weekend happenings + an unfortunate turn of events

So this knee pain I've been having an issue with on my past few runs? I'm pretty sure it's not due to any sciatic nerve has I had originally thought. Instead, I had a nice appointment with Google yesterday, who told me that it could actually be runner's knee, which there's a better, more legitimate name for that I"m not about to spell out and get wrong for you guys.

Apparently the cartilage underneath my patella isn't happy with me working it, most likely due to over-training it. Since I started marathon training in January, my weekly mileage has been higher than ever before in my running history. I thought I was being smart about it since I was following a plan, but didn't really stop to think about how it might also  be negatively be affecting my body that isn't used to be working it so hard.

So yesterday on my supposed 16 mile run was my breaking point. I had a little knee pain starting at mile 3, intense knee pain starting at mile 12, and then walked miles 12-14 back home. Walking surprisingly felt fine, which will be nice since I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of it these next few weeks.

My plan right now is to take 2 weeks off for recovery. I'll start back out with easy runs to make sure I don't re-injure it and will hopefully be in tip-top shape by the time this marathon rolls around on June 2nd.

In the meantime, during these (extremely tedious) two weeks you'll be finding me doing these stretches for the nerve (just in case) and work on some strength training. I was happy to find this article on recuperation - the author makes it sound like a pretty simple recovery so here's hoping he's right!

Here's a little tasteroo of what went down this weekend:

Friday night Seattle meetup with a dear friend of mine who recently moved back to Seattle from LA! We went to Boom Noodle in Capitol Hill, did a little window shopping in University Village, and ended out night at Veggie Grill for dessert. Friday night at its best.

I ordered the "Tokyo Ramen" veggie-style from Boom, and while it was delicious, I don't think it met it's $14 price tag. I'm a volume eater, and my heart sort of stopped when the bowl was already half-full when it got to me. The "Chocolate Pudding Parfait" at Veggie Grill, however, was inhaled.

The oh-so-sad Saturday long-run view. This came straight off my 'gram.

 

Saturday afternoon plant sale on Bainbridge Island! What's hilarious is the irony of this - I get injured on a run and am on the prowl for a relaxing afternoon. Instead, I find this plant sale which was at the end of this 1 mile (albeit beautiful) walk. I was searching for veggie plants so when I discovered there weren't any I grabbed the first vibrant plant I saw and went with it. We waited in  line for 30 minutes in the rain for this little guy, and then promptly ran (hobbled, actually) away to fund some lunch.

 Sunday afternoon curtain-creating! With the madre, who knows all things sewing and could make anything out of a needle and thread. I'm sure of it. ;) My sad husband got some sort of stomach virus so I stayed away as much as possible yesterday. We got these curtains done in 5 hours, and I couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out. I'll post a picture once I get them hung!

Have you ever had runner's knee? How do you deal with being injured and taking time off from training or working out?