Time to Retire? Again?

I retired from competitive running after acting as a mercenary for an out-of-town team at Hood-to-Coast 2006. I accepted that age was stymieing my physical abilities and thought it best to go out on my own terms. So for the past four years, I have regularly run 40 minutes a day, four or five times a week. I've run in the occasional easy fun-run, but nothing serious. And I did all of this training with a laid-back attitude, never really pushing it for extended period. But it didn't seem to matter.

A few weeks ago, my left knee started hurting for no apparent reason. It hurt all the time, not just during or right after running. Outside of injuring my hip flexor in college (right after I returned from two years of "hard exercise deprivation" in Japan), I've enjoyed an active, injury-free lifestyle, and have been able to do pretty much whatever I wanted. Not any more.

After trying to figure out where the pain resonated, and then researching the Internet, I concluded I have patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), or runner's knee. So I immediately stopped:
  • running
  • taking two stairs at a time
  • full-court, pick-up basketball
  • and picking up Eddie (he's heavy!)
After a few days of taking it easy, most of the pain has subsided, and I think I will heed my body's message by diversifying my exercise regime. I think I'm going to have to retire again from running, at least from running every day. My office does have a workout room with a stationary bike and elliptical, so maybe I'll run twice a week and use the workout equipment twice a week. And even though I've failed to win a championship in church ball--and I love playing pick-up ball once a week--maybe it's time to retire for good from basketball, which probably kills my knees more than anything.

Comments

  1. Unknown6:02 PM

    wait till you get my age, you ain't seen nothing yet

    ReplyDelete

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