Following on from the pain saga of my first long distance run last week - it appears my persistent knee pain is rather common among runners, especially females. As if women do not suffer enough as it is, now I find out that there is also a very common problem with our DNA which makes us susceptible to runners knee - lovely!
Apparently it is caused by week muscles supporting the knee cap and instead of the knee cap moving up and down over the thigh bone, if the muscles are weak then it doesn't hold it in place and instead moves to the side.
After doing some investigative work I have found out that it doesn't cause any lasting damage providing you do not run through the pain (looks like I may have to give running a rest for the next week) and that there are some simple exercises to do to strengthen the knee muscles.
I say simple......
I figured that there is no time like the present and thought I would start doing these simple stretches last night. All was going well until I tried the one for the hamstrings, where you have to lay on your stomach, one ankle resting on the foot of the other leg and raise the leg slowly towards your back. Then I heard this really loud crack and felt pain shoot all the way up my thigh muscle.
Now, you don't have to be a genius to figure out that perhaps that shouldn't have happened.......
After spending most the night tossing and turning trying to get comfortable, I awoke this morning not only looking like a tired old hag - I was also hobbling about like one too. So Londoners, if you see someone limping around the City today feeling sorry for herself, please take pity and do not barge into me whilst I'm walking at 2mph and your whizzing by.
Although, to be fair alot of the fluid seems to have subsided so maybe it has done some good, in a backwards knee-cracking-pain-shooting kind of way. We shall see.........
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