On Sunday 9th January 2011, I went out for another long run. Since mid-December I had started to increase my weekly long run mileage in order to prepare for the Malta Half-Marathon. I was determined to achieve a 1:30 time and was consistently following a self-adapted training programme.
That Sunday, after completing my 23k run, I felt a new throbbing pain in my knee. By the evening, it got worse. I attended the last performance of the Manoel Theatre panto, and going up and down the stairs felt terrible.
A visit to the sports specialist revealed I was suffering from Chondromalacia (a.k.a. Runner's Knee). This was probably due to the fact that I was an over-pronator (I had never realized that before), and had suddenly increased my weekly mileage without taking the necessary precautions. Anyway, I started some physiotherapy exercises to strengthen my quads and in the meantime went for a foot-scan. After a week, feeling no more pain, I decided to try a slow 5k run. Alas, the pain started again. This was going to need much more time to recover.
Twelve days have now gone by in which I have not run. I was on the verge of conceding defeat and renounce to dreams of doing an Olympic Distance Triathlon, or to running a Marathon. It was as if part of my life had been taken away.
But what is a man, if he backs down at the first sign of adversity? Was I going to give up so easily? My bike crash in my first Sprint Triathlon had taught me that it is not how many times we fall down that matters, but how many times we rise back up! This was the time to put words into action.
So I have decided to embrace this injury positively. Yes, I missed the LungBuster, I'll miss the Duathlon, I'll miss the Attard 10k, and I'll miss the Half-Marathon, all of which were important targets for this year. But I can use this time to improve my weakest triathlon leg: the swim, and strengthen my core muscles. There's a full season of triathlon races to look forward to. And in a way, it's better that this problem cropped up now and made me aware of the precautions I need to take, than having to face it next year when I should be preparing for my first ever Marathon.
And since running used to provide me with that needed time to chat with myself, I decided to make up for it by starting a blog. We'll see how much I keep this up :)
"Fractures well cured make us more strong." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
That Sunday, after completing my 23k run, I felt a new throbbing pain in my knee. By the evening, it got worse. I attended the last performance of the Manoel Theatre panto, and going up and down the stairs felt terrible.
A visit to the sports specialist revealed I was suffering from Chondromalacia (a.k.a. Runner's Knee). This was probably due to the fact that I was an over-pronator (I had never realized that before), and had suddenly increased my weekly mileage without taking the necessary precautions. Anyway, I started some physiotherapy exercises to strengthen my quads and in the meantime went for a foot-scan. After a week, feeling no more pain, I decided to try a slow 5k run. Alas, the pain started again. This was going to need much more time to recover.
Twelve days have now gone by in which I have not run. I was on the verge of conceding defeat and renounce to dreams of doing an Olympic Distance Triathlon, or to running a Marathon. It was as if part of my life had been taken away.
But what is a man, if he backs down at the first sign of adversity? Was I going to give up so easily? My bike crash in my first Sprint Triathlon had taught me that it is not how many times we fall down that matters, but how many times we rise back up! This was the time to put words into action.
So I have decided to embrace this injury positively. Yes, I missed the LungBuster, I'll miss the Duathlon, I'll miss the Attard 10k, and I'll miss the Half-Marathon, all of which were important targets for this year. But I can use this time to improve my weakest triathlon leg: the swim, and strengthen my core muscles. There's a full season of triathlon races to look forward to. And in a way, it's better that this problem cropped up now and made me aware of the precautions I need to take, than having to face it next year when I should be preparing for my first ever Marathon.
And since running used to provide me with that needed time to chat with myself, I decided to make up for it by starting a blog. We'll see how much I keep this up :)
"Fractures well cured make us more strong." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Comment no:1 :) Nice blog dude, keep it up...ahjar minn ta hafna fuq it-timesofmalta zgur!
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