Chondromalacia, a.k.a. Runner’s Knee

Well according to the physician’s assistant that I saw this morning, I have runner’s knee. Of course, I’ve heard of runner’s knee, but never having had it before, I didn’t recognize it. Frankly, I didn’t think it would be as painful as it is. From blogs and forum posts that I’ve read, I just thought it would be a dull pain – more of an annoyance that something that would require so much time off. Of course if I had been more proactive from the beginning, all it would have been was a dull pain.

The plan now is simple. I’m going to follow the PA’s advice. Two weeks of rest and prescription-strength ibuprofen. After that, take ibuprofen before exercise, and hopefully I’ll be fine to run. My biggest challenge now is to control my weight while I’m not running. Of course it’s the holiday season, so it’s not like there will sweet, delicious temptations everywhere I turn.

For what it’s worth, here are my November totals:

100.9 miles, including over 60 miles in one week.
12 running days
0 doubles

I’ve run 2667 miles in 2006. Sadly, I’m not going to reach my goal of 3000 miles for 2006. I was ahead of pace through October, but the choice between chasing a mileage goal and getting healthy, is a no brainer. The goal now is to enter 2007 healthy.

Speaking of 2007, it’s time to start setting goals for next year. I’m looking forward to it – both setting the goals and chasing them.