Back In The Saddle...Well Maybe

So I finally ran again today. Whew! It was really nice. Toward the end of last week, my burning hips had mostly been extinguished and it was onto my knee pain. Luckily, the weather was on my side and I got to ride my road bike both weekend days.

Knee (to Road Bike): You are my friend. Whenever I'm in pain, you help comfort me.

Road Bike (to knee): You used to hate me! You complained about me all the time.

Knee (to Road Bike): Yes, but that was before Hands moved the seat post to the correct height. Now I love you!

(Knee and Road Bike hug and the curtains close)

Now that the play has finished derailing this post, back to the subject.

I had a dream last night that I ran and my knee hurt alot afterwards. So, what happens next? Of course, I woke up and my knee hurt. I had planned on running in the morning while (future) Dr. J was showering, but my knee hurt. DAMN! It went back and forth my head...it's been a week and a half, I should be able to run...but my knee hurts I don't want to get more injured...yes, but there's only 8 weeks left until the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, I have to run sometime or another and it'll be most convenient right now instead of at lunch...but my knee hurts, etc, etc, etc.

I let the decision come down to temperature. If it was warm...then I would run. If not, I knew it was going to be fairly nice again today...low 50's...so I could go at lunch. Or I could just wait until Wednesday or Saturday because my knee hurts!

Turns out it was 37 degrees, which sounded too close to 32 degrees, which is freezing, and I didn't want to run enough to run when it's freezing outside. See how my mind plays games?

I took my running clothes to work, half expecting to bail. Lunch time came around and I made the decision to test the legs. It was about 50...chilly in just a t-shirt and shorts...but it turned out to be perfect once I got warmed up. I ran 2 miles at 10:24 pace. Just enough to call it a workout, yet slow enough go easy on my knee-sy. Bad joke...I'm aware.

After the run, I stretched for about ten minutes. Stretching is supposed to be good for sore joints, so I'm trying to branch out from my usual quad-hamstring-calf routine. I didn't feel much discomfort in my knee or hips afterwards...just a small something in my hip. 7 hours later, my legs feel about the same as before I ran. I'll take a couple ibuprofen today and tomorrow with dinner just in case.

Feels great to be back at it!