If you’ve stopped by my blog and read some of my posts, you’ll know I’m a runner. Or should I say I ‘WAS’ a runner.
Running has been great for me in so many ways and quite a big part of my life on and off over the years. At school I was never a runner. I hated cross country (and still do). Cross country was the sort of running you did at school in the 1970s. I didn’t like PE generally either. And as for walking …. I’d rather get the bus than walk. But as I got older running seemed to appeal, so I thought I’d give it a try. And I liked it.
During relationship break ups running has helped me to focus, when my Mum died running was my solace and it kept me going, and along the way I’ve lost weight, got fitter and won quite a few medals for half marathons and 10k races – not that I’ve actually ‘won’ anything as I was never that fast. But I finished what I started, sometimes quite easily, other times with pain and discomfort. But I ran races and finished. At times I even surprised myself. I can’t say I was ever the most confident runner, but my partner, Mark, always said I was a better runner than I gave myself credit for and I sought some confidence in that.
But over the last year or so I began to feel more discomfort and quite a bit of pain a day or so after a run. My knees squelched and clicked more loudly as I walked up the stairs, and I knew something was wrong. In November last year, having put off going to the Doctor, I finally made an appointment to find out what I really already knew. After a visit to the walk-in xray department at the local hospital, I was told I had osteoarthritis in both knees and some bone damage to my right knee. The prognosis was not good. Too young for knee replacements and not severe enough anyway. So, I was told take up to 8 paracetomol each day and if necessary get a prescription for stronger medication, lose a little weight and avoid running at all costs! Avoid running?!? No! This is not what I wanted to hear. But it’s what I knew was right.
To be honest I did wallow for a few days, partly for the loss of my running and partly because of the pain in my knees and partly because I surely wasn’t this old! Only old people get osteoarthritis surely! So I did some research and found that more women than men get osteoarthritis AND the onset is at around 50+, and I was 50 last year. So this was it. It was true. I have to accept I HAVE osteoarthritis.
So, I had to get on with it. Time to stop wallowing and be positive. How could I fill the gap I’d created by not running? I had, with my partner Mark who is a runner taking on crazy, bonkers challenges (more about him later), started going swimming once a week. I’ve still to increase this to twice a week but planning to. And I started walking. In fact, I started walking and I started a walking section of the running club Mark and I started in 2013. I’m in good company too as there are 3 of us (all women) out of the group with osteoarthritis and as we do our weekly Wednesday walk, we talk about our aches and pains, but we also talk about how much the walking is helping.
Every cloud and all that …
I did some running at School like you .But preferred football etc ,then divorce came along and started down the Gym and did a bit of running on the treadmill. It was not until I turned forty that I decided to have a go at some distance running and quite enjoyed it .But now having Just turned fifty two and finding that what I thought to be a Hip injury now could be something more serious some looking to re-invent myself.
on February 4, 2015 at 8:22 pm MarkHi Mark and thank for reading and commenting on my blog. Age gets us doesn’t it!!! Like you I was about 40 when I started running and dead on 50 when I’ve had to stop. You are right in that it’s all about re-inventing oneself. I feel I’m getting there with my reinvention – walking, swimming and just trying to be positive. Hope your hip injury isn’t as serious as you think. Keep in touch.
on February 4, 2015 at 8:35 pm DeborahHi Deborah, I’m sorry to hear about your knee problems. I’m a chiropractor who treats a lot of runners (many with osteoarthritis) and I just wanted to give you my perspective and suggest a few things you may want to look into.
Many factors need to be looked at when addressing osteoarthritis. I have recently written an article on this you may find helpful. (link: http://www.steffentoatesdc.com/2014/10/19/update_on_oa/)
It is also important to note, that although people are often told otherwise, there is actually little correlation between x-ray appearance and joint pain, and we often see degenerative findings ‘wear and tear’ in knees with no pain what so ever. (http://www.molepi.nl/uploads/publicaties/2013/2013_bay_jensen_menopause.pdf). Pain is often a result of other factors.
A good example of this is a runner I saw recently whose x-ray demonstrated OA so severe that the consultant wanted to do an immediate replacement. However with a little treatment and a lot of hard work on his part, 6 months later, he is now able to run pain free. Contrary to popular belief running has been found NOT to cause degenerative changes in our joints: A 25 yearlong study from Stanford University recently confirmed that running altered neither the severity nor prevalence of knee arthritis. (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/sports/20081003_Medical.pdf)
Now I don’t want to suggest this necessarily would be the case for you but I wanted to give you this information as running is something you clearly enjoyed and I think too often people are told they have to live with pain or give up something they enjoy when in many cases there are solutions.
This book also has some great info on injury free running: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Injury-Free-Running-Strength-Improve-Injuries-ebook/dp/B00JBF5NR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423215467&sr=8-1&keywords=injury+free+running
Good Luck
Steffen
on February 6, 2015 at 9:49 am steffen toatesSteffen – I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to read my blog post and for providing such fantastic information. I will take a look at the links you’ve provided and will download the Injury Free Running book onto my Kindle. Perhaps it’s not quite the end of running for me?!
on February 6, 2015 at 2:44 pm DeborahHi Deborah, fantastic blog…and fantastic “stiff upper lip” as you move on from your much loved running and re-invent yourself into walking. Great example to so many.
on February 6, 2015 at 3:59 pm MarkB