The Knee Injury

Only I would get hurt at a fun run....

A week after the Manitoba Marathon, I did a 5km fun run called 5K Foam Fest and it was a ton of fun! It's an obstacle course with over 20 obstacles, lots of foam and mud! Unfortunately, the race was cancelled due to an extreme thunderstorm, but it was fun while it lasted!

During this run, though, I ended up jumping over an obstacle and landing wrong... very very wrong... I landed on my ankle and somehow managed to twist my knee in the opposite direction. There was a loud "pop" and a blast of pain and there I was on the ground, unable to move, barely able to breathe. I held back my tears and grabbed my bum out of the way so I wouldn't get trampled on, and my friend Cameron, who I was running with, came back to help me. I got up and limped for a while, then, out of nowhere, the pain vanished. So I kept on running (because it's a really smart thing to do...), but before we could run 100 meters, the race was cancelled, so we walked to the finish line, got our medals and t-shirts, and headed home. The second the race was over, the pain came back. I limped to the first aid, and they told me nothing was wrong, so I drove us home and spent the rest of that day putting ice on my knee and trying not to walk around too much, not that I could anyway...

Finally, a week later I was able to get to a doctor. Well, an athletic therapist. Every other doctor I could think of had a waiting list of about a month. So the athletic therapist told me he thought I tore my MCL and sprained my ankle, which is what I was expecting as well. He suggested I buy a knee sleeve and go to a doctor who could prescribe me crutches. He also said I shouldn't be going to work or walk on it at all... The doctor told me that I had torn it and got me prescription for a bigger knee brace with metal hinges in it and everything.

Now just over 6 weeks later, the doctor said I don't have to wear the brace anymore and that my knee is basically healed! She said that this particular ligament tends to heal stronger than before, so I was really lucky to have torn that one. So I went for a celebratory run, and now I can't wait to get back to training.

When you're used to being able to do something whenever you want and all of a sudden not be able to whatsoever, it's so disorienting and frustrating. Running is what keeps me sane, and not doing it for almost 2 months was making me crazy! It's good to be back.