Jig and Jog

My left knee has been acting up, and after months of attempting to self treat/ignore the pain, I finally made an appointment to see a Nurse Practitioner.  I didn’t want to go through another terrible injury like I’d done when I was dancing. For the last four weeks I was good. I followed the advice of the Nurse Practitioner, and I rested.  No running, only very little dancing, icing, ibuprofen, stretching etc. I also purchased the neoprene knee sleeve that was recommended.  Until last week, I’d been waking up with some pain and inflammation. On Saturday, I finally felt it was time to attempt a run.  I put on my knee sleeve, sprayed on some sunblock and headed out.

When I first started, I felt good, but I knew I was going too fast.  I was hitting a 9 minute mile, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain that, so I tried to slow down, but it was tough. It felt so great to be running again! I didn’t bring my iPod with me, so I just enjoyed the nice weather. I did a loop around Pan Pacific Park, which is actually pretty hilly, which may have been a mistake.  After I hit the mile mark, my legs started to fatigue.  I think some of it was that I had started out too fast, hadn’t really hydrated well during the day, and well, let’s face it, after four weeks of no exercise, my legs were confused. I headed home at a much slower, mostly walking pace, and while I was disappointed that I wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped, I was really, really glad to be able to get through a run with almost zero knee pain.

My knee was a little sore, but not much at all, and I made sure to stretch for a good twenty minutes and then ice when I got home.  Even with the stretching, I woke up Sunday stiff and a bit sore.  :( I have a long road ahead of me, especially if I want to even attempt the Nike Women’s Marathon in October (I do). But, at least, I don’t feel like I’m totally back at square one, and I don’t feel like it’s an impossibility.

The truth is, I haven’t been doing the strength training I know I need to do.  I guess it’s time to really get on that, huh? It’s funny because I used to be the person who preferred strength training to cardio, but now, it’s so much easier for me to hop on a treadmill and run than to think about doing weights.  Do you prefer cardio or strength training?

I’ve been thinking about buying The New Rules of Weightlifting for Women.  I’m just not sure if it’s worth the investment. Yes, I know, it’s only $20 but still.