Well due to the heat of the Boston Marathon, maybe it’s a good think I couldn’t run it this year… although I still would have liked to! But being smart and respecting that my knee is injured, not running was a good decision. That being said, I went to the orthopedist last week and he looked at it and took X-Rays. Basically, what he said was that its more of a chronic thing from a physiological standpoint—that my hips rotate inward slightly putting more pressure on my knee joint. Therefore, in his example, I could go run like 3 marathons and be fine, and then decided to do an easy 10k and have had this happen. There’s no real predictor for it.
Got my MRI results back this morning and here is what the doctor told me: I have a slightly torn Meniscus and light arthritis in my left knee. That gave me 2 options, surgery or cortisone shot and Physical Therapy. The surgery was just a bad idea altogether because it would just be removing the Meniscus and making the arthritis more susceptible to worsening.
The Cortisone shot will take the pain and inflammation away and get me back to training, Overall what this means is that someday my running had a stop sign. Whether that’s 10 years or 50 years, we can’t say, but by doing the PT and the cortisone shot, I can preserve it as long as possible.
So that being said, I can pretty much go back to training tomorrow, taking it easy the first day, but then pretty much good to go. So I guess its not good news, but since there’s nothing I can really do about it, it’s not that big of a deal! And I figure hell, in 20 years we’ll have the technology to fix this anyway so I’ll be good for life!
So he gave me orthotic inserts for my shoes and I am using those when I run. Also got all my new gear in from K-Swiss and the Wattie Ink Team and I’ve heard these Kwicky Blade Lights run really well. Also, with the knee, I don’t think I am going to do Florida 70.3 This would be a half Ironman on May 20th, but instead I think I am going to do an Olympic Triathlon in North Florida. Honestly, it’s not really any easier, as my instructions from my coach are “to cross the finish line and fall over and die”. Like, we’re talking ball out. I also don’t know that I would be in quite the shape I want to be in for an Ironman race, plus they are expensive.
This was the first week I was finally able to pick training back up a bit. I got to run some this weekend and it felt good, although I kept the pace moderate and didn’t do any kind of intervals, etc. Also spent a fair amount of time on the bike…well, on the bike in my apartment—thank God the Capitals and NHL Playoffs are on! Even though the Caps lost their first game!! (My playoff beard is coming along nicely as well, although I did get to trim since the Caps won their first series—and so I wouldn’t get fired lol). However, they won Monday and are in OT right now but I can’t bare to watch
I really focused on my recovery this weekend as these sessions were a little more taxing and I bring back in quality work efforts. I made awesome recovery shakes which I drank even though I knew dinner would be soon after. The first was a mix of a chocolate CorePower drink, chocolate protein powder, and some MCT oil (medium-chain triglycerides—I’ll talk more about this in an upcoming post). The second was whole coconut milk with protein and a banana. There’s nothing better than flopping on the floor with an ice cold shake and just zoning out for a bit after a workout!
I also decided to try out a couple new “recipes” this weekend. Well, that’s a lie, but I grilled a couple new things. The first was some delicious grass-fed filet mignon steak! I seared them in a skillet then finished them in the oven.
The second was some grilled chicken breast wrapped in bacon! I finally went down to the pool and cranked up the grill—it was awesome!
Yup, I had bacon
Lastly, I roasted half a Kabocha squash in the oven covered in a mix of coconut butter and coconut oil–awesome! Plenty of cinnamon of course too.
Pre-coconut
Great flavor
That’s all for now–I have a lot more updates, but those will come later this week!
- Have you ever had a Cortisone shot?
- Best new recipe or idea you want to share?
