Downsizing to the Half and could you stop pressing on my knee?!

I bit the bullet. After reading an email from the RD about the 6 hour marathon cut off time, I decided to downgrade my race to the half marathon. Sigh. While I disagree that "if you cannot finish the marathon within 6 hours you are physically unready for the distance," (as they put it), I can't help but respect the rules. Also, I didn't train through this summer heat to not get a medal.
I'm okay with running less, it means I won't be in a world of pain the next day. I now need to work on finishing the half under 2:45. Last year was a gong show of a half marathon so this year I'm determined to get it done in a respectable time frame.
All that said, these past 2 weeks have sucked for my knee. The swelling that was kept at bay by the Naproxen returned really fast so now it feels like there is constant pressure on top of my knee (as if someone is pressing down on it), that I may have developed a slightly migrating form of shin splints and a nasty muscle knot on top of my thigh that even my most torture-looking of rolling sticks can't beat out. Really, that stick is freaking scary with all the pointed knobs. Ugh. I could take the Naproxen again but honestly, it made me so nauseous that I almost prefer the occasional Tylenol. And, as usual, I have no time to sit around my doctor's office, a 2 hour trip most times. Who has 2 hours in the middle of the day?! I have no sick time left and only a few sparse personal hours so I'd rather use those for an actual emergency, not chronic pain and swelling. Last night I had such a bad case of movie-goers knee that I was hobbling around like a 90 year old. Still, not an emergency. Pathetic, yes, but not an emergency.
Despite all that I continue to run. I did take some days off last weekend but it honestly makes things even worse. It's like the swelling has a chance to settle, so running keeps everything moving. I guess, I think. That's what you get when your doctor says there's nothing else that can be done. Lots of guessing.
So I'm not sure what to try from here. Thankfully most physio clinics and my chiropractor work after work hours (yay), so I have options. I just don't know which one to try since I'm not really sure who could fix the problem.

Side Effects Suck...so back to the drawing board!

The nasty side effects of the naproxen haven't completely left me. I dealt with embarrassing gas, bloating and sporadic burping for days after my vomiting/acid reflux attack. I tried to dismiss my daily nausea on psychosomatic symptoms but since I stopped taking the naproxen a few days ago the symptoms have gone away. I can't help but feel there is a correlation.  The problem is my thigh and knee pain have increased exponentially. I'm not quite at the point where pain is waking me up in the middle of the night, but I very quickly started getting "movie-goer knee" again at work. This will really suck if there's a fire drill.
Despite feeling gross and achy I've kept running. Some days it's been only 5km/3 miles, but other days I've gone as far as 10km. I need to squeeze in an actual long run this weekend when I have the time. Runs have been okay, nothing awesome except on a few rare occasions. The heat is back in full force so I try not to beat myself up about my frequent walk breaks.
The most exciting running-related news is that I was asked to be on a relay team for next spring. The race is the only one of its kind in the province and even my husband wants to run a leg! Now I just have to focus on getting my pace under 6 minutes per km (as per race rules). Currently I hover in the 8 minute range, with great runs in the 7 minute range. I'm hoping with some specific speed work I can drop my time down farther. I've got time, time to giv'r!

Scale back week and working on speed

After an extended family camping trip over the weekend it is time to get back training for this half marathon in less than 5 weeks! Ack!
I did run a bit on Saturday, even with the fire ban. I found a logging road that took me 2km into the woods before I found a sign telling me to bugger-off because of the ban. In total I managed 6km before heading off to the local family fun park to spend the day walking an additional 9km. I count it as a very slow long run lol.
This week consists of two 7kms and three 6kms. With this fire/trail ban on for at least another week I'm glad for the scaled back mileage. Running up and down streets can get pretty dull.
My current goal is to improve my speed so my average improves from the 8 minute/km to somewhere in the 7 minute or 6 minute (dare to dream) range. I know from previous experience it will take some serious effort to get the time down a minute, but it isn't impossible. Hill sprints and intervals will help, in addition to using podrunner to keep my legs operating at a metronome pace. Today I'm supposed to run the 7km in 8 minute/km, so I'll aim for at least that, with the goal of actually running in the 7's.

10km Birthday Run = FUN

Yesterday was my birthday-yay! So after last year's disappointing birthday I decided this year I would take the day off of work and try to enjoy the day as much as possible. It turned out to be a great day. I drove my daughter to camp and my husband to work then found a parking spot close to the waterfront and enjoyed running back and forth along the 4km stretch before heading into the downtown to finish up 10km. The boardwalk was somewhat busy with cruise ship passengers and local day care centers sightseeing, but it wasn't to the point it was annoying or anything. It was cute to see what the tourists deemed picture-worthy in the area as I ran around them.
I should explain why I wasn't on a trail, which, trust me, would have been preferable. The province is currently sitting under a trail ban. It's horrible and it sucks but with multiple huge forest fires out of control it is the easiest and safest thing to do. So, for the next 2 weeks at least all of the HRM runners will be invading the streets of the HRM. Boohahaha.
The acid reflux I had the other day has thankfully passed, although I'm still a bit queasy and have some gas (burping) issues but overall I feel a lot better. I took half of a naproxen pill yesterday morning and it certainly helped my knee make it pain-free through the 10km run. So I guess I'll scale back the pill to a half portion, once a day, as opposed to two full sized a day as I was originally prescribed, and see how this goes. Going two days without one sucked, and I was really surprised how fast my knee pain/swelling returned. Clearly I need to take something for this swelling but going back to the doctor and playing the medication game just takes too much time and I'm not a human petri-dish. So I'll keep with this routine until it either doesn't work for me any longer or I have some time miraculously added to my life to spend sitting in a doctor's office.

New meds and new complications

I sat, frustrated, talking with my husband last night. I was pissed off that in a trillion dollar industry they can't make a simple anti-inflammatory pill that has no side effects. The early morning hours before had me up with what felt like bubbles in my throat, a headache and eventually vomiting for 30 minutes in my bathroom while trying to stay quiet so my child could sleep. Thank Naproxen side effects for that.
When I was more coherent later, I googled it. It sounds like I had an acid reflux attack (a Naproxen side effect), so I called my GP and told her what happened and asked if I should keep taking the Naproxen, because, hey, it was working on the anti-inflammatory end. I got a call back a few hours later saying my GP wants to get my heartburn under control first, so she would be adding another pill. NOPE. After 18 months of this BS I won't. I will not add a pill to counter the side effects of the first pill. And if there are side effects for the second pill, well, we'll just add a third pill. I see why those weekly pill cases were made and have stayed so popular. I won't become a human petri dish unless I have some serious disease that requires multiple medications.
So after figuring out that naproxen has a half life of 6 hours, I figured my 24 hours of not taking one was sufficient and I grudgingly took one of my husband's proton something-or-other pills he uses for his severe heartburn. Last night I slept beautifully, thankful that pill worked.
This morning I woke up to the familiar aches and pains in my knee but no burning or bubbling in my throat, so some progress was made? I guess I'll hold onto my naproxen pills for my flare ups and try to muddle through in between. I did manage a run yesterday of 5km, which was so much further than I thought I would get. I honestly thought I'd get to the end of the parking lot at work and puke at the effort, but my tummy behaved. Today I'll go for a 6km run and hope the knee pain isn't too bad. I've been slathering my knee and thigh in BioFreeze like it's suntan lotion in the 80s and that helps, but I know it's not a permanent solution. Something tells me I'll be visiting my chiropractor again very soon...