Six Mile Fail...

(Note: The world is focused on the tragedies this week in Japan this week and in New Zealand last month. Being someone who lives near the Pacific Coast, and in an area in which earthquakes are a semi-regular occurrence, I am probably among those who ran along the California coast this morning and looked at my surroundings just a little bit differently...Yes, not only is the Pacific Coast a thing of great beauty, but as we certainly are seeing, hour by hour, day by day, and certainly in the weeks to come, it also has immense power and certainly the ability to change the course of  lives in one fell swoop. Most definitely, our earth is a thing to be respected... I spent a fair part of the run today thinking about how incredibly lucky I am to be able to just get up with my husband, go run, and not worry about whether or not the roof over my head is stable, whether there is power, or food to eat. My heart and prayers and thoughts go out to all the earthquake victims who are struggling with all of these things right now).


(2nd Note: That being said, yes, I'm going to focus in this blog on what I was thinking about when I wasn't considering how lucky I am to be here...what else would you expect?)

Well...it had to happen. A whole winter of running wellness with no injury was really too much to ask. I knew that something was amiss on Tuesday night, after the weekly track club track workout and I couldn't sleep that night because my knee ached, so much so that I decided to not run Wednesday - Friday because of it.

In truth, it's a simplification to say that my knee aches. It's really my while left leg that aches from about mid thigh to my ankle and includes my IT band, hamstring, calf, shin, and upper achilles. Yep, that pretty much covers it.

Don't be too alarmed by the size of my knee...I had a bag of frozen spinach on it in this photo... 

That I suffered some kind of knee injury is really too bad because I really, really, REALLY enjoy running the loop of Coronado, the stately houses, the beach, The Hotel Del...it's super-scenic and this morning was perfect running weather overcast and cool, but not cold.

The run started off well enough, with Walter and I starting off together on the Tideland's park walking path*. As we made our way to 2nd Avenue, there was a really short ramp with about a 35º decline that leds to an alley, which led to the street. Like I said, it was short and should have been no big deal, but as soon as I ran down it, I could feel an ever-so-slight "click" in my left knee. It was one of those clicks that we all get (well, those of us over 40 get) all the time. Usually, I just ease up and all my joints settle into place.

But that never really happened this morning. I would have moments when I wasn't thinking about my knee, but mostly I noticed that it was sorta achy. I wondered if I should stop and stretch (I didn't because it didn't feel like THAT kind of ache), but I did know by the time I headed back to the park, that I definitely wouldn't be running any farther (we were on schedule to run 2 hours this morning. I had planned on running at LEAST 1:30... I managed 1 hour).

To my credit, I did stop running after the first loop. In past years, it would have been quite like me to press on and run until I literally couldn't run any farther. So I guess I've learned SOMETHING!

Also, despite having a bum knee, my overall time wasn't too terrible. 6:34/1:08/10:43. I've done WAY worse...

I've been icing all day and have taken a fair amount of ibuprofen. I've also consumed two lemon drop martinis, some Ghiradelli chocolate, AND I still have to say that my whole leg hurts like a mutha...

((sigh))

Of course, the second major tragedy of the morning was when my iPod shuffle died about 1 mile into my run...

On a positive note, I did feel like I both saved a life AND earned my Ye-Ha* (yellow hat) this morning when I shouted out to some newbie track club runners to not just run out across 6th Avenue because the cross traffic going into the Naval Base doesn't have a stop sign (even though, you'd think they would) and they really WON'T be stopping.

One guy told me, "Thanks! I wouldn't have stopped there!"

Oh yeah...I'll also try to be smart enough to take a few days off and regroup and recoup the knee. It's my own fault really...I haven't done nearly enough squats or lunges recently. My bad.
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* I'm not sure where Elsie and Betty were. They told me they started off early, then got lost somewhere on the island.


** I'm a "ye-ha" for the track club (it stands for "yellow hat"), which basically means that I volunteered to help out, give directions, yell at people when they do something on a run that is potentially dangerous, yell out when we are being passed by a bike and such. When an email went out early in the track club season for a few more ye-has, I figured that after four years in the club, I already knew the routes and workouts. I've gotten lost on almost every conceivable run where getting lost is a possibility, and I don't really have a problem barking orders out....after all, I'm both a mom and a teacher, so I volunteered.