On August 23rd, I reached 1,000 miles in my transcontinental run. Yesterday morning, I finally ran mile 1,200. While I was happy to reach another milestone in this journey, I was quite disappointed to realize that it has taken me over 3 1/2 months to run 200 miles. Darn knee injury!
I still don't know exactly what was wrong with my knee (and, yes, a doctor could have helped me figure that out) but the pain was not constant nor was it always in the same place on my knee. Ironically, my knee seemed to feel best after a run and worst when I would be sitting. Very weird. In early November, I got so frustrated with the pain that I vowed to take a complete week off from running so it could heal once and for all. My plan was to not run for a week but, at the end of that time, I still felt some mild pain so I continued to rest. My patience paid off and, after 15 days of not running, the knee healed. Knock on wood.
I have SLOWLY been adding miles each week which is frustrating as I just want to run. However, I know that although my knee feels fine, I can't take a chance and re-injure it. It wasn't until about two weeks ago that I was able to run more than 2 or 3 miles once or twice a week. Now, I am running 4 times a week and am up to 16 miles a week. Baby steps but no knee pain. I am so happy to be able to run again. I have never not run for that long (obviously or else my knee would have been healed back in August!) and hope never to have to do it again. I hope I can continue to run the bare minimum (about 20 miles a week) to maintain my sanity and fitness and remain injury free until we move. Once we are back in the U.S., I have so many great options for my running routes - paved trails, dirt trails, paved roads, etc. - I won't ever have to run on concrete. I am also playing netball again but have been taking it easy as far as sprinting and jumping and trying to let the middle and high school girls carry the load.
This is where I was at mile 1,200.
1200.0 mi - "15.93 mi to Chester, IL", Jackson County
"Section: 9 Map Name: Murphysboro, 114"
Now, we just need Kevin home so we can begin to celebrate the festive season.
Have a great Wednesday.
I still don't know exactly what was wrong with my knee (and, yes, a doctor could have helped me figure that out) but the pain was not constant nor was it always in the same place on my knee. Ironically, my knee seemed to feel best after a run and worst when I would be sitting. Very weird. In early November, I got so frustrated with the pain that I vowed to take a complete week off from running so it could heal once and for all. My plan was to not run for a week but, at the end of that time, I still felt some mild pain so I continued to rest. My patience paid off and, after 15 days of not running, the knee healed. Knock on wood.
I have SLOWLY been adding miles each week which is frustrating as I just want to run. However, I know that although my knee feels fine, I can't take a chance and re-injure it. It wasn't until about two weeks ago that I was able to run more than 2 or 3 miles once or twice a week. Now, I am running 4 times a week and am up to 16 miles a week. Baby steps but no knee pain. I am so happy to be able to run again. I have never not run for that long (obviously or else my knee would have been healed back in August!) and hope never to have to do it again. I hope I can continue to run the bare minimum (about 20 miles a week) to maintain my sanity and fitness and remain injury free until we move. Once we are back in the U.S., I have so many great options for my running routes - paved trails, dirt trails, paved roads, etc. - I won't ever have to run on concrete. I am also playing netball again but have been taking it easy as far as sprinting and jumping and trying to let the middle and high school girls carry the load.
This is where I was at mile 1,200.
1200.0 mi - "15.93 mi to Chester, IL", Jackson County
"Section: 9 Map Name: Murphysboro, 114"
I am very close to entering Missouri and hope to do that by the end of December. Fingers crossed.
Christopher had been complaining about a sore throat for a couple of days. When he woke up yesterday morning, he also had a horrible chest cough and was a bit feverish. A sick child is SO NOT what I need right now. I let him stay home from school and we went up to the medical clinic as soon as it opened. I was very concerned that he might have strep as there are a few kids at ISB that have had it recently. Fortunately, the doctor diagnosed him as just having a common cold. I thought with a lot of fluids and a good night's sleep, he would be okay but he was even worse this morning. At mid-morning, his temperature was 103 degrees which sent me into a mild panic. However, since then, he has been drinking a lot and napping on and off all day and when I just checked on him, his eyes looked a little clearer and he didn't look so flushed. I hope he is on the road to recovery and that Caitlynne and I manage to avoid getting sick. Kevin returns late Sunday night and it would not be the greatest "welcome home" if we were all sick or recovering from being sick.
I finally found a "home" for my snowmen/ladies so my holiday decorating is officially finished. I usually set them around the tree but since the tree is tucked in the corner this year, there wasn't any room. These antique childrens' chairs from China are a great spot to display them, especially since they are painted a Christmas-y red.
Have a great Wednesday.
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