Never Quit.....But If You Do, It's Best to Check if Any Little Girls Are Watching First

"But you just started?!"

Ouch.  I had just taken the first steps of tonight's run when I felt a pain on the inside of my knee.  I knew immediately the run wasn't gonna happen. Turning around, one of the little girls from next door was right there.  "But you just started?!"  Well, crap.  I think I just got crossed off a list of potential heroes.....

Running has been going well actually.  I've been going out for 3 mile jaunts here and there with nothing more than a little tendonitus or ITB flare-ups for discomfort - the kind that you can bear.  So at the beginning of this week I decided on a goal: I would do four 3 milers within the week, which would be a reasonable step up in mileage from where I was.  The fun thing about starting over in running is that you improve a lot.....fast.  The first 3 miler of the week took over 28 minutes.  The second just under. The third, on Friday, was just over 27 minutes.  Every run's a PR these days!

But the last half mile of Friday's run came with a little bit of that medial knee pain, right where Mr Peabody's golden cartilage donation is, and I thought about walking.  But the PR was in sight and I just didn't want to beat myself up all night if I gave in.

I was surprised but not all that disappointed when I felt it flare up again at the start of tonight's run.  I hate I fell short of my goal for the week, but I'm happy I'm just setting goals again!  I'm sure by Wednesday I'll be ready to give it a try again, and I still get another shot at completing that goal......before I make newer, bigger ones! Heh.

I've been asked now that I'm running again if I cherish each step I take.  Of course I do!  But no more than I did before I found out I had a turd for a knee. I honestly in those final years of running better and better, of 55 mile weeks, burying myself in training, and realizing my dream of qualifying for Kona, finished every run with the exact same sequence: as soon as my foot hit the concrete of my driveway I thumped my chest twice, put my hands together, lifted them up, looked to the sky and thanked God for allowing me the gift to run.

I still do.  Still a runner.......