Hooked on Running.

I know I'm crazy. A five mile race last weekend with a messed up knee - my husband shares this opinion. I guess I'm hooked and blame M and D for that. I was going to "take it easy" per my physical therapist AND because I haven't run in so long I could really get hurt. If I had run the whole thing I guess I would get maybe a 11/12 minute mile, walking maybe a 14 or so. So I did the full 5 mile in 1 hr and 2 minutes - I guess I forgot to take it easy - thought I was until I saw the clock. My knee was hurting and all I could think was my therapist is going to be mad at me.

I went to a knee specialist on Tuesday limping in and he was so nice to give me a cortisone shot. The MRI and xrays look good. I am still doing therapy and ran a little on the treadmill on Friday. After just about 4 minutes however I stopped and walked - not sure if I was just afraid to run full out.

SO crazy me ran a 5k race today. I ran/walked it, through the woods and puddles, and swamps, and ravines, and creeks, and I mean it. I walked a lot because of the course and my knee. My daughter V and the neighbor girl M ran/walked it with me. We had to come home rinse off our sneakers in the sink THEN put them through the washer. After a LONG shower to get the mud off my legs - and all the way up also, I felt so much better. So tonight as I write this, my knee is a LITTLE sore but not as bad as it would of been. I don't have any more runs on my calendar so maybe I can do just a little treadmill work for the next couple weeks before thinking of THE NEXT RACE.

I am however thinking of poor D who is planning to run a race tomorrow similar to the one I ran today. I called and left her a message but I don't know if it would matter. I hope she wears old sneakers and not new ones like I foolishly did. I also hope it doesn't rain for the whole time, like it did today. I saw someone with a t-shirt of the race D is runing tomorrow and I asked him if he was running that tomorrow and he said he was and asked if I was and, I said probably to much mud for one weekend. Wish them the best.

Another Race and Non-running Race

So have you travelled two hours to walk in the rain? I did have a nice time walking the 5k with my sister and my daughter. The rain did stop around the half way mark. My sister has never done a race before. I hope I can talk her into it again, maybe even run one in the spring. I think I have my daughter hooked - she loves winning. She did tell us at least twice that we were going slow - she is hooked then.

I volunteered at a marathon today. My friend D ran the 1/2 marathon so I left my water stop unattended for a few minutes and ran to the finish to pick her up. Upon returning we had two teenagers that had taken over helping. I think we embarrassed them with all our cheering and clapping on the marathoners. We had a great time even with the wind. I finally got to go to the finish and enjoyed some homemade cookies. I did manage a little nap when I got home. I guess getting up at 5:00am and standing in the cold wind wiped me out. I would do it again. It is fun volunteering - even if I didn't get a t-shirt.