Long Live Joints!

I've been taking it easy ever since the infamous run of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in which I mysteriously and inexplicably maimed myself. I blame Tanya Harding. An invisible version of her.

I still haven't been able to run, and it's been two weeks! The first the doc implied I'd have to take it easy for a couple weeks and lay off running while I work with a physical therapist. Dr. Steve, the physical therapist, during my last visit, suggested I take "months" (that's plural) to be sure I really recover. Um, WHA?!

I'm hoping for a happy medium: a full recovery by Feb. 14th (more than two weeks, less than months) so I can train (and really train) for the SLC half. This race was going to be it! PR City! Dr. Steve did not share my enthusiasm at my last appointment. Let's pause for a moment of silence.

Such is the tragedy of my life. Meanwhile, my main coping strategy, running, is totally and completely unavailable to me. I may be going slightly crazy. I do have some lower impact outlets at my disposal: the elliptical, spin, and swimming. Though Michael Phelps I am not, and swimming is less work out, more fight for survival. To those of you with fully functioning joints, I salute you/desperately envy you. Long live joints!

Long Days

Definitely made it to campus before 7 a.m. this morning, and definitely left at 10 last night. Ugh. Days like this make finding time for training tricky--even trickier when I'm dealing with an injury!

I Didn't Even Hurdle Anything!

Monday I went for a 3-mile run with some rolling hills at a really easy pace. I was debating going at all (I've kind of sounded like Darth Vader for the last few days with some weird throat thing). Against perhaps my better judgment, I donned my Nike running tights, iridescent blue sunglasses, lone surviving Spiderman glove, and hit the pavement.

By the time I finished, my left knee was feeling a little sore and stiff, which seemed odd. I hadn't fallen, tripped, or hurdled anything. Half an hour after finishing, I was having trouble bending it, and couldn't get in and out of my car without serious pain. After an incredible BBQ lunch, I went home, hit the couch with my Ibuprofen 800 (runner's best friend) and ice pack. I stretched out really well, which eased the stiffness, and decided I'd head to the evening spin class at my gym to loosen up a bit more. I kept low resistance--although it really didn't matter since that was the lamest spin class I've ever been to--and my knee felt loads better. It was more ice and Ibuprofen when I got home, but as the night wore on, my knee got significantly worse and I resigned myself to yet another doctor's appointment.

Long story short: Tuesday morning, the doc relieved my worst fears--I hadn't torn anything. But I was walking with a serious limp, but I'm still on a regimen of ice and Ibuprofen with a little physical therapy thrown in the mix. Though I'm improving quickly, the doc suggested I lay off running for probably two weeks (MOAN). I'm hoping I'll be like new by Wednesday next week, when I get back from a Ph.D. program scouting trip to North Carolina!