It was a gorgeous day, and I was doing really well. I weighted my rig down with about 1/2 of the weight that all of my gear should weigh for the real trip, and I was still keeping the same time [basically]. I was so excited! I only had to stop twice on the HUGE hill by Seminary Ave--an improvement! In my overzealousness, I figured I could cream a smaller hill by giving it my all; down AND upstroke. Bad move. On an upstroke, I pulled with a lot of force and felt a zinging, electrical-like pinch up the front of my knee cap. It didn't hurt, per se, but it felt different, so I figured I'd keep going.
Then, a portion of the road that I normally ride on was closed, so, detour! No biggie. I had my phone, so if I needed directions I could easily get them. I headed east from my intended course and wound up in a pretty neat area. Despite the new surrounding and my enjoying them, my knee still felt a little off and I would get a pretty robust pinch/pain every now and then. Duh. Should've turned back when it happened, but no, not this gal. Too stubborn.
Finally, as I was climbing a hill on the southeast side of Cockeysville, the adult in me said that the small, yet annoying pain is not going to get better unless I rest it and actually figure out what I did. So, 15 miles into the ride I turned around and headed for home. To top it off, about 5 miles south of there I blew my first tire on my new bike. The glass on these streets is horrendous! I changed the tube with ease (and had the wrong size tube--too long--to put in, but it still fit) and I was able to ride home.
When I got home, it felt ok, but I knew that something wasn't right... but, it was time to go to work, so I ACE bandaged my knee and biked the 3-4 miles there, worked for 8 hours without any real pain, and then went to bike home. But that didn't happen. I got about 2 block away from work and my knee cap felt like it was ON FIRE (in an electrical way). So, I ended up walking the 3-4 miles home. Either way, physical activity probably wasn't the best decision. Walking didn't hurt, but I know I was overusing my poor knee.
Then, when I got home, the stairs to my apt seemed a daunting task. I would get the pinch everytime I tried to pull up and hold my knee above the ground or when I was trying to support weight on it while it was bent. Uh oh. Not good. My trip was only 3.5 weeks away at the time. The adult in me took over again, and I figured no more riding for at least a few days... in the meantime, I had to figure out what was wrong with my knee how to fix it!
I went on WebMD, Wikipedia, biking sites, etc. to try and deduce what I did. The best assumption (because I still haven't gone to the Dr.) is that I sprain my lateral collateral ligament [on the outside part of the knee] and strain the patellal tendon [which stretches from the quad muscle, over the cap, and downward]. All in all, it wasn't pleasant what I was feeling, but it wasn't terrible by any means. It was very different from any injury I had gotten playing other sports for so many years. I'm use to getting hit with a softball in the shins, pulling a hamstring or other muscle from not stretching well enough or overuse, being cleated in the calf, having a volleyball whack me in the nose, locking knees with people while running to catch the same ball, etc.
But I had never really hurt a ligament before. It's definitely different. I almost get a numb sensation sometimes when it's acting up. I've been babying it. I Rested it, Iced it, bought a Compression/support sleeve for it, that worked WONDERS (it's so much easier than having to wrap it each day), and tried to keep it Elevated as much as I could. Granted, working a job where you're on your feet constantly doesn't help, but I tried to sneak in sitting breaks as much as possible. I started taking Glucosamine/Chondrotin and CoQ10 supplements to aid in the recovery process. I also bought a cream that has the herb Arnica in it, which is really good for helping to heal [moreso external and swelling] injuries, but it can't hurt to have it in my 1st Aid kit on the road!
Overall, my intuition to just bite my athletic lip and not be a bad ass [since then] has paid off. After about a week (plus a few days), I think it's healed [relatively well]. I can cycle again, with a long trip coming up in 2 days. I learned my lesson that you CAN'T really pull up when clipped in--it's more to just relieve tension and stress when on an upstroke, NOT a chance to heave all of your quad strength and end up separating what connects your thigh to your shin. I also plan on wearing a compression sleeve on each knee, at least for the first few days, to protect those badboys and remind myself that it's not a race or a challenge other than to reach my destination each day.
Speed is not important for my goal; stamina is.
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