Benched...

Since about three weeks before Ironman I have had this nagging pain in my knee...some days worse some days better than others, but constant. Not really a surprise with the givens...a long season, big volume, 3 marathons, one Ironman, a half-iron distance and a few shorter races...3 prior knee surgeries and a leg that's an anatomical 15mm short.

The prognosis, grade 3 chondromalacia...more commonly known as runner's knee (varying degrees of severity grades 1-4). My self diagnosis was spot on. I know my body - now all I need to do is listen to it. Easier said than done, but I am making strides...I had to make the decision to not run Denver this week, which was not easy. Must shut it down and rest, and while I rest, relish in the accomplishments of this year (thanks Jess).

Dabbling in medicine in my free time, I have obsession with needing to know, learning to diagnose, and trying to treat, and should I by the grace of God win the Powerball, I'll go to med school. To that end, I have learned that the principle causes of this type of injury are overuse and imbalance of musculature; so its no surprise that my right leg, aka "little guy" is the root of the cause. Better than 90% of these types of injuries lead to full recovery given earlier enough recognition of the problem, a giving in to the stubbornness of managing and working thru pain, rest and strength training.

I plan to take 4-6 away from running and then start back slowly. Before I return, I'll have read "Born to Run" to see what that does for my thoughts on running, as it seems to have influenced all my friends who have read it. Also, I plan to decrease my shoe lift to 8mm rather than the 10mm that I have been running on all year to compensate for my leg length inequality. A realization that I came to while watching my shadow as I ran and feeling that the material used for the lift was far less compressible than the other shoe making the lift seem larger than it should be (I know I lost Kristina here with the details). Trial and error, inexact scientific methodology . I'll do all this in some new Mizunos Wave Riders as well...hoping for a good fit, literally.

So begins a more restful off season that will include lots of swimming and squats and long z2 bike rides until I run again...with a small score to settle in June in Coeur d'Alene. For now that's as close to the bench that I am prepared to be.