Running Again!

 After many years, more than 10, of avoiding running for exercise due to TWO meniscus transplants, I was asked by my amazing sister if I wanted to run a 10K with her somewhere in the US (we live on opposite coasts).  I told her I would give some training a shot, and stop if I felt like it was hurting my knee.  Both my knees are bad, but my MT knee has been through a lot and I was worried about putting it through the rigors of training.  I'm a former catcher, not a small guy, and I've never loved running (I hated that part of triathlons).  

 First, I found a low impact treadmill at my gym, and that was going to be most of my runs.   Despite the fact treadmills can be terribly boring, I felt concrete was just not good for me.  I found a couch to 10K app, and decided I would follow it to the letter.  My first run was literally 1:30 running and 2 mins of walking for 15 minutes.  The first few runs were overly easy, and I felt no pain in either knee.  However, as soon as I got into the 5 minute plus runs, I was gasping for air, I was very discouraged that I had fallen that much out of running shape.  As the runs got longer, I did experience some knee pain, but nothing more than I would get from a hike over uneven surfaces.  The runs got easier, and the pains started to lessen.  By the 12th week I ran 7+ miles while on vacation (the views made the run go by without me even realizing how far I'd gone) pain free.  I was actually enjoying the runs.  The race was set for October 2, 2021 in Dallas.  

We did everything wrong in prepping for the race (plane ride, late night, and bad food all the day before), but we rallied to the start line.  Honestly, the run was awesome until mile 4.  I had no knee pain for the first 4 miles, but the humidity made for some very slick trail surfaces, and my knee started acting up a bit as I struggled getting traction in places.  I started favoring the MT leg, and that caused some hip pain (never had it before).  However, I wanted to finish what I started, and my sister was an amazing partner.  Despite the nasty humidity, my knee and hip, we finished with smiles on our faces (well, after we had some water and realized we were done).  In any event, I'm running, after two MTs, and 5 surgeries on that knee, I'm running.  I have decided to keep it at 4 miles for my longest runs, stay on low impact treadmills for the most part, and will stop if I feel like I'm getting any unusual knee pain, but at 49 years old I'm a runner.  As I write this, I can't help but think about sitting in my bed in pain in the days after my last MT, locked in a knee brace with the ice machine flowing, just hoping to walk again.  I'm so proud of the hard work of my team (Dr. Stone, my PTs, and myself) in how far I've come.  No limits.  Happy knee health people, and good luck!