Here’s the shortest version of the story to recap it all:
I intended to run towpath at a 3:30 pace (this would be an 8-minute PR - totally do-able). I was on week 7 or 8 of my 18 week training program and the schedule called for an 8 mile paced run. (8 miles at the intended marathon pace - 8:00 miles). This should have been and easy run. Well, 4 miles into it I started getting this bizaar knee pain in my left knee. This pain was so bad that I had to walk - something that has NEVER happened to me before. Now, mind you, I did experience something similar with regard to knee pain the 2 runs prior to this - but I kept running and decided it was just a fluke. This 8 mile run did me in, though, and I was forced to walk / run the rest of the way back.
I tried self-healing: bought new shoes, took ibuprofin, stretched, rested, cross-trained. Nothing worked. So I went to the Dr. after a full 2-weeks off didn’t help. The only time I get any pain is when I’m running - nothing else hurts. He was worse than useless and I left knowing nothing of what was wrong or how to fix it. (At least I knew that my Xrays looked normal).
So - I scheduled an appt. with an Orthopedic sports Dr. This place is AWESOME. Right across the street from Akron Children’s hospital. (I think they cater more to kids than to adults…) I had 2 Dr.’s moving my knee, making me balance on each leg, do squats, walk, etc. They asked a TON of questions and decided that it was likely an imbalance issue, possibly ITB. They scheduled an apt. for me to see the physical therapist.
The physical therapist is a young, friendly girl about my age. She also is a marathon runner. She spent an hour with me and determined that I had obvious weekness in my hips and told me it was 100% my ITB that was causing the problems. She gave me some exercises and stretches to do, and we scheduled an apt. with the gait analysis guy for the next week.
Last week I went in and the other Dr. (let’s call him gait-guy) had me lay on a table and he looked at my feet and legs. He had me walk and run while he watched how my legs and feet moved. He looked at the calluses on my feet and he tested the strength in each leg. It was so funny because he IMMEDIATELY saw the problem. In a nutshell- I have a crooked leg. My left leg, rather than coming down strait from the knee to my foot, is slightly bent into the right. This causes my running stride to do almost a loop when my foot hits the ground. This in turn causes a lot of strain on my hip muscles - and in particular my ITB. They were amazed that I had been able to have the life of running that I explained to them and baffled that I’ve never had any problems with my ITB until now.
The solution:
I have stretches and strength exercises I have to do daily to strengthen my hips and stretch my ITB. I was also fitted with special orthodics that raise my left leg up and to the left in an attempt to keep me from doing the strange loop thing when my foot strikes the ground. I was told to wear the orthodics for a couple of days to get used to them and then I could attempt a 1-2 mile run.
So - yesterday was the planned day. I decided I would try to run 2 miles on the flat towpath. (I know - that’s the most pathetic sentence related to running that I think I’ve ever written.) Katy was over and she wanted to run with me. Perfect - that would force me to only go 2 miles and at an easy (9-min) pace. So I put on my Garmin, get my running stuff on, and set out to do my 2 miles. BIG DAY!
We jogged the 800 ft. to the start of the towpath - I stretched one more time and we started the 2 mile run. I was keeping an eye on my Garmin to make sure that we only went 1 mile out and that we didn’t go any faster than 8:30 pace. At 1 mile turn around I felt fine (the shortest distance so far that I’ve experienced pain is 2.7 miles in) and we headed back. Wouldn’t you know it - 1.45 miles in - the pain was back. We had to walk the last .5 miles. 
I feel like I’m going backwards rather than forwards. Every time I attempt to do a run, the distance I can go before I feel pain is SHORTER rather than longer. I’m worried that I’m doing all these stretches and massages to my ITB and it’s making it WORSE rather than better. I’m now not even capable of running 2 miles without pain. What is it going to be next? Will it start to hurt just from walking? Why am I going backwards rather than forwards in recovery? Ugh. I am SO frustrated by the inability to do what I want to do, but even worse is the fact that I’m not seeing ANY signs of improvement. In fact, what I’m seeing is a declining fitness level combined with a shorter and shorter running distance capability. I’m like a fat person who is starving themselves and gaining weight rather than losing.
So what should I do? I know - Todd tells me that soft tissue injuries take a long time to heal, and that I should be happy that I have legs and the ability to walk. I get it. But that doesn’t really make me feel any better in the short term.
If you’re still reading this - can you give me some advice because I’m dying over here! I need something to keep me going - someone to tell me that the recovery is going to start soon. People that haven’t spent over 50% of their lives as a runner don’t understand. I started running when I was 12 years old. 8th grade track team. It’s not like I just picked this up a couple of years ago to loose weight or try to look good in a bathing suit. Running and me know each other well. We’ve been together for a long time. Longer than most of the relationships in a lot of our lives. We’re going on 20 years of friendship and now my good old pal running is lying in a hospital bed on life support. This is a HUGE part of my life. Oh, and not to mention the fact that it’s a HUGE part of my SOCIAL life.
So enough rambling because now I’ve gotten myself all worked up and there are tears in my eyes and I can’t see the screen very well. Argh.
29* year old Akron native. Recently completed my MBA with a concentration in Sustainability. Passionate about innovative renewable energy technology and endurance sports.