Tale of the Torn Meniscus

Ten days before my Ironman race, I discovered I had a torn meniscus. It wasn’t a huge tear, but the doctor didn’t hold out a lot of hope for me finishing the race. He didn’t tell me I couldn’t do it, only that if I did, given the condition of my knee, it would really be something worth bragging about. He cautioned me against making any sudden sidewise moves that would put stress on the knee. He suggested that to finish, I would need to make sure I kept my knee in a constant forward position. In other words, knee over the toe. Then he wished me luck, because I was going to need it.

Now, let me explain a little more about my silly knee. Both my doctor and the orthopedic surgeon said that in a “normal person,” they would leave the knee be and not perform surgery. However, because of my goals and aspirations (marathons, and most especially Ironman), I was not considered, um, “normal.” Okay, I wasn’t considered abnormal either; I was considered an “athlete.” Me, a middle-aged, slightly overweight woman was considered an athlete. Somehow, I’ve just never seen myself like that and it still blows my mind that others perceive me in that manner.

But I digress. I wanted to explain about my knee as I went into my Ironman race. It didn’t hurt. Some people have the same condition as mine and can hardly walk. I could not only walk, I could run for a couple hours before it would suddenly “lock up” and cease cooperating with me. Then it would hurt and I’d have to hobble back to wherever my car was. Twenty minutes later, though, it would be fine and I’d wonder why in the world I quit running. I could go on hours-long bike rides with no ill effects and no pain. But I learned at the first twinge, to stop and head home.

So, when I went into Ironman, I knew it was going to take me longer than it normally would to finish my events. But I was committed. I was not going to let a little torn meniscus keep me from my goal. But, during the race, I did favor the knee and I deliberately held back. I didn’t push during the bike, for fear of blowing out my knee before I ever got to the run. But holding back meant taking more time, and in the end, I took more time than I should have. I didn’t finish the bike in time to make the cut-off time (okay, so I need a little work climbing hills as well), hence I wasn’t allowed to continue on the run.

Less than 4 weeks after my race (9/23), I had surgery on my knee. I’m happy to say it went very well. I was bearing weight, with the help of crutches, the first day. By the second day, I was down to one crutch. Monday through Wednesday, I went back to work, albeit just half days. While I don’t have a stressful job, it does require sitting down for long periods of time without the opportunity to prop up my leg.

Last Sunday (10/9), I attempted my first post-surgical run. The doctor had told me to wait until 10/14 for my first run, but I felt so good, I just couldn't wait to get out there. I managed to cover 4 miles in about 52 minutes. Not exactly a blazing time, but I don’t blaze anyway, so I thought I did remarkably well, considering.

Swimming was another thing I was supposed to wait to do, mostly because they wanted to make sure the holes made by my stitches had properly healed. Trust me, they were good and closed, so on 10/11, I put in 1000 yards in the pool. Interesting thing about swimming with a sore knee; it really made me focus on my kicking form. When swimming, kicking should be done from the hips, not from the knees. As runners and cyclists, we often kick from the knees, but that’s wasted power. Having the sore knee made me realize how much I was kicking from my knees without realizing it.

Two days later, on 10/13, I did another 4 miles (maybe more, probably less) of running. I ran with my friend and training buddy, Darcy (Ironayla). We only did 3 loops of a downtown area, but it was nice to just get out and run and catch up a little. I would walk every 5 minutes whether I felt like I needed it or not. It gave my knee AND my heart a brief respite.

Today is Saturday. I was going to get up and go swimming, but my knee started hurting last night. Now, as I try to put together my blog and make this entry, I’m sitting here with ice on it. It doesn’t hurt badly, just enough to let me know that I have had surgery on it and I need to take it easy. I must remember not to be so anxious to get back to where I was, that I injure myself further.

Anyway, now that the knee is repaired, and I’m s-l-o-w-l-y getting back into the training/running groove, my goal is to finish the Seattle Half Marathon. I started doing this race in December of 2002. This will be my 4th year in a row and I’m determined not to miss it, even if I have to walk most of it.