Bum wheel

After two long weeks off, I finally got back out this past Saturday. It was exciting to see the park again, as I miss it terribly when I don't run. And the cold, crisp winter air...actually, I'll get to the bracing, refreshing winter air.

When preparing to run, I have a routine.

use the restroom, stretch, get dressed, put on my watch, leave.

But hours before I run, I check the weather.

Always.

And I check it a few minutes before I go out. My mom is a big weather enthusiast and I suppose I caught it from her. I can look out the window and generally predict what will happen. At least as well as anyone else can, anyway. By smelling the air, I can tell you whether or not it will snow today. Wind, humidity, temperature, precipitation, I generally take it all into account.

But for some reason, I skipped this step on Saturday. To be more truthful, though, I did check the temperature. The wind, however, I failed to factor into my run. You can probably see where this is going.

From my window, it seemed a nice balmy, slightly humid 35* day. Perfect for a nice quick winter run. So, I dressed a little light: t shirt, long sleeved thermal shirt, my beloved sweatpants, no hat, no gloves.

And when I headed out, it seemed, for the first mile at least, that I had correctly gauged the weather and would have a nice uneventful five mile loop through the park.

Once I was just far enough that turning around to put on an extra layer was out of the question, the wind made its grandiose entrance. And it cut right through my two pitiful layers of shirt.

The thought of turning home and calling it a day entered my mind around mile two. It gained some ground every time the wind would bite into me. "There are hot showers, coffee, sweaters, etc. at home," my freezing limbs reminded me. If I had turned back, I would still have needed to run tow more miles. Four miles. "What's one more? Just get through it and remember this as the reason to always check the wind with the rest of the weather." The latter argument eventually won out as I reach the halfway point. Not because I am a robust athlete or anything like that...turning back now would still mean another 2.5 miles. Since both were the same distance, I opted not to surrender (courageous, no?).

And this is where the title comes in. Around mile three (having just settled my quandary over whether or not to surrender), my knee began to hurt terribly. I ignored it for a stretch but it got worse and worse, so much worse, in fact, that I had to break stride and walk. The pain subsided, the wind picked up and I started running again, hoping to get a little warmer. After another quarter of a mile, though, it happened again and I was forced to stop.

This strange pain continued every time I ran (intervals of running gradually shortening). Once I was about a half a mile from home, I leaned forward and decided to ignore the knee, get home, get warm, get coffee, get out of the damn wind. And you know what? My knee stopped hurting. When I was running faster, my knee hurt less.

It doesn't hurt at all now, you'd never know it happened. No swelling or limping or any lingering soreness. No nuthin'.

So while the knee thing didn't teach me anything, the cold did.

And now I will always have a wonderful reminder of how important it is to check the wind before I head out. 35* indeed!

I can definately relate to all of those excuses and then some!
I have only been running for serious since our family met in Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago. My mom, aunt, and I walked the half marathon while Jerry ran.
I decided that day (along with my husband), that next year's half we would be running!
So, since then I signed us up for a 5K (coming in March), and with a little help from my friend Hal Higdon have started to run.
Now, most of you would not have to train for a 5K. BUT, I do ok? So I am working my way up and feeling great.
Running (and marathoning in general), I feel has helped spur a whole new world of conversation within our family.
Don't get me wrong, I have always liked to work out but have generally needed a goal (like my wedding) to keep me motivated. Otherwise, that's when the old excuses started cropping up.
So now, with the 5K only weeks away I am trying to stay motivated.
I'll let you know how long this lasts. =)