Catch-22

So I've been running. And running. And running some more.

I've only been running three days a week, but for me, that's a lot. I was very careful to build up slowly, take at least one day off to recover between runs, and stretch my limbs often.

Last Saturday, I met my goal of running for 33 minutes on my 33rd birthday. Yay, me!

However. My knees are freakin' killing me.

It started last Tuesday with my 25 minute run. The next day, I could barely use my legs without wincing. I'm WAY too stubborn to stop running so close to my goal, so I just kept going. It didn't hurt THAT bad.

Now it's a week later and I'm still in pain. I googled running and knee pain and found this helpful advice: "Start out slowly. Walk before you run. Warm up and stretch before working out."

Um... and if I did all that? Now what? According to bigkneepain.com (not even joking! it's a real website) the answer is RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Rest pisses me off, but at least I can do it. Rest means stop doing what hurt you in the first place, you stupid stubborn idiot. But Ice? I'm supposed to "Apply ice wrapped in cloth every 15 minutes per hour the first day then every 3 to 4 hours for the second and third day." Compression means I'm supposed to go around with Ace bandages wrapped around my knees (with ice packs underneath!) and Elevation means I have to keep my knees above the level of my heart.

That's all? That will fit in SO well with my carefree, no-responsibility lifestyle! Oh, woops! I confused myself with someone who doesn't have a toddler, a newborn, and twenty-nine loads of laundry to do.

I think the cause of the knee pain is basically that I'm too heavy. I know that being overweight adds extra stress on all of your joints, particularly your knees. Therein lies the rub: I need to lose weight in order to run, but I need to run to lose the weight!

I know, I know. I could power walk! I could swim! I could... what are you doing when you go on the elliptical machine? (I could ellipse?) But I want to run, dammit. Now that I can do it, I don't want to lose what little progress I've made.

When I first got pregnant with Chelsea, I was running 6 days a week. I remember very clearly thinking, "Yes! I can stop running!" Now that I actually have a legitimate reason to stop running, I am not relieved, just frustrated.