Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Day 67 - My Right Knee

Following my last run, which was 2 days ago, my right knee was sore for the entire next day.  By the day after that, it was fine.  My right calf (likely my soleus) felt sore, especially if I did a calf raise.  Despite this, I ran on Tuesday night after the kids were in bed.  Also, I spent Monday and Tuesday wearing my new Altra Samson shoes.  That means I essentially spent 2 days "barefoot" when I would have normally worn shoes.

By midway through my run, I could tell that both calves were tired with the right being more noticeable than the left.  I also noticed I finished almost 2 minutes slower than when I ran the same route two days earlier.
Distance: 2.5 miles

Weight: didn't check

Results: my right medial knee was sore afterwards but not as badly as I would have predicted (as of writing this, it can tell it is very minorly sore, but not as noticeable as Monday).  My calves and ankles were also sore (kind of a fatigued sore.  Otherwise, I felt fine.

What I Learned: It is possible that being "barefoot" for 2 straight days might have fatigued my calves more than I realized, leading to my slower time and extra soreness last night. 

What I am most concerned about is my knee.  Every other physical symptom I have experienced in this journey has fallen under the category of transient, exercise-related sorenss.  That sort of stuff gets bettter and goes away.

The right knee soreness seems different.  It seems more joint-related.  This concerns me because it is very similar to what I remember from when I was last running several years ago.  If it does not improve, my future with running is going to be limited.  It is as simple as that.  If the intermittent soreness I have now gets worse, becomes more intense and/or more frequent than something will have to change.

Plan: For now, I will run every third day instead of every other day.  I will also wear my regular shoes the day after a run to give my calves a break, but I will wear the Samsons on the next 2 days.  We'll see how it goes.

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