Self Diagnosis

I have come to the conclusion that my knee hates me.  When training for my half marathon last summer, I had knee pain that would KILL me after long runs. Well of course after I stopped all the running, I never had trouble.  I'm not sure if I jumped back in to it all too fast or what, but I have a pissed off knee again.

What I'm thinking is that ITband syndrome has taken over, and pronation of my right foot isn't helping the alignment of my body.  After finishing my run yesterday, I decided it was finally time to befriend my joints and get some glucosamine.

 I immediately came home and started stretching, and talking with Megan about her similar problem that she is recovering from. Thank you for being so much help!!

I also found a website that is pretty informative on preventing injury and for not worsening an injury. Now its clear that my knee needs rest, ice, stretching, and strengthening to overcome this!

I started obsessing over finding several ways to stretch the ITband and found these from Coastal Sports Medicine and they are pretty self-explanatory.

 This one is sooo difficult for me to do because of my balance, and I most def can't get my hands to the ground!

and of course you know my favorite already....

 I don't get as much of a stretch with crossing my ankle over knee just because it puts pressure on my bad knee, but it feels great on my good leg.

and now for my NEW favorite!

 Hello, New Best Friend!! We will have a love/hate relationship, no doubt, but I know you will do my pitiful body some good.

 Oh how painful it really is using a foam roller!!! I have got a way to go, but I'm not leaving a leg out, so I must suffer on both sides.. I know I should have bought one of these a looooong time ago.

I know that it is a smart decision to take some time off from pounding the pavement, and give this angry knee a little TLC.  It makes me sick to know I can't go run on my last week of no work, but it is a smart decision that I need to stick to.

Until then, I'll just have to remember the sweet smell of spring from my LAST run for a while.

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I have been informed that people are having trouble posting comments on my blog, and I can't tell you why that is happening.  How long it will take is unknown, but I will be trying to switch my blog over to Wordpress.com in order to be able to hear from you!  As this change is made, I will let ya'll know!