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Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Resting Is the Hardest Part

The Stats 6/3/12 - 6/9/12
6/6/12: 0.7 mi; 5'46"; 7'20" avg. pace
6/9/12: 1.0 mi; 7'10"; 7'10" avg. pace
It was a rough week of running. More accurately, it was a rough week of not running. I stepped up my summer training too soon when I ran the Corridor G hill last Saturday. That led to an aching knee, which had me walking with a limp. In addition to the slight injury I had nights of quite little sleep. Those two factors worked together to sideline me until Wednesday. I foolishly headed out Wednesday, hoping the pain in my knee might be worse walking than running. This hope was flattened as I trotted along behind UC heavily babying the left leg. Darn. More rest seemed like the only reasonable treatment. I did that and iced down the knee at intervals through Thursday and Friday.
It was a bright, sunny day on Saturday so I thought I'd test out the knee again. Mike had taken out his boat for its maiden voyage the previous evening allowing a nice evening of rest heading into the day. The first half mile was semi-normal. I tried to keep pressure off the knee while not significantly altering my form. At around 0.75 miles, I could feel a little twinge and some slight popping. I knew it would be a mistake to try to push any further. A serious commitment to rest has to be made. On the surface that sounds easy, but running gets to be a habit when you form a slight addiction to it. Severing an addiction, even a positive/slight one, is tough. I have to be smart and strong enough to not ruin the next few months of running activity. It helps that I haven't signed up for any road races in the near term. My plan is to hang up the Nike's until at least June 18.
It ended up being an even tougher week due to other family issues outside of those listed. Here's hoping for better days.

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