Baby Giraffes

A few weeks back I officially accepted that I'm injured. Was a bit hard to do, but when I had trouble standing & walking & getting down stairs I had to come to terms that running was certainly out of the picture. So on June 20th I officially went on hiatus from my decidedly lackluster running career. It's a good thing, no doubt. But sitting around and getting rusty is not all that grand. Sure I could do other things but I think this was a good time (or a good excuse) to just lay low.

I don't get injured much, and for this I count myself lucky. The one and only ultra I ran saw me injured at the end - achilles it was. Inflamed and displeased at the stress I put on it during the 52 miles or so. For some absurd reason, I thought I could run through it. So two days later, I tried to run. Funny thing about running injuries: sometimes they hurt less when you run. In this way they can be rather deceptive. Such was the case with my achilles; it was also the case with my knee. The more I ran, the less it hurt. I got the notion, therefore, that I should simply just run everywhere and soon I'd be right as rain. Unfortunately, the increased blood flow to the ailing area provides temporary relief; but in the end, you basically pile damage on top of damage. The only real cure, I think, is to stop the stress and let the damn thing heal. Fortunately, an MRI revealed no bad news - just fluid in the knee. Something from which I can recover on my own. On a side note, what kind of fluid is actually in my knee? Shirley temples? Cranberry juice?

And so here I sit, typing away. At work, not working (but only briefly not working). My knee feels really good. So good that I can almost do the deep squat that's been eluding me for about 6 months. Why would I want to do a deep squat? Trying out for the Mets? I don't really know - all I do know is that I've used this as my yardstick for how badly my knee feels. I'd say I'm almost to 95%. I contemplate running but quite frankly I don't think I could bear another layoff. So I'm giving it another week or so. Then I'll take a few baby steps, much like the baby Giraffe stands on wobbly knees (how's that for a visual).

I have my sights set on Steamtown in October. This would be my third time. I have an affinity for the event, very down to earth, very Americana. I'd love to do it again. But with only two months and a few days to train, I'm not sure that's what I need even if everything is back to normal.

That's all for now; thanks for reading. And maybe I'll see you on the pavement in the near future.