Messed up knee: Brace helps, added arthritis meds

[Double Bellybuster]

No discomfort to speak of in the knee during the run, hopefully that's a good sign.

Sounds like a good sign. I found that reduced pain during a run was a reliable predictor of reduced pain post-run.

[Syscrush]

Got to the weight room at 5:30 to realize that it's women's hour until 6:00. Among other things I did while waiting, I spent about 15 mins on a stationary bike. I would generally not do this without the brace, so I used very, very little resistance and did 100% of it seated, no stand-and-crank time. Even so, my knee was pretty sore last night but felt fine this morning. So I don't know if that means it was somehow good for me, or if going longer would have meant more pain today.

I'll be back on the TM tomorrow for another run - based on my experience doing 1mi runs with the brace and feeling OK, I'm going to try 1.5-2mi and see how that goes.

[Syscrush]

Did another 1mi run yesterday - wanted to do 1.5-2, but I was dumb about what I ate during the day and I got really bad cramps and had to stop after 1. Knee hurts a bit on stairs today, but then it always does. I'm gonna do 1-2mi 4-5 times in the next week and see where I'm at then.

[Double Bellybuster]

Good job sticking with it, I know it must be frustrating going distances that would typically seem fairly short.

[Syscrush]

Good job sticking with it, I know it must be frustrating going distances that would typically seem fairly short.

It's especially frustrating when I can't even blame my knee - just OUT OF SHAPE.

OK, on my way to the TM. A bit buzzed this time, that might help.

[Syscrush]

Alright, being buzzed helped and hurt... 1.2mi @6-8mph, 1-2* incline, felt pretty good. Realized about 1 minute in that I had forgotten my brace. Felt OK for the run, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Unless it's horrible I think I'll do 1 short run/wk brace-free.

[Syscrush]

1.1@6.2 this morning. Lefty hurts, no way of knowing if it's from running twice in 12 hours, from forgetting the brace yesterday, something else, or all of the above.

I'm gonna stop analyzing every single workout and just try to get some running and cycling in and see what happens. If I'm able to lift twice, do yoga once, and run 5 times this week, that will shed some light on how well the brace works and how lefty is doing.

[fe.RMT]

1.1@6.2 this morning. Lefty hurts, no way of knowing if it's from running twice in 12 hours, from forgetting the brace yesterday, something else, or all of the above.

I'm gonna stop analyzing every single workout and just try to get some running and cycling in and see what happens. If I'm able to lift twice, do yoga once, and run 5 times this week, that will shed some light on how well the brace works and how lefty is doing.

Try experimenting with only one variable at a time......

[Double Bellybuster]

Try experimenting with only one variable at a time......

Good advice. Perhaps keep the buzz constant!

[Syscrush]

Good advice. Perhaps keep the buzz constant!

I like how you think, DBB.

[Syscrush]

It's going OK. My knee is almost always sore, but it's at a manageable level. By that I mean that I always know what I can do to make it hurt, but so far for the activities that matter most to me it's doing OK. I wear the brace for any running, cycling, or squats, and don't have pain with those activities. Climbing stairs or crouching down to change shoes hurts, but I'm obviously not going to wear the brace for that stuff.

I have still not resumed walking to and from work - I want to get to where I can run at least 8k without pain before I reintroduce that. Walking around on level ground is pain-free, but the two things that changed to let me get running a bit again were cutting out the 40-50k/wk of walking, and getting the brace. I'm not willing to experiment with removing the brace or reintroducing the walking right now.

I've started a training log - so stuff specific to my knee recovery will go here, but the rest will go in Road to Nowhere.

[Syscrush]

Last night I was babysitting my godson while his parent spent the night in the ER with his sister. He's about 6 months old and his bedroom is on the upper floor of their house, so I ended up doing the stairs a few times in addition to running 3 days in a row (once without the brace), doing deadlifts once (also braceless), and having about an hour total of riding my motorcycle over rough pavement in sub-freezing temps. In short, my knee hurt quite a bit when I finally got to bed a bit after 2:00 so I decided then to sleep in and skip the morning run today. It feels OK today so I haven't decided if I'll hit the TM tonight or not.

[Syscrush]

It feels OK today so I haven't decided if I'll hit the TM tonight or not.

It was a bit sore by the end of the day so I decided to take a rest day and get back at it this morning. Feels fine today. I have mixed feelings about running ~1mi 4x in 5 days. Compared to where I've been since last Oct, it's a very big step. Compared to where I was in Aug, it's shameful. Still, since it doesn't hurt to run with the brace on, I'm gonna go once more this weekend and then next week do some slightly longer runs outside, about 3k or so. I remain hopeful that I'll be able to get back to running for real. If I do, I might start calling myself DBB Jr.

[Double Bellybuster]

Awesome! Injury recovery can be humbling but hard work will get you back. I was thinking of a trail run Saturday to enable back-to-back running days Sat-Sun. Perhaps trails are something to consider - the soft ground and varied strike angles on a trail can be gentler on overuse and other injuries flared up by repetitive motion.

[Syscrush]

Awesome! Injury recovery can be humbling but hard work will get you back. I was thinking of a trail run Saturday to enable back-to-back running days Sat-Sun. Perhaps trails are something to consider - the soft ground and varied strike angles on a trail can be gentler on overuse and other injuries flared up by repetitive motion.

I live right by the Lower Don rec trail and that's where almost all of my running is done. It's not soft, but it's scenic and I do like the varied angles - up & down and side-to-side.

[Syscrush]

Today I did my first outdoor run of the season. I woke up sick but figured it would be good to get out there and see if the run made things worse or better. I don't know if it made anything worse, but it sure didn't make things better. I think I've got a little bit of a flu - I'm exhausted and I basically hurt all over. I don't think it has much (if anything) to do with the run or my knee. I had no discomfort in my knee during a 2.5k run that included the big hill in St. James' Cemetery but I'm so out of shape that I had to take a walk break after getting to the top.

Even so, it felt good to get back outside, and it was fun to do a run with my wife. We're hoping to do the SL10k together this spring.

[Syscrush]

Yeah, I was well and truly sick with some kind of flu yesterday - it got worse as the day went on and I spent most of it in bed moaning and trying to stay hydrated. I'm still pretty rough today, taking the day off work - but at least I don't have pain anytime something brushes over the skin on my arms and legs. My knee hurts a bit today but probably not more than the day after a short TM run.

I think that the brace helps enough that my knee isn't the issue right now - my fitness level is. I'm going to keep slowly increasing the distance and trying to cut weight.

[Syscrush]

Last night I was out with my wife and some friends, and ended up running alongside my wife for a bit as she cycled pretty slowly... Now, by "a bit" I mean a couple of hundred meters. And today my knee is more sore than it's been for a long time. So the brace definitely makes a significant difference.

[Double Bellybuster]

How is the knee now?

[Syscrush]

How is the knee now?

It's hard to tell because a variety of internal and external factors have seriously impacted my activity level. From my experience so far I believe that I can manage it by wearing the brace for running and cycling and by being careful about what I do when not wearing the brace.

The thing that sucks about that is that it significantly lowers my baseline activity level. I'm not willing to go through the hassle of putting the brace on and then either taking it off and putting it back or or wearing it for hours just for a short commute or to run a series of errands - so I've been using TTC and my motorcycle for many, many things I would otherwise use my bike for or do on foot. That decrease in my baseline activity is a real problem and I'm going to need to build new habits/procedures to manage it.

Thanks very much for asking.

[Syscrush]

Yesterday I did my first non-trivial bike ride with the brace on. My knee did hurt during parts of the ride to the point where I'm considering giving up my beloved FG bike. I can think of a lot of things that would be more practical, but that bike is so light and sleek and so fun to ride that I can hardly stand the thought of giving it up.

My knee does hurt today but it's manageable. I am concerned - I don't know if the pain is something that I can expect to go down as I get more fit, or to go up as I use the leg more. Time will tell.

One thing about that brace: it has a seam going up straight up the middle on the back, which makes it less comfortable than it would be otherwise. Seems like a really poor design decision and it made 2h in the saddle with the brace on a bit uncomfortable. I am hopeful that it will continue to be a worthwhile aid for running, but right now I hate to think about wearing it for 6-8h for a real day of riding.

[SteveF]

You're riding a fixie with a bad knee?? Not the best idea while rehabbing a bad knee. I hope you have a front brake at least!

[Syscrush]

You're riding a fixie with a bad knee?? Not the best idea while rehabbing a bad knee. I hope you have a front brake at least!

Yes, I have a front brake. When I'm under 185lbs I start to gain the ability to skid pretty good, but not where I'm at now. When not skidding, I find that the bike (even FG) is easier on my knees than running is. Skidding is harder on the knees than running.

[SteveF]

You're riding a fixie with a bad knee?? Not the best idea while rehabbing a bad knee. I hope you have a front brake at least!

Skidding is harder on the knees than running.

That was my concern, the slowing and braking on a FG is a bit tough on the knees. But fun!

[Syscrush]

My knee hurts at least a bit all the time. Any increase in activity results in a corresponding increase in pain. At this point, I believe that the brace helps (30k bike ride with brace is less pain than 5k bike ride without, 20 flights of stairs with brace is less pain than 3 without, 3k run with brace is less pain than running across an intersection to beat a light), but not enough for me to count on it as my only solution.

I'm going to book a follow up with the doctor to talk about viscosupplementation and/or NSAIDs. I can't maintain an even remotely healthy level of baseline activity as things stand unless I want to live my whole life with that f'n brace on.