Yoga on the Run: Knee Injury Recovery

By Paige Greenfield

Damian Stoy
Age: 26
Job: Scientist at Rocky Mountain National Park
Home: Colorado

On summer days you can find Damian Stoy cruising through Rocky Mountain National Park’s trails - just him, the trees, and the breeze. “I first started running because I love being outside,” he says. Last summer while working in Jackson Hole, WY., Stoy averaged 80 to 100 miles per week. “When I’m on the trail running feels completely natural. Effortless, even.” But there was a time when Stoy struggled to walk.

Six years ago during a regular run Stoy suddenly felt excruciating pain in both his knees that nearly toppled him to the ground. “I went to a physical therapist a week after it came on and he immediately diagnosed it as patellar tendonitis in both knees. I tried to keep up my running that first week, but I was in so much pain that I had to stop. At its most severe walking was torture.” Over the next year Stoy underwent intensive physical therapy, followed various programs to improve his posture, and tried every pain reliever on the drugstore shelf. “It slowly became an arthritic condition,” Stoy says.

Heeding the advice of a college diving coach, Stoy took a yoga class at a nearby Bikram studio, which is heated to 100 degrees or hotter. “I tried it and was immediately hooked. It was extremely difficult, but I felt high as a kite. My knees hadn’t felt that good in a long time. I remember walking out of class and thinking, ‘wow, that worked. I feel lighter and healthier.’ I told myself that I was going to invest in it and practice consistently.” He went on to take five classes per week. “It took a good year of practicing yoga before I started running again. Yoga made me feel better, but my knees were injured so badly that they took a while to heal.” Stoy continued doing yoga and slowly added running back into the mix until he was doing just 10 miles per week, “with lots of walking,” he adds.  

“I think that Bikram was particularly healing because the series [of 26 postures] is specifically designed to fix the body and improve posture, while the heat helps you go further in every pose. Yoga totally changed my running. I run taller and my muscles and joints are more open so I heal a lot quicker because there’s less stress on my body, especially on my knees. I can go for a run and there isn’t so much of that pounding on my knees that used to happen, so I can run more often and go longer.”

Today, Stoy continues taking Bikram classes regularly and runs about five days per week. In ’06 he placed first in the Grand Teton 50 miler, 2nd in the Big Horn 50 miler, and 6th in last year’s Grand Teton 100 miler. His knees? “I barely notice them anymore,” he says.

His Knee-Injury Recovery workout
Because Bikram Choudhury and his teachers believe that each posture in his 26-pose sequence (with two breathing exercises) works synergistically with the others, they do not recommend a sub-set of postures or a mini-sequence for runners. Instead, they say: Do ‘em all. Just take the 90-minute Bikram classes, which, in the words of one Boulder, Co, Bikram instructor, “is an excellent way for runners to increase their flexibility, rehabilitate injuries and most importantly, prevent them in the first place.’’ Go online to find a certified Bikram teacher near you.

More Yoga on the Run :
Kris Nardini: Post-run yoga
Monica Rempel: Poses to avoid cramps

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