I feel like my weekend was a whirlwind! I am glad to be sitting on my behind and relaxing now.
After posting my race recap, I ate some cherries and collapsed in bed. I was so tired and needed to nap desperately.
I woke up and proceeded to ice my knees… again.
Since being diagnosed with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, I have basically figured out how to manage my knee issues:
- Do physical therapy exercises everyday.
- Stretch everyday.
- Before runs, pop ibuprofen.
- After runs, pop ibuprofen.
- Tape knees.
- Ice knees until they are completely numb after all runs.
- Pray.
I know this seems a little extreme to some non-runners people, but these tactics allow me to continue running with minimal or no pain. The pain is caused by my knee swelling, so the ibuprofen and ice really help reduce that. The doctor and my physical therapy have cleared me to run even if I experience minimal pain, so it’s all good!
I also inhaled two bowls of cereal:
And some dates:
And for dinner, I made a veggie burger with grilled pepper and onions. Yum!
We bought veggie burgers in bulk from Costco. They are OK tasting but super inexpensive!
Plus, Pop Chips:
And celery and carrots:
And then I wrote ALL afternoon long. Wrote, wrote, wrote. It was fun and productive. I’m loving that I’m finding time to write — it makes me feel happy and complete.
Just slammed a Chocolate Amazing Grass with unsweet almond breeze. Yum!
Good night!
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Glad to hear you're getting a chance to rest and relax your knees. You deserve it after your race!
Great job running despite a little pain! Its very inspirational.
Also, I was browsing the site and I'm looking into ordering some Amazing Grass products. Do you have any suggestions? I haven't seen the cute shaker online…is it available? Thanks for your help. Keep up the good work.
So glad to hear your race went well Caitlin! Love the t-shirts
I understand what you are going through with your knees… after getting plantar fasciitis my life is actually changed in a ton of ways. I cannot stand on my feet for long periods of time, I CANNOT wear flip flops or heels (which made going to church with my husband's family a bit interesting today haha as I immediately switched to my orthopoedic sandals after sitting down!), etc. But I agree, it's a small price to pay to be able to RUN!
Congrats!! I love the pics form your race, a relay tri huh? Sweet idea…thanks for being an encouragement too, I have PT exercises that I don't make priority enough…but should! Back at it… Mary
Congrats on your race, I think I posted a congrats on Megan's blog but not yours earlier, even if I did you can never say it enough.
I know what you mean about the vege burgers being expensive. I am not vegetarian but I have stopped eating beef. I usually buy turkey meatballs at Pricesmart but this weekend they didn't have any so I was contmplating the vege-balls but they are so much more expensive and the vege burgers are way more expensive than the turkey burgers. I was slightly tempted to resort to beef but I stuck to my guns.
Congrats on the win..even if you were the only ladies in your division
I can understand putting forth the effort to so something that you love. Some people search their entire lives for something to be passionate about. You have found your passion…that's worth more than some people can ever understand.
Just read the race recap too… so i'll comment here! AMAZING!!! I'm glad you've found a way to manage pain so you can keep running.
girl – i like the chocolate one the best.
i think the shaker comes with each purchase?
marathon – its so inspiring to me that you've had similar issues and have also found a way to manage them!
Caitlin I am so proud of you! You did such an amazing job this weekend.
Wow girl! What an accomplishment, you have to be so proud of yourself.
Congrats on such a great run and accomplishing a magnificent thing!
Have a wonderful day sweet girl!
i'm glad you're making sense of all the knee issues – it can be so confusing and difficult to manage. congrats on getting back to racing! it must've felt amazing!
I don't think your knee routine sounds excessive at all!! In my opinion, I rather be overly careful and obsessive about pains then ignore them and end up with a much bigger problem. I think you're being smart about it
Yay for writing!!
Congratulations on the race! You did an awesome job. You are really doing your body a service by listening to it and treating it appropriately while continuing to do what you love! Keep it up. Hope you had a relaxing night.
Glad to hear you'll soon be running again! I'm usually anti-drug, but I believe that anti-inflammatories were tremendously helpful in recoving from recent IT band syndrome in my knee. Just please be careful with them, stop taking them as soon as you don't need them anymore, and don't get in the habit of using them for prevention. It will result in a bigger injury down the road.
Hi Caitlin!
First off, I think it's absolutely wonderful that you've found an agent for your book. I cannot agree more that writing is so soothing. For me, I particularly like reflective and creative writing. I actually started a book a few years back but stopped after 80 pages because life got busy. But it was soooo fun to write, and I remember my friends begging me to continue it too (since I had been showing them chapters at a time).
Also, what I really really love about Operation Beautiful is that I think it is a feat for women. I think body image and self-esteem issues seriously puts women at a disadvantage with men because our minds become cluttered with all these extra worries and concerns. I wouldn't call myself a feminist or anythign, but I do think that women as a whole could become STRONGER and more SUCCESSFUL if they just had more confidence in themselves. I plan on spreading Operation Beautiful all around campus once I'm back at school (perhaps use my sorority to start the movement, since there's about 100 girls and I know they'd love the idea!), and I'll be sure to let you know the outcome! It would be amazing to see tons of positive post-its all over campus!
Oh, and also thanks for letting me know about your skirt! I'm going to have to check target out, b/c that's amazing!
I'm with you on the knee routine. I did want to tell you that my PT and coaches said to never to IB Profin before or right after running because of the adverse effects it can have on your kidneys. Tylenol is fine, but there is an ingredient in IB Profin that when combined with running, can cause very serious issues.
jess – i have heard something similar about iboprofen but both my sports medicine doc and PT said its OK, and it's working, so i'm going to continue to do it for long runs. hopefully my leg muscles will be strong enough so i dont have to take it one day soon!
Congratulations on your race! You just look SO happy in the pictures- you can see from the light in your eyes how thrilled you are to be running!
As for the knees- you do what you gotta do! It's a labor of love…
I like the smiley face on the bread! It made me happy!
I love how you listed "pray" under how you manage your condition…I know first hand that works wonders! I also love the smiley face on your sandwich
I know you've got a lot on your plate (no pun intended) and I love that you are able to maintain a positive attitude. Have a great day!