I have a running knee injury. So what? Most if not all runners have injuries once in awhile. Some even have it all the time!
“If I lose you after reading my first sentence, I am OK with it!
But see here. Injuries become a big deal only if you make a big deal out of it. This is not my first injury. Many months before my first half marathon in May 2014, I had ITB* issues on my left knee. It came and went and came back again. After 3 physio visits and kinesio taping, and finally a change of running shoes, my ITB issues settled down. In short, it went away. It got fixed by changing shoes, which I did just as an experiment after reading a random blog one Friday night. Since then, I also bought a foam roller which I swear is a major injury prevention device for any runner.
Then Sunday happened, a piercing pain pierced my right knee at KM 9 of my supposed 18KM run. Man, I was more upset that this has happened than worried how I can get home. I hobbled for about 200 meters. I felt well enough to do a slow jog. Then silly me, I pushed and run for another 5KMs to complete a 14KM run. What an idiot! My body was screaming and I chose to ignore it. Why? I got used to ignoring pain, that’s why. The reason why runners can run long distances is precisely because they learn how to endure, ignore and overcome pain. Believe me, there is pain every single KM in one form or another including mental battles.
But then, the damage was done.