Knee | Blissfulbritt

Tag: Knee

Birch Bay Half Marathon

Posted at 9:09 AM by Brittany, on February 19, 2013

After what felt like the longest week of the year, I was able to successfully complete my second half marathon!

The race would have been tough without this.

I contacted Pro-Tec Athletics about reviewing a knee brace, and Jennie with the sales/marketing department replied to me that same day. She was so helpful in suggesting a brace, and she ended up sending me TWO just to be sure I found one I liked. I ended up LOVING this patellar strap (the one she suggested), and I am SO impressed with this companies customer service. I’ll admit I was skeptical of a strap helping my knee, but boy was I wrong! This little strap worked WONDERS!

Not only were these braces sent to me for free, they were sent priority mail and I received them the very next day. This was such a life saver. I wore this strap anytime I was on my feet for a long period of time. I wore it on walks, and I wore it for the race. My knee performed amazingly. I would recommend this patellar strap to ANYONE with runners knee, or anything similar. Oh and if it couldn’t get any better, Scott Jurek wears these braces..since we’re best friends and all. Thank you so much Jennie and Pro-Tec, you helped me run this race! Ok enough mush..onto the race!

The location of this run was gorgeous. Along the bay for a good chunk of the race meant views like this.

The race was flat for the most part, but did have some rolling hills. One of the hills was so beastly and lasted for over a mile (I am a wuss when it comes to big hills.) My pace held steady around 10:40 until I hit this hill and I dropped to an 11:40ish pace. That hill killed my hips. This was around mile 7 and I really started to feel the effects of being on my butt all week. While my knee felt great (yay) my hips were screaming.

By mile 10 my thighs were burning so bad I thought they were going to cramp. This was a new sensation for me, and two days later they are STILL sore!! Miles 11-13 were on autopilot. At this point I wanted to be done. My legs were burning, my back was hurting, and my energy was GONE. I don’t think the cinnamon toast crunch I had for breakfast lasted longer than the first 3 miles. Free continental breakfasts are great! Thankfully I had my running rock with me and having him next to me was enough to keep going.

With a bum knee, a week off from cardio (seriously this week off made me sluggish!), a lack of fuel, and massive hills, I finished without walking and I now have a shiny new PR.

I chopped 9 minutes off from my last half! The Disney congestion during the first three miles made for some very slooowww miles. This meant I had plenty of room for improvement, and improve I did. Thank you to EVERYONE that sent me good knee vibes, it paid off!! I will be taking some time off of running to ensure my knee gets back to 100%. Hellooooo spin class! YAHOO time to look for the next half marathon!

Q: Have you ever run/walk/biked in a race or something similar while injured? I saw two other people with patellar straps in this race, I felt like I was part of a special club!

| 75 Comments Tagged Half Marathon, Knee, PR, Running

Taking A Week Off

Posted at 10:07 AM by Brittany, on February 13, 2013

A couple weeks ago I tweaked my knee. From running 11 miles in crap shoes, to attending too many spin classes and getting the B.A.C. (badass chills..this is when you know you are going HARD!) I of course didn’t listen to this nagging irritation in my knee, and I continued to workout on it. I took it easy in spin, but I didn’t take it easy with running.

I actually had the best run of the year this past Sunday. A 12 miler around my favorite lake.

Aaannndd then shit hit the fan. The second I hit stop on my watch I felt my knee yelling at me. Ugh..WHY! It was swollen to the point I couldn’t make out my patella anymore. I’m 99.9999% sure I have a slight case of runners knee. I’ve had it once before, and without the $20 copay and some cold hands rubbing all over my knee, I’ll do my own self diagnosis.

Here’s the dilemma: I have a half marathon this Sunday. *&#*#&$@@!!! I am not a natural runner, half marathons take training for me. I have been training for two months for this race, and I am so excited. I am staying optimistic that I will still be able to run this race (even if my pace is 15:00min/mile!) I’ve been R.I.C.E-ing like it’s my job, and I am not doing ANY physical activity this week. No running, no spinning, no WALKING! Nothing. I’m skipping three days of scheduled running in HOPES that I can still participate this weekend.

It was clearly my turn to get spanked with the injury stick, but boy is this rough. I never understood how hard it was to sit back and do..nothing. It’s only been THREE days, and I am going stir crazy without movement. For all my friends out there that have serious injuries and are sidelined for months..you have my sympathy and support! I’ve naturally been drowning my sorrows with cupcakes, and I made these on Sunday night. I of course veganized the recipe and they turned out pretty good, not enough mocha flavor though.

My pictures were not pretty, so I am using theirs.

Tomorrow is Valentines day, and then the day after that is my birthday. I would loveee to run a half marathon for my birthday…just sayin. Happy day of love to you all.