LooseCrew-JeffO: No Steamboat for me!

LooseCrew-JeffO

Ramblings of an adventurous guy living in Denver and playing in the mountains.
For my trail adventures, visit my Trail Bum blog

Thursday, May 31, 2007

No Steamboat for me!

I've been so busy traveling, doing errands, and running around that I haven't had time to post. I've had so little time to relax that I stopped by and got three DVDs and watched two of them. There were things that needed doing, but I needed to unwind, so I took one whole evening all to myself to do "nothing".

The run Thursday a week ago was not good for my knee. It was tolerable through the weekend. Tuesday, I took it very easy while jogging around Wash Park. It hurt considerably afterwards.
This morning, it doesn't hurt much, so it keeps playing games with me.


I don't know how it started. It very well may not even be a running injury. As a computer tech, I often crawl around under desks and I might have knelt on a screw or something. Since I'm task-oriented, such a thing would never consciously register, but would get noticed if I aggravate it.
The pain is at the bottom of the kneecap right where the shin tendon attaches. That's also exactly where my knee contacts the ground when I crawl around. The pain is on the outside, not under the kneecap or buried under layers of other stuff. So again, that sounds like I knelt on something. It would also explain why running a 50-mile race and a 101.7-mile week didn't make it any worse, but isn't particularly helping it either.


The location of the pain also coincides exactly with Jumper's Knee, which also sounds exactly like what I do...
"this tendon comes under a large amount of stress especially in individuals who actively put extra strain on the knee joint such as those who regularly perform sports that involve direction changing and jumping movements. With repeated strain, micro-tears as well as collagen degeneration may occur as a result in the tendon."
You mean, like, trail running? Hell-bent-fer-leather down zigging, jagged trails?
Heck, even with constant NutraJoint, fish oil, and rest, I'm falling apart. I'm old and 8 lbs. over-weight. I have the psychological fortitude to push myself to the limit or beyond. The mental part of running 100 miles through the mountains isn't the hard part for me. The hard part is keeping my body in one piece. That would be easier if I tried to accomplish this in three years instead of two.
________________________


I plan to run easy on the trails Thursday evening with DTR.

Sunday is the Steamboat Springs Marathon. I thought I was registered, but I'm not. The races are full. This is a very serious mental let-down for me.
I want to go anyways. It'll distract me from becoming morbid, I can still enjoy the hot springs, and I can take my bike. I have Monday off, so I'll go to Leadville Sunday night. Monday I'll run from the LT100 start line as far as the snows will let me and then return. I'm guessing I'll make it to Mayqueen and back, which will be about the same as a marathon. Much harder than Steamboat.

Tonight, at midnight, the Imogene Pass Run registration opens. This will be a ridiculous instant sell-out like Pikes Peak. I only have modem dial-up at home, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to get registered in time.

2 Comments:

At 3:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

JeffO,

Bummer on not being able to run Steamboat! It sounds like you've come up with a good contingency plan, though, with perhaps even more applicable training (on trail, at elevation, on your race course).

Dude, what's up with your knee? That sucks, though I'm glad it isn't getting worse!

I think you were being wey too complimentary over on my blog, but thank you very much! I wish I were faster, though don't we all! ;) I think we'll eventually overlap at a race someday, though I guess not Goblin Valley this year, as it's been cancelled.

Have a fun weekend!
Meghan
www.running-blogs.com/meghan

 
At 4:07 PM, Blogger JeffO said...

Well, you're way faster than me! And you have better credentials. I still feel like a wannabe.

I don't think we've seen the last of Goblin. Not sure it will happen every year, but it should be back in 2008. Anita is doubling Badwater! So she won't have any time or energy until after that. She and Tim didn't need the headaches of managing Goblin plus the logistics of Badwater, even if there is a few months between.

 

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