Three after Eight

A Matter of Time
 
"Two weeks" is what the doctor said, "You could be running two weeks after the procedure" I take Dr. Hunter at his word but a couple of days before I hit the magic mark I dump my Harley on my ankle. Ouch. well, it's just a minor thing, I limp for a week and get over it. the next week was too busy to even try to get in any running so we are out 4 weeks after the procedure - TWO MONTHS since I've ran. I am burning up for a run and a free Saturday could not happen at a better time.

Vacationing in Lovely Nirvana 

The morning of the run I knew it would be a hot day, so I hit interurban at 7:00am. I'm not sure how my knee would react to running, so I plan to run my short run - a 10k. the run starts off easy, I forgot my heart meter strap, but wore the Garmin anyway. I can turn around at the first notion of pain and if it's too bad I can walk back. A mile into the run I am reliving all the pleasure that I had been missing these two months now. In the back of my head the dreaded 4 mile pain is looming large in my mind, but it never starts at mile two, mile three I would start to feel the beginnings of the pain, and I was so focused on it that I think I was imagining it - by 3.25 my imagination was in check, I definately would have felt something, but all I felt was my stupid ankle that hurt a bit but did not worsen as the run progressed. I decided at the 10K turn around point that I would extend the run to my "medium" run of 8 miles since there was no sign of knee pain. At mile 4 I felt nothing but satisfaction that there was no pain. I prayed thanksgiving that God could put such awesome surgeons in my life. I was looking at stretching the run into a 1/2 marathon, but at mile 6 I considered that might be overdoing it, especially since I had only hydrated with two cups of coffee, and the heat of what would be a 90 degree day was starting to climb quickly. Mile 7 convinced me that 13 was too optimistic but that is fine, 8 miles was heaven, I AM BACK! Bliss has been recaptured.

Diversions in Hades
 


Then comes the next morning, on waking I notice that my legs are quite stiff, as I start to get out of bed I set my feet on the floor *ow* I try to raise myself out of bed *#%€£¥* I can't put any weight on the leg - the knee is screaming, and even hopping on the other leg hurts it. Ok, hit the bathroom, go downstairs, get food and down 800mgs of ibuprofen, sit with icepack and watch the morning news. I attempt to get up again and the knee is still screaming, "ok, time for stronger measures" I grab the vicodin and hope for some relief. A little, but more ice is needed. This went on for the rest of the day the next morning I head into work and limp all day, but the limp gets slightly better as the day progresses. More ice in the afternoon, and by the next day the limp is almost gone, I call the doc and he says that 8 miles was a bit much, he doesn't think any more damage is done and rest ice and ibu should help. A scary couple of days but I am still jubilant that running 8 miles was a possibility again. Fast-forward 1 week and I star over, this time with a little more moderation - 3 miles around a track, my pace is decidedly faster than normal, but I'm feeling good, after about 30 minutes I'm done and heading home to ice and ibuprofen. The next day ( today, actually) I'm feeling good, tonight I will go for 5 and see how that works... Wish me luck!