If you follow me on Instagram then you’ve seen a few posts here and there hinting at the fact that I injured my knee. Today, I’ve decided to share a little bit more about the how.

The last week in April, I was having a super stressful day and decided that I should go for a run. This isn’t out of the blue for me, at the time I averaged between 4-8 miles per week and for that week in particular I had planned to start my Peachtree road race training. My training plan was printed and everything. I left my home and hit the sidewalk for a warm 4 mile run to Beyoncé. A mile out from my house, I felt a sharp pain in my knee. I was running pretty fast and afraid that if I put my knee down the pain would intensify. So, I caught myself with my hands and cell phone (smashed my protective glass cover case and scraped my case).

Working out with my brace post injury.

My knee hurt, but the pain wasn’t unfamiliar. I injured my knee in high school trying to do an aerial at cheerleading practice. For those unfamiliar with an aerial: think a cartwheel with no hands. My knee was healthy enough to cheer three more years after that and carry me through countless training runs, 5ks, 10ks and half marathons. This injury was different though. I sat by a telephone pole and mentally convinced myself I was tough enough and no longer embarrassed about falling to walk the mile back home and rest my knee some fully intending to just carry on business as usual the next day.

A side by side comparison of my knees on day 2. On the left is my swollen right knee.

My knee was swollen when I woke up. I couldn’t walk without pain. I worked from home and told myself it would be fine the next day. It wasn’t. One urgent care visit, one orthopedic visit, two braces and an MRI later: I found out I dislocated my patella (knee cap) and had some torn ligaments. The doctor said I was lucky to not need surgery. I felt incredibly blessed that the injury was not worse.

I had to admit to myself that this injury wasn’t one that I could just wait out in hopes that it would go away. It’s been a very humbling and revelatory experience that I plan to share more about. Most importantly, I had to slow down. While running and even power walking are both great stress relievers for me, they are not part of my current fitness routine. I’ve added in workouts like biking, and water aerobics, ice packs and stretching.

I don’t see running in my immediate future. I’m okay with that now, but it definitely took some time to get used to.

Have you ever dealt with an injury that made you change your workout routine?