Battle Of Wounded Knee

One day you are cruising along, getting your road work accomplished in preparation for your first 1/2 marathon...and the the next day you can barely get up and down a flight of steps without clinging to the rail for fear of your knee giving out.

As of this writing, the chances of me being able to run the Tacoma 1/2 marathon on May 4th are dimming. What I thought was nothing but a severe case of runner's knee is more than likely a full tear of the medial meniscus in my right knee.  Now, I haven't been evaluated by an actual doctor, but having dealt with meniscus tears before I do know some of the 'tests' they use to evaluate injuries...and I fail every one of them.  I can't bend my knee without pain, I can't 'duck walk' without pain, the knee locks out and gives out...which are also symptoms of runner's knee.  However, the RICE protocol hasn't really made much of a dent in the pain and instability of my knee.

I'm experimenting with different braces, taking fistfuls of NSAID, using ice, and stretching (including dead lifts to keep my balky hamstrings in shape) in a ritualistic and optimistic attempt to make the pain go away.  I haven't run in two weeks, my last run being an 8.2 miler that could have been stretched to 9 or more as I felt really comfortable.  I didn't take any missteps or twist the knee on that run, the pain hit the next day and got worse 48 hours later...which again gives me some glimmer of hope that what is left of my right medial meniscus is still intact.

I miss running...I enjoy running...and I really, really, really wanted to run that 1/2 marathon on 5/4....'cause I kind of wanted to put one of those 13.1 stickers on my car in a non-ironic manner.

Oh, and I guess I could go and see an actual doctor, but my fear is that the meniscus tear will be confirmed and surgery will be recommended and surgery just isn't going to work right now...