Knee Update

Ok, so I went to the doctor today and I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I can still exercise. That is super important to me because I am doing so well, and I think that taking a hiatus from the gym would be a set back for me. The bad news is that I am not going to be able to do as much running as I want to do. She did some x-rays and came to the conclusion that I have Patello-Femoral Syndrome, which is a fancy way of saying that my knee caps do not fit flush to my femurs. My knee caps are tilted to the outside on both legs. ( There is a picture at the bottom if you are interested). Because of the tilt of my knee cap, the cartilage between the bones of my lower knee has not worn evenly. The cartilage on the inside of my knee has worn much quicker than the outside. So the space between the lower bones in my knee is much smaller than it should be. (There is also a picture of this below). So when I run, the impact in the area where the cartilage is worn is almost causing my bones to grind. This is causing inflammation every time that I run.  I was very confused because I ran cross country in high school and I never had problems with my knees. She said that the running and sports that I did in high school probably caused most of the wearing of the cartilage, and now I am having to deal with the affects of it. Unfortunately because the issue is due to the shape of my knee, it is going to continue to be an issue. I can't just change the position of my bones. So what does this mean for my running? Well I am confined to the elliptical and the pool for at least 3 weeks to give my knees time to rest up. She also put me on an anti-inflammatory for that 3 weeks. At the end of that time, she said I can try to introduce one day of running per week. She wants me to see how I do with that. If my knee hurts, I have to go back to the elliptical. If my knee feels ok for a couple of weeks of doing that, she said that I could increase to a max of 2 running days per week with at least 3 non-running days in between. If my knee gives me any trouble, it is back to the elliptical. She said that I can train for my 5k and run while supplementing with the elliptical for now, but in the next year or so I am going to have to cut running out completely. She said that my x-rays almost look like someone who has arthritis, and that I will eventually struggle with arthritis. So I have decided that I am going to listen to what she said. I will continue to work out on the elliptical and in the pool for the next 3 weeks. I will then try adding the 1 day of running and hopefully I will eventually add a second day of running. I am going to listen to my body, and I will cut back if I feel that I need to. I am going to train for my 5k, and after I run the 5k and meet my goal I am going to stop running. It is really important to me to meet my goal and run a 5k in under 40 minutes, but it is also important to me to preserve my knees as long as I can. I think this is the best way that I can do both. I hope no one thinks that I am bowing out or giving up on my weight loss. I am going to train really hard on the elliptical and in the pool. I am still really excited because I am seeing changes in my body already. I hope that you will stick with me through this even though it is going to go a little different than planned. Since when does anything go as planned anyway? I am dedicated to this and I am going to see it through.

I am not going to do a full workout update today because it was pretty much identical to Tuesday's workout, but I did do a full 30 minutes on the elliptical even though I was in some pain. On Saturday I plan to raise my time on the elliptical to 45 minutes. Let's hope this time, the plan works out.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah