Pärmäkoski, who struggled with runner’s knee during the World Cup season in Planica, has found a new spark in jogging after being banned from running.
HONEYMOON. Many remember Krista Pärmäkoski the Tour de Ski, which was interrupted due to illness from last season, and the World Cup competitions in Planica, which ended in disappointment, after which the skier fell ill with corona. Until the turn of the year, Pärmäkoski was also shadowed by a stubborn runner’s knee, which started showing symptoms already in the fall.
– Yes, the pain was really great. I stayed at the camp in September, when the test runs were done, I was still able to run. When you run at full speed in the test, pain comes from other places as well, but it did hurt, Pärmäkoski recalls.
– The worst was when we went to the high-altitude camp in Val Senales. I tried to straighten my leg in traditional skiing, but I couldn’t get on the slide because it hurt so much. Freestyle skiing actually hurt the whole season, he continues.
From the beginning of the season, the games were also missed. Last year, just before the opening of the Ruka World Cup, Pärmäkoski withdrew from the traditional 10 km competition of the Taivalkoski Suomen Cup. There was little natural snow at Taivalkoski and exercising by skiing was not successful. The tracks were only for competition use, so the warm-ups had to be done by running. Pärmäkoski ran for a minute and walked.
– Runner’s knee was one of the reasons why I didn’t ski the standard distance at Taivalkoski. In the semi-final stage of the sprint, my leg hurt so much that it’s a good thing I didn’t cry, Pärmäkoski, who finished fifth in his semi-final.
Because of the trouble, Pärmäkoski even skied at the World Championships in Planica with his foot heavily taped.
Runner’s knee is a stress injury. It can also be long-term and is often caused by excessive load. The pain is felt on the outer edge of the knee.
Giving up running
The injury occurred at a difficult time, as its healing would have required an almost complete two-week break from training. Pärmäkoski couldn’t keep that. Running had to be cut out of training completely.
– I went for an MRI scan many times, also before the Taivalkoski Games, and the runner’s knee was the only one that was found.
An exercise bike was purchased for the maintenance truck of the Finnish national team, which was often sat on the back of Pärmäkoski. The physiotherapist supervised what was done, and there was a lot of self-paced exercise.
– I will continue to pedal the bike, because I myself was demanding that we get a wheel for the truck. It was important not to strain the leg between the stages, Pärmäkoski emphasizes.
But why didn’t Pärmäkoski want to talk about his injury last season, even though the effects on daily activities were great at times?
– Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to bring it up last season, because I don’t want to shout about health issues anyway. A different matter if the leg had been broken. Now it made it possible to continue working quite normally.
Improved stride
Pärmäkoski can find something good in runner’s knee. The joy of running has caught the skier again. The desire to run would have been strong already in the spring, but after the break, you had to take it easy.
– At the beginning, I had to run a little bit, and that’s probably why I’m in such good running shape. When there was permission for limited runs, I didn’t want to slack off but to do them efficiently, Pärmäkoski times.
The running part of the Aateli Race, which took place in June, was a kind of interim goal for Pärmäkoski, even though the running kilometers had not been accumulated in the previous model. Pärmäkoski was second in the competition Oona Kettusen after. Former middle distance runner Johanna Matintalo was third.
– Running is great fun. I haven’t always liked it, but I think I’m a pretty decent runner. Askel has improved during this summer.