Friday, April 30, 2010

Cautiously Optimistic

Yesterday morning I went for a run.

Seems fairly innocuous in a blogosphere full of runners, but it was my first run in 3 weeks, since my ill-fated and ill-advised first run after my marathon. 2.3 glorious miles. We may chase the runner's high as we cross into the mental/physical test of the latter parts of our long runs, but I found that runner's high the moment I stepped out of my front door. I've never bought into someone telling me what I can't do, and it's even more frustrating/motivating when that someone is my own body. Every step and every moment was a constant inventory of how my knee felt, but despite the concentration I ran the entire way with a smile on my face. No worrying about pace, splits, hydration, etc. - just a hope for little to no pain, and the joy of one foot in front of the other while the sun rose on a cool morning.

Overall it felt pretty good. My knee definitely doesn't feel normal or healthy, but it didn't hurt like it did the first time I tried running after the race, and it didn't hurt going down the stairs this morning. I want to get through about 5 every-other-day runs before I'm willing to declare myself as back in action, but for now I'll just keep on smiling (and stretching, lifting, rolling, etc.).

5 comments:

  1. I'm relieved to hear your knee isn't hurting as much as it did before. ::big big hugs::

    I'm cheering for you, girl!

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  2. Good plan...hope it feels better and better!

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  3. You'll get there, just take it one step at a time. The way you're doing it seems perfect.

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  4. Patience. I know all too many who tried to go out too fast and too soon. Most of them did nothing more than delay their recovery....

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  5. My flexibility is pretty dreadful too! It seems to be helping to strengthen my joints too! Hope your legs continue to feel better. Thanks for commenting on my blog, I'm glad to have found your blog :-)

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