First Day of Training

I haven't updated in forever since I hadn't been running at all in hopes that my knee would magically heal itself. Unfortunately, I'm no magician, and my knee is just one in a long line of many of my current ailments.

So I took a week off after my last entry which was fine since I was in and out of town for three weeks straight for various functions and I really didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to running anyway. I did manage one run on a Wednesday evening that was amazing. My knee was feeling better so I decided to give it a shot. With the humidity levels a bit lower and after a week of rest, I ran great. I ran a 3.22 mile loop in 31:07 with no stops and felt like a rock star. Until immediately afterwards when my knee started hurting again.

So I rested one more week and tried it again, but after about three minutes I could feel the pain in my knee coming back so I stopped and decided to just take the next week and a half off from running so that I would be ready for training when it started. The only problem is, things are getting worse.

I have always had problems with the joints in my wrists and knees, but this week things just went crazy. My elbows hurt, my knees are stiff, and my right foot is swollen on the Achilles tendon and my left foot is swollen on the front of the ankle and top of the foot. Both feet are in extreme pain like the muscles around them that feels like I may have injured them while exercising. Except, I HADN'T been exercising. When I wake up in the morning, my ankles are so stiff I can barely walk. And for the past two days, I have had a slight fever. It's insane. Anyway, I am definitely making a doctor's appointment next week, something is just not right, obviously.

Anyway, the first day of the half-marathon training began this morning and I wasn't going to let a little bit of swelling, pain and fever, get me down! I know it sounds bad, but actually after I dragged myself out of bed at 5:15am and got on my running clothes and shoes, I actually did feel a lot better. And my knee didn't hurt at all.

Anyway, Mercy showed up and we met up with everyone else at the hospital. There are about 300 people signed up for this half group. I couldn't believe how many people were there. Mercy and I joined the 11 minute/mile group with a 5:1 walk ratio. We were kind of bummed that there wasn't a 10:1 group but once we got running, we felt like it was a perfect fit. We ran a nice easy three mile run which felt great. I wasn't even tired when we were done and it seemed to fly on by. And best of all, my swollen ankles weren't hurting at all. My knee however, is a different story. It hurts again so it's definitely something I need to get checked out. I'm just hoping it doesn't end up being something crazy like rheumatoid arthritis, but it really sounds like it could be. Whatever, I'm not diagnosing myself till I see a doctor. I'm just kind of bummed that I finally begin something I was so excited about doing trying to improve my health and I'm already injured. And worst yet, what if they tell me not to run? Damn.