After a long stretch of zero problems with running I got hit with another injury right around the start of the year.   Winter seems to be the time to get hurt, in 2009 I stress fractured my left foot in January, that took about 9 months to fully recover from.  This time it was my right knee which started acting up for no apparent reason.   Maybe I was doing too much hill work, maybe the leg presses at the gym got me, I’m not really sure but my knee was hurting.   I rested a bit, it felt better so I ran again.  Bad idea, the knee quickly went back to pain and swelling.   I rested a bit more then ran the Bridle Trails 10-miler which felt great.  Well it felt great that day, three days later my knee was in pain, stiff and swollen again.

After an X-Ray and MRI though it turns out there is nothing seriously wrong with the knee which is great news.  No surgery required!  WooHoo!!!  This seems to be some soft tissue inflammation that I just have not let settle all the way down before impatiently heading back out on the trails.  Treatment plan is for lots of rest, ice and anti-inflammatory gel plus PT a few times a week.   The knee is actually very healthy overall, no signs of cartilage degeneration, no tears and no bad ligaments.   I am very thankful.

The hard part is not being able to run for the next 4-6 weeks and all my big plans for the first half of the year sort of getting taken away.  I will be in withdrawal for a bit and then have to start the long, slow process of building back up.   Kind of a bummer but, in the grand scheme of things I know this is only a temporary setback.  I recovered from a broken foot and managed to build up to run a 50k within a year.  Nothing is broken this time, I can rest this out, start up again and get back to running ultras late this year or early next year.  I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.   Until then I’ll be sitting at the registration table or standing behind my camera at several of the upcoming events.