PR and PFPS

Today was our 20 miler. Last night, I fell asleep on the couch around 10pm while reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (excellent book by the way...) I finally made it to bed around 12. I woke up and hoped that when I rolled over to look at the clock, it would read 2am. No such luck. 4:56am. My alarm was going off at 5. I hit the snooze button once, but never fell back asleep. 

I crawled out of bed at 5:09, made breakfast and god dressed. I needed to be at the base of the NCR trail by 6:45, at least that's when the email said. I left around 5:45 because I wanted to stop at 7-11 for a cup of coffee before hitting the beltway. My punctuality served me right. I showed up at 6:20. 20 minutes early. Around 6:45 everyone emerged from their cars and it was starting to get light out. At 7:05 we piled into cars of folks who were going to man water stops and taken to the top of the trail, which was approx 1.8 miles from the PA/MD state line. 

Judy met me at the parking lot and we decided to leave our iPods. The farthest I have ever run without my iPod must be around 10 miles. This wasn't going to be easy. I had already decided I was going to run this in 4 hours or less. I really didn't want to go over 4, but if I did, I would be OK. The first water stop wasn't hit until mile 5.2. That was really a stretch! By the time I hit 13.1, I was at 2:31. I was thrilled! I had 6.9 miles left to go. I kept reminding myself - 6 miles is a walk in the park. I can do this! 

By mile 16, I was struggling with a side cramp. It wasn't that cramp in the lower ab that you know you can breath through. It was the cramp right under your rib, that piercing pain, that pain that gets worse the more you breath. Although it was gross, I was out of salt and my only alternative was to take half a gel - without water. I knew a stop was about a mile away, but I needed something, I was making great time. Judy and I made it to the water stop where the girl running it had pretzel rods and tissues! That really helped. 

Except, this time something was different. I was now battling knee pain. I have NEVER had knee pain before. Never. Once I'd get running, the pain would subside, but I would never quite figure it out. I didn't trip or twist it and I was running on a surface everyone said was "great for your knees". 

As I approached mile 19, I was SO close. I was at 3:41 and knew I could make the last 1.2 but it took  A LOT of positive self-talk. And silent singing of ZZ Top "She's got legs, she knows how to use 'em" while I got closer to the end. I glanced at my watch, and I had done it, 3:59. That's under 4 hours! 

So, here I lay 9 and a half hours later hardly able to walk now. My left leg feels like I did nothing today - no pain, no swelling, nothing. My right leg feels the same way, except for my knee. My knee is hardly moveable. I even had to bail on a friend tonight because I'm fairly sure I can't make it up her stairwell. I did some research on runnersworld.com and I think I'm dealing with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with this? I've figured out I can take the same supplement my dogs take for their joint problems (glucosamine) and get new sunning shoes ASAP so I can break them in before Disney. I'm not sure of anything else though. I know I will be majorly stiff tomorrow. Its my hope this goes away fast.