Wednesday, October 14, 2009

On My Knees

Shortly after running my first marathon in June of this year, I began having pain in my right knee.  I assumed the pain was normal for post-marathon trauma and that my knee would heal within a few weeks.  But alas, that was not to be the case.

Now, four months and five visits doing active release therapy with a chiropractor and one visit with a sports medicine doctor later, I am still unable to run more than a few miles without pain in my knee.  The sports medicine doctor came up with two working diagnoses ("working" since we couldn't reproduce the pain at the doctor's office, much like a car that won't make the noise it was brought to the mechanic for.)  The diagnoses are:  1) an atypical iliotibial (IT) band syndrome, or 2) a strain in the popliteal tendon, a tendon attached to the popliteus muscle on the back of the knee.  Both diagnoses have to do with the tendons in the knee joint.  The doctor referred me to a physical therapist, who will hopefully be able to further identify and treat what is causing the pain.  It is all very frustrating to say the least, especially since running helps me de-stress from the chaos of life, and is one of the ways I worship the God who created me, tendons and all.

I feel a bit like how Jacob in Genesis must have felt when he wrestled with God--Jacob was so strong that he overpowered even God, until God injured a tendon in Jacob's hip.  It was a hard lesson in humility for Jacob as he learned that God can both enable and disable at will according to his good purpose (though it may seem anything but good at the time.)  Likewise, I am humbled because of an injured tendon in my knee, and I am praying for God to enable me to run once again, not for my glory but for his.  I have hope yet that through God, I will have the strength to stand.  But for now I'm on my (injured) knees.