Timing is everything

I have been having off and on "pain" over the past week. That knee that I thought would get better by stretching?  It wasn't.  Actually, the entire leg has just "ached".  I ran 3 miles yesterday, but was limping slightly at the end.  But there wasn't a great deal of pain, just a feeling of being really tight.  It never swelled.  But, in the course of the week, every once in a while, I'd take a step and get this "click" in my knee and a sharp pain.  That kind of sound when you crack a joint.  It always felt ok after, but I knew that sharp pain was not a good indicator.

I finally called the doctor.  X-ray showed nothing, however, he feels that I have a slight tear in my meniscus.  So, no running for 3 weeks, can bike in 2 and if there is no pain in that, then I can run.  Shot it full of cortisone and told me to "take it easy for the weekend".  This doctor knows me, so he laughed as he said that.  But I'll do what he said.  I'd rather be laid up for a couple weeks now then when I start my triathlon training in the spring.

The doctor I saw today, is one I see often, it's a group practice, so sometimes I have to see someone different.  That is what I did back in August.  I believe what that doctor prescribed, telling me to lay off my workouts and take an anti-inflammatory was the correct thing.  And I feel what my doctor did, today, was the logical next step.

I, of course, did a ton of reading on the 'net this morning before my appointment.  I had a feeling I had torn something but since I was still able to run and bike, I figured it wasn't a "full" tear.  Happily, I was correct.
Thinking back, I have been able to place when it occurred.   It was the beginning of July.  I was not working with a trainer and "made up" my own routine.  Bad idea.  It was during the squat jumps that I came down and felt a "bad pain".  I did stop the workout and iced it that night.  I emailed Kris, who said what I had done was "very aggressive" and suggested I rest it for a few days, and not repeat that workout.  I was one month away from my duathlon.  I was following Gale Bernhardt's training plan.  I took a few days off and went right back to training.  Never thought anything of it, until last month.  I had not had any further pain in my training leading up to the race.

I asked the doctor today, who knows the intensity and frequency of my training why didn't it completely tear?  I was running 3x's/week, biking and still doing plyometrics and some strength training.  He felt it was because my training for the past 5 months, which hadn't been only running and biking.  While what Kris taught me wasn't a Beachbody workout "per se", she has done so many of their workouts.  I have no doubt that she incorporated some of their moves.  I do know, for a fact, she showed me the INSANITY warm up.  I loved that.  And as I look back over the 6 months we trained together, I see that she taught me a wide variety of exercises.  Things like various plyometrics moves to increase my explosive speed.  Using a slide board, known to increase lateral muscle strength and endurance.  The lunge back-knee ups which helped increase my takeoff speed when running.  And all the core work made going up those hills, on  my bike, easier.

I learned these exercises before I "officially" started any of the Beachbody workouts.  I keep a journal and I think it will be interesting to see how my performance changes after I finish Chalean Extreme.  It is a weight lifting program but she also incorporates cardio intervals, with fast bursts of exercises with "rest" periods of weight lifting.  And her ab work is all core.  I can definitely feel my core has gotten stronger, just in the 3 weeks since I started Chalean Extreme.  I'm currently doing her ab workouts 3x's/week.

My plan after Chalean Extreme is to move onto INSANITY.  I have been told it will improve my cardio base.  You alternate between aerobic and anaerobic intervals at a fast pace.  Since I currently know my pace in running and biking, it shouldn't be difficult to determine how it helps improve both.  And then I'm thinking about doing ASYLUM.  Because ASYLUM is billed as THE way to increase both agility and speed.  And who doesn't want to get faster?

I, and my doctor, are firmly convinced that what I learned from Kris and her experience, both with Beachbody products and fitness in general, helped me from being in a much worse condition.  While I always believed in the value of cross training, based on this experience, it will always have a place in my training plan.

And right now it's my off season.  If I had to pick a time to rehab my knee, it couldn't have come at a better time.