Ephemeral. That is the only word I could think of to encapsulate the way I felt while driving home from the swope trails yesterday. It was the first time in over six months that I had made it over 10 miles on a run and I was buzzing. The last six months have been rather disappointing for myself as a runner, but yesterday helped me remember why I crave the run.
Last November I took on the Ozark Trail 100 and managed to drag my butt all the way to the finish, but there would be a price to pay. After the race it took me a few days to walk like a normal person again and I waited a couple weeks before I tried to run again. When I did run everything felt fine for a bit before my right knee started to revolt. Maybe it was the pain that started about 75 miles into the OT and caused me to walk most of the rest of the way, yeah, I think it is safe to assume that is where it began. So I decided to take off more time, another couple weeks seemed reasonable, but unfortunately it made no difference. Not sure if I could manage a month without running I decided to try anyways, so I took a month off, and again it made no difference. This is when I started to get worried and decided to visit the doctor. Multiple doctors, an MRI, a chiropractor, and still no clue what is wrong with my knee left me feeling rather defeated.
So how am I running again? I’m not really sure to be honest. A lot of ice and faith I think. My knee still feels funny on days I don’t run, but on days I do it feels fine.
I will always crave running, whether I have a healthy knee or not and days like yesterday are the reason why. It doesn’t get much better for me than being out on the trails cruising through nature and soaking up its sights and sounds while pushing myself to go another mile. I learned that I have limits that I need to be more cognizant of, but I will still push them when I can.