A good running weekend (I ran Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings) ended on a bit of a sour note yesterday as the weird tweak I felt just below my right kneecap slowly got more and more noticeable until it was a definite injury of some sort last night. I iced it and took some painkillers and dreaded waking up this morning, when I knew it'd be stiff as a board. I had already planned for today to be a rest day, so not a big deal on that front.
And sure enough, I limped out of bed and to the shower this morning. I walked to work and sat down at my desk and about 20 minutes later my knee was screaming. I went straight across the street to CVS and bought a reusable ice pack, ace bandage and ibuprofen, all of which seemed to help as the day went on. I also kept my leg relatively straight, which also seemed to help. Tonight it tightened up again but I've been icing it and popped some more ibuprofen.
I think I just strained a tendon that connects the kneecap to the femur, but I could be wrong. It isn't an incredible amount of pain, but I am skeptical if I'll be able to run tomorrow morning for my usual 2 miler. Game time decision. And the only thing I can think is that I just went too far too fast on Sunday. I only ran 4.5 miles, but it must have been too much for my whatever-is-hurting to take. Lesson learned: whatever mileage progression I think is appropriate, is too quick so slow it down.
It could be worse, though. It doesn't seem to be something potentially more serious like ITBS (which usually occurs on the outside of the knee), or a critical tendon like the ACL (honestly, it would have been impossible for me to hurt that considering how slowly I was running). Could always be worse so if I feel comfortable with the knee tomorrow, I'll run. If not, I'll just do my usual core workout and give it another 24 hours.
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