeeamm....

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  7. I've been battling the same thing recently. I'm not totally sure if it's Jumper's knee or Runner's knee but either way it sucks. I bought one of those knee straps from Walmart that applies pressure right below the knee cap and it actually has done some good. I'm a big skeptic but I really do feel much better with it on. I'll be stretching my hamstrings and calves and strengthening my quads as well. Good luck with your rehab!

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  8. Sounds like a plan...you can do it!

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  9. Cross training is a wonderful plan! Rowing seems perfect. I hope this helps put your knee where it needs to be and gets you back to running.

    Take care.

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  10. The rowing sounds like a great idea! Do you listen to music when you're rowing?

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  11. yes! bring back the erging!

    and thank you for using synonyms haha. i dislike that word.

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  12. In my opinion weak thigh muscles (glutes and hips also) are a cause for many running injuries including IT band, and issues with calves. Strenghening those will help you alot. Here's a site with lots of core exercises and some to increase strength in hips/glutes/thighs http://thehardcoreclub.blogspot.com/

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  13. I know when I've had knee problems, on and off, it's been because I have horribly weak VMO quad muscles. One I work on that (leg extension, leg press) the pain goes away. Might be worth a shot. I love rowing love my back muscles when I do that for a good length of time. Will make you stronger for sure. Have fun with it!!!! :)

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  14. I have PFS. I went through physical therapy to help with knee tracking, which was good, but not enough. I also saw an orthopedic who hooked me up with Euflexxa injections which got me running again.

    I had to take off the entire summer when my PFS flared up again, but am back in the swing of things after another round of Euflexxa. Seems I'll need to do that about once a year. Anyway, you might want to have it checked out by an ortphopedic. Hopefully yours isn't as bad as mine, but there might be something more that can be done.

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  15. I always enjoy a post about kittens!!!! Ha, do what you have to do.

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  16. Can you watch a good movie off of your iphone?
    I've tried the rower because you've written about it before and it was tough! Way to make lemonade out of lemons!!

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  17. Best wishes not going bored looking at the walls and strengthening up those thighs. Just be careful not to cause any imbalances in your muscles. I guess that is were the running would be into play. I really wish you the best! It's always good to do something rather than nothing. Have you considered biking? or is this something you do already? Take care man.

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  18. Maybe kicking kittens would work? Of course I'm kidding. Go up to the mountains and run away from mountain lions, guaranteed you won't notice the knee.

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  19. I'm glad your recovery is going well so far and good luck with rowing...I've heard it also does amazing things to your arms and girls love a nice, muscley set of arms!

    Believe me, if I knew what the hell happened in Long Beach to make me so mentally stable and happy, I'd bottle it up and SELL IT! I always crap out mentally too but I'll keep trying to figure it out for both our sakes!

    Happy recovery and I hope easing into it goes well!

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  20. BTW - don't feel too bad - we have a lot of brown also!! We just don't take many pictures of it ;-)

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