Runner's Knee: A test of faith

I have been having pain on my knees when I do my long runs for the past three weeks now. It is a relapse of the same condition I had earlier last year. I blogged about it HERE. It was so painful, that I had to stop running and resort to walk run walk survival mode taught by my running buddy Peret Whately, to complete my session. When I had it the first time 2 weeks ago, I thought it was a result from running in a pair of a new shoe which still not completely broken in yet; and the fact that I switched to  a minimalist (Asics Gel Excell 33) instead of a stability shoe (Asics Gel Kayano 18) that I am used to. The pain would gone after a day of rest and a good massage. I can still run the short runs and speed intervals during the week, but it hit me again last week when I ran on the Corniche for my Friday long run. I thought it must be because of the hard surface of the Corniche, because I ran in my old Kayano that day. Again the pain was gone after a good massage and rest. I continued with my training programme and clocked my best pace during an interval session in the middle of the week. But when I had the same pain again yesterday, I knew that something was not right. It cannot be the shoe or the surface (but thay could also be contributing factors) because I ran on running track at Aspire Park and in a well cushioned Kayano. I should have stop and abandoned the training once I felt the pain, but me being stubborn and stupid (I prefer stubborn) just ran through the pain for almost 4 hours. It even crossed my mind that I'd better just quit running altogether and taking up golf instead. Walking leisurely in a golf course, sleeping in, eat all I want and be fat are much more appealing option than having to endure this excruciating pain. I was told by our coach, Sarah Whittington at Doha Bay Running Club that I might be having Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) or 'Runner's Knee'. After some research on the Internet, I am pretty sure that was the cause of the pain.

I contacted Aspetar, Qatar's only specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine (don't I sound like a real pro already?) hospital for consultation, but they are fully booked until February. Hello, my marathon is in 20 days, I cannot afford to wait a month for the consultation. I guess I just have to rest a lot, stop running and cross train instead and at the same time strengthen my hips  from now until Dubai Marathon. See HERE and HERE for hips strengthening exercises. I have also ordered a new shoe to replace my dated Kayano 18. I will Rock taped my knees and run Dubai 'leisurely' with the aim just to finish injury free (a tall order, I know), or just pull out from the race and have a 'DNS' on the race result. One comment from one of my friends at DBRC, Gamal really put thing into perspective. "A marathon last 4 or 5 hours, but a damaged knee could last forever".

I came up with a saying to keep my spirit while enduring the pain yesterday "Running is like marriage. It can be painful at times but you stick to it because of Love". To running I will always be faithful to you, even though you can hurt me sometimes.

More information about Runner's knee can be found HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE