Welp. I was finally able to see my primary doctor about my knee pain. The pain showed itself initially on a long run a month or two ago, but since then it likes to reappear when I’m walking too far or sitting too long. And of course when I’m running. The knee brace helps some, but still. I’m trying to train for a half marathon here, and I wanted to be sure I wasn’t doing any permanent damage to my knee.

The good news is that there is no permanent damage. I suspected that after my visit to the free clinic, but my doctor confirmed it. Her diagnosis was Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, or Runner’s Knee. She recommended R.I.C.E. – rest, ice, compression, elevation – which I’ve kinda sorta been doing already, with the exception of rest. Resting is hard. She said it would probably be best to stop running for awhile, and just stick with my home exercises. She didn’t say NOT to run, but just that I would heal faster if I didn’t. Oh, and she gave me some rehabilitation exercises to do at home that will help strengthen the muscles that support the knee, which should help to prevent this from happening again down the road.

Since the weather in the coming week is forecasted to cross over to triple digits, and I hate running on the treadmill, I’m not all that sad about not running. Putting a pause on the training makes me a little nervous though, because my half marathon is only 65 days away. But – I have to trust that the home exercises are going to keep my body fit and help prepare me for running 13.1 miles. Also, I’m adjusting my expectations so instead of running the whole race, I’m okay with having to take walk breaks. The ultimate goal is to finish, however long it takes me.