PRP & Life Without Running

One of my last Saturday morning runs.

Enough is enough!

As many of you who follow this blog are aware, I’ve been dealing with tightness and pain in my left knee since late June. Turns out the culprit is arthritis. Although diagnosed as mild, the condition has shown only minimal improvement with each flare up further reducing my pace and total miles.

This morning, I will undergo a treatment called Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) to address this. It involves taking a blood sample and reducing it to a solution of concentrated platelets. These will be injected into my troublemaking knee.

Platelets contain enzymes that not only help clot blood, but specific to my condition, they also increase the healing of inflamed areas. The hope is that this injection does just that to my knee so that I can resume training and racing.

Pros and Cons?

Although this process varies with each individual, according to the sports medicine doctor who will administer the injections, the PRP process should afford me somewhere between four to six months of running - or possibly longer - without the stiffness or pain that I've experienced these past several months. Even better, this process has the chance to decrease the progression of my arthritis.

Although there are clearly long-term benefits associated with Platelet-rich Plasma, the process has its downsides. Aside from pain and the likely need for crutches in the first couple days (another first for me!), the real challenge will come with a recovery that requires four to six weeks of avoiding “high velocity/amplitude/ intensity exercises.” Translation: No Running!

This is what awaits me in my near-term future!

That’s right. Four to six weeks... without … any running.

Although I've had periods in my life with minimal running, nothing comes close to that duration. Needless to say, that is going to be a major adjustment.

But if doing means I can resume my training and racing - Worth It!

Aside from every other adjustment I’ll have to experience without running, if nothing else, this will create a considerable amount of time in my life that won’t be devoted to wearing my Nike Winflo 11's.

How much are we talking about?

Let’s see. Before the arthritis flared up, I typically ran between four to six miles four days a week with a longer run on Saturday morning. Since I don’t run exact miles, those runs usually took between forty to sixty minutes - with Saturdays around ninety minutes. Add on twenty minutes for warm up exercise before each run with around five minutes for the cool down exercises afterwards. I'm looking at between five and half to just over seven hours each week now available to me.

What in the world will I do with that time? (And yes, I will resume some physical activity as per guidance.)

How much time will I have now that I'm not running?

Options?

Here’s where I just may need some help. I know that a horrid morning person like me isn’t going to sleep in. Likewise, I’m not someone who’ll just spend my evenings staring blankly at the television. I know that I will devote some of that time to getting ahead on this blog as well as my new one (The Iron Age Revisited - check it out here if you’re a comic book nerd or just curious.)

But I wouldn’t mind having this additional time being utilized for something more satisfying than perusing the latest on my sports teams or finding another alternative rock band that I’ve overlooked.

Listed below are some thoughts.

• Work on the Yard? That would be an enjoyable outlet - pending what my recovering knee will allow. Unfortunately, November and December aren’t months where my yard demands much attention.

• Home Projects? When it comes to building anything, my greatest talent is cutting the check. But perhaps I could seek to improve those skills. Any running related projects I should consider?

• Binge Some Quality Television? To be perfectly honest, I don’t watch much TV. (I could say that my wife limits me to no more than one show from either Star Trek or Marvel Cinematic Universe per week.) But I am open to any suggestions! Let me know what I’m missing!

My recovery could be a good opportunity to refresh my memory on my educational reading.

• Improving My Culinary Skills? I’m not bad in the kitchen or on the grill. But I know I’m also going to be uber-paranoid about gaining weight during this recovery time. At the same time, that’s not going to stop me from tackling some fun ideas!

• Expanding My Mind? No, I’m not talking about drugs. I enjoy reading - whether it’s in the morning with my coffee or during the evening. I’ve a couple of good books that I plan to peruse during this time. Still, if someone can suggest a book or article related to running, I am all ears!

Summary

With what will be my final run for the foreseeable future completed, I’m ready to venture down this unknown path. I’m also excited about what I hope awaits me in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, I would definitely like to hear from any of about this process as well as any ideas you may have!

Thanks again for reading the blog!

Gonna really miss all of you in the coming weeks!