Over the last few months, I've been so frustrated because of a recurring knee ailment. I would run -- and everything would seem to go right -- but the next day or 2 days later, I would have this agonizing pain in my left knee. It came to a point where I was contemplating on not joining the race. In some consultations with doctors, we tried to pin down my recovery process. I tried a number of stretchings and post-run recovery strategies but it still didn't help. It was only later when we started questioning my icing methods that we determined the cause of the ailment -- I was over-icing my knee!!
I bought these Pro-Tec Hot/Cold Theraphy Wraps that allow me to just wrap the ice gels around my knee and secure them with velco straps, and they really are godsend as they keep the packs in place while I go on with my normal activities. Unfortunately, they became too comfy that I keep them on for up to an hour!! And that's not good!! I should be icing the affected area no longer than 15-20 minutes at a time, with a 15-20 minute rest period before re-applying. By keeping the ice pack on up to an hour, I'm actually injuring the affected area more!!!
Since discovering this piece of information, I've been regulating the icing to 15-20 minutes and miraculously, the pain in my knee disappeared!! It's been frustrating that not knowing this small piece of information has affected my ability to train for over 4 months!! I could have ran my first marathon in July as originally scheduled!!! Instead, I'm coping to catch up with my training plan.
And that leads me to what's keeping me busy the last few months -- honest-to-goodness training, piling on the kilometers, week-in and week-out. This month is crucial, I need to make sure I'm able to handle running over 30Kms during my long runs. So far so good and I do hope to go beyond 21Kms by next weekend.
Wish me luck!!
