What a Pain-in-the-Knee

After stalling 1/2 the day to go out for a run, waiting for the weather to cooperate - I gave up and just went. This morning I got up and put on shorts and a tank..then patiently watched the Weather Channel, waiting for it to break 60. It never did, and so I put on pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt and headed out. Today I ran a path I created a week or so ago on favorite run - its about 3.5 miles (a bit less). Cardio-wise I was fine, but I have been having some knee issues and decided to do some searching.

Runners Knee
I have been having a feeling of tightness on the insides of both knees. Its there a bit all the time, particularly bothers me when I start running, then fades when I get into it. When I stop, its back. Its not really painful, but I am worried that I am doing something wrong and will eventually lead to an injury. When I got home from my run today I decided to "self-diagnose" with a little help from the internet and it looks like I am experiencing Patellofemoral pain a.k.a. "Runners Knee". Thanks to the "what hurts" information on Runners World

Some of the recommended treatment includes rest - which isnt really going to happen right now. There is also a suggestion of cutting back on distance, hills, or intensity - the funny thing is...I am not even doing any of these things yet! The good news is that it appears you can run through this kind of pain. Instead I am going to opt for some of the suggested stretching and strengthening exercices. If it gets worse, I will go to a doctor later ;)

Anna Maria Pasteria
Meeting my mentee team tonight (a small group of TNT members assigned to the same "mentor") for dinner. We are going to practice loading up on carbohydrates prior to a run. Unfortunatly, I do not need practice at this - I load up on carbs on a regular basis ... running has nothing to do with it!

The restaurant looks way cute (at least, from looking at the website) but there might be a problem. I have a dessert problem. If I see it, I eat it. If nobody orders dessert I am fine - since I am not one to break group norms. Unfortunately, my mentor suggested this restaurant for us all to go to based on her love for their strawberry cream torte. And then I noticed, while browsing the menu, their "bomba al cioccoloto" - aka warm chocolate cake smothered with bittersweet chocolate sauce. Oh please, nobody order dessert. I am on my knees praying at this moment. And if someone orders dessert, please let them be out of chocolate cake.

Training Log
Time:   38.37 minutes     Distance:3.48 miles    Pace:   11:06min/mi
I finally sucked it up and ran outdoors. Suprisingly, I am finding myself to be pretty consistent with pacing. I have yet to master the art of stopping my watch at every mile marker (simply because I havent figured out a mile-by-mile route breakdown) so I dont know how my time varies over the distance. I am assuming I am faster in the beginning because I pretty much have to drag myself home at the end :)
Progress Made

• Pacing seems to be fairly regular
• Made myself run outdoors (even though it was cold) and rewarded myself with Reeses

Lessons Learned

• I appear to already have injured myself - but its not life threatening