Running With Arthritis

9/7 Update

jpr1877 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:12:43 +0000

Well, I went for a run today and it felt great. The knee didn’t feel that great, but it felt good to get out there. I’m sure I’ll pay for it tomorrow however. The place I run here is very hilly…I’m not sure if that is worse than flats. Anyways, overall I feel very good. I should do this more often instead of being a chicken.

Re: Jack

jpr1877 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:40:29 +0000

Hey Jack–

As you can see I haven’t posted in a while. The running is frustrating. I run a little each week, but no more than two times and rarely more than 2 miles each. I have found that the track is way better than the treadmill, both in terms of motivation and pain prevention.

Did your doc rule out a torn meniscus?I have talked to a few people recently who told me mine might actually be that and not arthritis. I need to go back to the doc and find out.

Tell me a little about your situation. When did you first have pain, what were/are the symptoms, what tests did the doc do, etc? How much did you run and how about now?

Thanks for writing. I’m glad to have someone to talk to about this stuff.

Jeff

8/20 Update

jpr1877 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:34:45 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve written. The running has trickled down to about four miles a week, mostly on a track. It’s very demoralizing. There is a small glimmer of hope, however. I have been advised that I might actually have a meniscus tear and not arthritis. So, I need to go back to the doc to discuss. A torn meniscus requires surgery, but I could then return to running a full schedule. That would be AWESOME. Wish me luck!

Jeff

3/21 Update

jpr1877 — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:36:13 +0000

Ran 4 miles yesterday off road. Felt pretty good. Knee was a bit sore, but not too bad. This morning it feels okay so far. Ask me again in a few hours!

When I first had knee pain, the PT thought it was tendinitis, and she taught me how to tape it up to immobilize the patella, which is rather unstable. Anyways, I thought I would tape it yesterday to see if it made any difference, and I can’t really say. It seemed more sore during the run that not taped, but I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not. I’ll keep you posted.

jpr1877 — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:13:59 +0000

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3/20 Update

jpr1877 — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:52:43 +0000

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated. Well, since the last run, I have done a couple things. I rode a stationary bike on Saturday for an hour. Felt great. Then on Sunday I was planning to run 4 miles but it was terribly windy and rainy and I was just too lazy to get to the gym for some boring indoor running. So I did nothing.

On Tuesday I pace intervals: 2×800, 2×400, 2×200. With warmup and cool down, total distance was 4 miles. Felt pretty great!

Yesterday I played racquetball and the knee was sore the whole time. I probably should have quit, but that isn’t in my nature. So I finished. Today the knee feels alright, not great, but not terrible. But my legs are quite sore from the back to back days of considerable effort. I’ve been receiving pressure to quit racquetball, but I just can’t. It’s a lot of fun and a great workout. We’ll see.

Arthritis sucks.

3/12 Update

jpr1877 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:20:29 +0000

I haven’t run since my last post….it’s been a crazy week. I did play racquetball today. That sport is NOT good for arthritic knees! The knee is pretty sore right now and will be for a few days I would expect. I’m not sure how long I can keep playing if I want to continue running. I’ll keep you posted on that. Arthritis sucks!!!

3/10 Update

jpr1877 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:21:13 +0000

On Saturday I lifted leg weights. The doctor says squats, lunges, and leg presses are good for the knee and can alleviate some symptoms. I’ve been doing it off and on for a few months. I do think it helps.

On Sunday I ran four miles indoors at the WSU gym. The track is 1/8 of a mile and quite boring. Oh well. Anyways, the knee felt okay. Today it’s a little sore. It’s been snowing and I slipped on the sidewalk a couple times and that tweaked the knees. So I’m not sure if it’s more sore from the running or from the slipping. At any rate, it is still sore.

The Day After

jpr1877 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:05:50 +0000

The knee feels fine today after my first 3 miler in a couple weeks. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. The tough thing about arthritis is you never know how it’s going to feel. Sometimes it’ll feel great the day after, and other times it’ll feel like Jeff Gillooly gave you the Nancy Kerrigan treatment. Tomorrow I’ll be playing racquetball and maybe running too. It may be too much, but I’ll let the knee tell me.

March 3rd 3 Miler

jpr1877 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:58:43 +0000

I ran 3 miles today on the Mooberry Track at Washington State University. The doctor told me that running on softer surfaces would be better for the knee, so here I am running in circles like a dog chasing his tail.

The knee was sore at the beginning, but warmed up. Afterwards, the knee felt okay. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would probably rate my knee on this run as a 7.