Meg Went Run

I ran this morning! I know, I know, I said I wasn’t going to run for a month. Even though the doctor told me it was okay to run, I did declare that I was only going to lift and do low impact training for the next month in order to really "baby" my knee- hoping it would get better FAST!

But yesterday I had an epiphany. Before seeing a doctor, getting my knee brace, and using the anti inflammatory cream that was prescribed to me, I was experiencing knee pain/discomfort/weirdness during 80% of my day. Not fun at all. And it didn’t matter what sort of exercise I was doing. Whether I was running, lifting, burpee-ing… I still felt it later on.

Upon getting my knee brace and wearing it, the amount of time I spent in pain/discomfort/weirdness went down to about 15-20% of my day. It was a huge, drastic change! Yay!

But now (over 2 weeks later) it has not gotten better. I am still spending 15-20% of my day feeling issues in my knee. It’s mostly either a weak feeling or a pulsing. I get pain if I drive or sit for too long. I wasn't expecting another drastic improvement, but I did think I would have some sort of improvement over these past few weeks- especially since I wasn’t running!

So yesterday, I decided I AM GOING TO RUN. I might as well, just to see how it feels. It would be interesting to see if everything is status quo or if running angers it even more. (The last time I ran was Sept. 23^rd. The time before that? Sept 14^th. We’re talking two runs in a little over a month.)

Can I just tell you how excited I was to run that morning?? I couldn’t wait to see how fast/slow I would go. Honestly, the biggest thing I was excited for was to NOT have to go to Planet Fitness. I slept in until 6am. It was glorious!

Things didn’t start off too well. In fact, if I believed in signs, I would say all the signs that morning were suggesting that I should NOT run. First of all, when I turned on my Garmin, it was only at 27%. No big deal. I’ll charge it. Well, after charging it for 5 minutes, it was down to 3%. What the heck??? I was bummed because I LOVE looking down and seeing my pace. Oh well, I decided I'd just wear my running watch, time myself, and then track my miles online and do some simple math and calculate my pace after my run. But when I turned on my watch, it made a loud, screeching sound and died.

WTF!!!???

Garmin dead. Watch dead. Time to use a good old fashioned clock! I checked the time on my microwave and then headed out the door.

I ended up running 5.5 miles at a 7:20 pace! Holy smokes! As for the knee… I felt a little bit of discomfort in the beginning. Then the rest of the run, it went back and forth between feeling weak and strong. Sometimes it felt totally normal and sometimes I got that weak feeling.

It’s now 12 hours later and my knee feels the same as it would on a day I would spin, use the arc trainer, or lift. Nothing better, nothing worse.

Good to know.

What does this all mean???

I am not sure!!!

But I do know I am going to start running again. Nothing crazy. I just don't see a reason why I shouldn't.

 My reasoning!!!

1. The doctor said I could.

2. My knee doesn't feel any worse whether I run or not.

3. When I run, I get to sleep in later.

4. I miss running.

5. What's the point of having a $900 knee brace if I don't put it to good use??

6. I am stressed. Running helps me de-stress.

7. I'm afraid I forget HOW to run.

8. I have *practically* brand new running shoes.

9. I'm sick of Planet Fitness. I need to be outside.

10. I have a blog called Meg Go Run and I barely even run anymore. At this point, it may as well be called Meg Go Arc Trainer. Or Meg Go Lift. Or Meg Go Eat Angel Food Cake.

Thanks for listening to me go on about my knee! If it's not feeling better in 2 weeks, I get an MRI and then possibly get it scoped. I don't care what happens, as long as it's the right thing to do!