I can’t even pronounce this word, chondromalacia, but based on the symptoms I’ve been feeling for months now, I have a bad feeling that’s what I have.  It is otherwise known as “runner’s knee” and one of the most common injuries experience by young adult runners, and especially female runners.

For the past months, I’ve felt this tightness and pressure on my left knee, around the knee cap area but couldn’t figure out what it is. I feel it when I’m walking, when I’m standing, and even when I’m lying down. I probably should have stopped running when I first felt it but I didn’t. I kept pushing on. Ironically, my knee feels ok for the first 1.5-2 miles that I run. Then somewhere before mile 3 is when I start to feel that twinge of pain and discomfort and that feeling of something hard grinding up on another hard thing (possibly patella grinding on bone because the cartilage has worn away due to the patella being misaligned).

Anyway, this morning, I did a 5000meter but had to slow to a walk about 2.5 miles into it because the grinding felt very “loud” in my body. You can’t hear it but I felt it more so than any other time. It wasn’t good. I thought something was going to pop out of my leg. That was what prompted me to do the research. Granted, I’ve self-diagnosed this to avoid going to the doctor and there is a slim chance maybe it is nothing at all but given the constant tightness and pressure and discomfort I’ve been feeling, this seems like the closest bet when given the wide range of knee injuries one can get.

I’m icing now and will be daily, in case there is some internal swelling.  I guess I am suppose to work on different exercises and maybe get some knee wraps and not run for 6-8 weeks or however long it takes for this to correct itself. (Rest was the #1 action recommended on a bunch of running sites.)  That’s disappointing because I’ve grown to like running (it is a nice, minimal sport that pushes me to my limits, takes my mind off everything and lets me meditate and focus on the moment..or on the agony of running heh) and also because I have a destination race next month.  All tickets and hotels have been booked — what now??  I guess I will crosstrain, rest the knee and hope to be able to cover 6 miles running and walk the rest and still come under the time limit without further injuring myself or getting a “DNF”?  That’s the hope. (Though I was really hoping to not get injured at all!) I can’t very well not run it because I’ve been looking forward to this race!  Good thing I didn’t sign up for any other races yet — and trust me, there are a handful I definitely want to do from Oct through January!