The Battle to Get Fit

I haven't been running for more than a month since I felt pain in my left knee. I did compete in the 1st race of the Leppin Off-Road series (the 14 km course) around three weeks ago, but as I took the race slowly by my standards, it's no surprise I didn't get a good time.

This prompted me to finally visit the physiotherapist in my gym. The problem is with my patella tendon in my left knee somehow being inflamed or aggravated. She did a few tests and unfortunately I have a few biomechanical problems, something runners don't want to admit.

My left ankle, which I rolled a couple of years ago while running (surprise surprise), is rather weak, which reduces the stability of my left leg. Because I also have a pronation problem, this causes the knee to roll inward, thereby placing pressure on tendons and ligaments there. Balancing on my left leg is far more difficult than on my right leg.

My ITB (illio-tibial band) is very very tight, which pulls the kneecap outwards and also contributes to mis-alignment of my knee.

Finally I have muscle imbalances. It seems my left leg is stronger than my right leg. That's an interesting observation, but not sure how this could contribute to my current problem. Generally muscle imbalances are bad. For example my quad muscles are much stronger than my hamstrings, though it is the hamstring muscles that are the dominant muscles in running, and when running huge distances I find that my hamstrings fatigue much quicker than my quads.

My very good physiotherapist gave me some rehabilitative exercises to get me back on track. And, to her credit, they seem to be helping. I'm still not out of the woods yet, it will still be some time before I can really get back into training for the Auckland Marathon. I'm also unsure whether I can break 4 hours this time. Injuries not only affect you physically, but they can affect you mentally as well. To not be able to meet your running goals because of an injury is really frustrating. At least I got injured now, instead of the day before the marathon. Now I'd feel gutted if that happened to me.

The downtime in my running has resulted in increased gym attendance. My physio recommended me not to do leg workouts as bulking up the legs would reduce leg flexibility, which may have contributed to my left knee packing up. So I have only concentrated on upper-body. I guess I can't go wrong with that. Time to get that huge chest, and bulk up my arms.