Sad to say but there may be an end to my streak coming.  I was having knee issues for quite a while last year.  I was going to PT for most of the year as well but it wasn't really helping.  The knee pain was completely tolerable honestly, it was just a slight pain in front right part of the knee.  It didn't hurt when I ran, but did hurt if I sat at my desk too long and then got up.

I may have jinxed myself because I ended up deciding to go back to the Ortho and we decided to get an MRI and it showed a small tear in my meniscus.  We discussed options, which were to keep up with the PT, have a surgery, or just dealing with it as the pain was not too bad and really didn't stop me from doing anything that I wanted to (including running, soccer and pickle ball) .

So I continued PT for a little bit after that, but about two months later (early December) I was out for a run and got about 2.5 miles into my run and was running a pretty steep downhill and got a brutal shooting pain in that knee.  This pain was different, starting just above the knee (kind of where the adductor tendon connects to the knee) and radiated all the way through my entire knee.  It was so bad that my knee buckled a bit and I stopped my run and walked for a bit.  I tried to continue but at that point kept getting the pain every minute or two.

I discussed this with PT and she had no real answers but suggested resting so I took off December (1 easy slow pain free mile per day) and when starting the new year decided to build slowly.  So I started running a new 10 day cycle that looked like this 1-1.5-1-1.5-1-1.5-1-1.5-1-2 mile, then 1.5, 1, 1.5, with my long run after 10 days being 2 miles.  Then I upped it to 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-3 so increasing my easy miles by 0.5 miles each 10 day period and increasing the long run by 1 mile.

I was doing okay but also realizing I was getting those sharp pains when running almost any semi-steep downhills.  So I started avoiding downhills (not all that easy to do sometimes depending where I run).  But then I got to my long run of 3 miles and kept that one mostly flat.  At about 2 miles I came across a downhill and decided to not risk it and just walked down it, but for the last half mile after the hill I got the pains a few times.

I did okay with the 2.5 mile easy runs the next week - a few pains if I had a slight incline or hit some snow, but bearable.  When I got to my 4 mile long run I ran a completely flat run by a lake for the entire thing.  I did walk breaks at mile 1 and mile 2.  When starting up the run again after the walk break at mile 2 I felt the pain for like 2 steps as I sped up but then it went away.  So when I hit the 3 mile mark I decided not to take the walk break, thinking maybe the speed increase in the start was what caused it.  But nope - about 3.25 miles I got the pain pretty bad and had to walk for a bit.  I was still pretty far from my car so I did walk/run to get back but the pain continued when I ran.

The weird part is this week I've had four 3 mile runs so far and no pain in any of them (still walking any downhills though).  I had another MRI last night - hoping it shows something else that is wrong that I can deal with - maybe just inflammation in the adductor, but the doctor didn't seem to think it was the adductor because there is not pain when he tested it.  But if it is still being caused by the meniscus tear I may have to have the surgery.  The surgery is a minor outpatient surgery (arthroscopic so he said I'd be walking that day) but not sure on whether I'd be able to jog a slow mile the next day.

But my long term running is more important than my streak so if the surgery is going to allow me to run long runs again, then I will do it.

I'm still playing it day to day.  I have a long run of 5 miles scheduled for Friday so I am going to see how that goes as well.  If I'm able to slowly get to run further and further before the pain hits then maybe I'll just need to keep the slow build up and build up the strength to get further.

I guess we'll see.  Right now I'm going to try the 5 miler and see what happens and what distances.  I'll find out the results next week and discuss with the doctor and make my decisions from there.  I kind of wish my streak was just a little further along because I'm at 5,883 days right now so I kind of wished if it was going to end that I could have ended it on a cool number like 6,000 but that is still like 4 months away and I'd like to start getting my mileage up so I can start planning some races again (not for speed but I like running half marathons and I have a 7 mile race in August that I'd actually like to be able to put decent training in for - right now my fitness is really lagging from all the time off and shorter runs this year).

Sorry this was so long and thanks for reading if you got to the end.  I've just been frustrated with this for over a year because running is such a big part of my life.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Jeff

Sorry to hear that you have been in so much pain!  I have to say that I would be doing the same as you -- the long term running is more important than the streak.  Wishing you the best!

So apparently I was supposed to call the doctor after my MRI (which nobody told me) because when I didn't hear from him the past couple days I called them today and they didn't even know I had it done (weird).

Anyway - follow up is not until 2 weeks from today (his next available appointment) so no word until then on the results.  I did see the MRI results in my portal but don't really know how to read them to see if it has gotten worse, better, or if it show something else wrong too.

Still continuing to run easy - 3.5 miles yesterday with only one twinge on a downhill, other than that it was fine.  Though I am running significantly slower than I used to.  Knee does hurt today, but I think I just slept on it weird last night.

Called the doctor yesterday because just frustrated with the pain.  They called me back this morning and the tear in my meniscus has gotten a bit worse (not a lot but it definitely is bigger) so I am going to have the surgery.  They should be calling me on Tuesday to schedule.  Depending how bad it is, they think it will just be scraping out the loose bits, and they don't believe they will have to sew anything back together.

If they are just scraping out the torn part, then recovery will be "weight bearing as you can" which means I could be walking around later that day.  If they have to sew it together, I would have a brace and probably crutches for a few weeks.

Whew....  Tough to take in right now, but taking it one step at a time.

Update.

I had my pre-Op meeting yesterday - Operation is scheduled for March 22nd.  It is a non-invasive arthroscopic surgery to go in and cut out the torn parts of the meniscus.  She said I should be able to walk out to my car after the surgery, though it will probably hurt a bit (due to the trauma of the surgery, not the meniscus) so I might need to use a cane or one crutch just to take the pressure off a bit the first day.

After that, she said it is a "movement as tolerated" scenario, so I should be walking and moving around the next day.  Other than that, some rest, ice, and it will be wrapped up in an ace bandage that I can't get wet for 3 days so I should be smelling pretty ripe by Monday.

Post-Op is on April 1st and then I'll start PT that day.

Months???  That's crazy.  I was a little mad because I booked the surgery on 2/22 and they didn't have an opening until 3/22 (so exactly one month).

I am trying to be optimistic and will see how things feel after the surgery.  Right now I'm trying to get to the gym every day to build up the muscular strength in my legs a bit more before the surgery.

That sounds like reason for optimism. Good luck! Glad you don't have to wait long to get in. Here you'd likely be waiting months.

Best of luck with the surgery!  I think getting yourself as fit as possible before you go in really helps with recovery.

I also tried to lose a bit of weight before mine years ago as I knew not moving as much would be an issue! 

Whew - surgery is tomorrow.  Getting a bit nervous about it now.

Plan is to see how the knee feels late Saturday night and see if I can run a REALLY slow mile on a padded track.  If I have any pain at all I won't do it, but the doctor says I should be able to walk out to my car after surgery.  But again, health and longevity of running will come first.

If it does end I'll let everyone know and maybe post some statistics from my 16+ year streak.

Wish me luck and thanks to all of you for all the support you've given to me and to everyone in this group over the years.