Hello Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. This weekend got me thinking a lot about running. Truthfully, I try not to think about running. It is kind of depressing, and I don’t particularly enjoy moping about…though it does happen. My knees are still giving me pain even after a visit to the Doctor and Physical Therapy last May. I know, I know… I need to go back and get it figured out. More tests = more time, more money. Between planning a wedding, performing in a musical, and trying to stay sane (Adam, I’m seriously trying to not be crazy I swear) I’ve decided to just put off figuring out why my Runner’s Knee isn’t improving until after the wedding (let’s call it my February project). There’s only so many things I can handle at once. And truth be told, I’m afraid of what the doctor will say. Will I need to give up running for good? By delaying a diagnosis I’m holding onto the hope that this is just an injury that can be overcome once I have more time to deal with it. Brilliant plan I’d say. Denial. Works every time.
Today was the first day in a while that I really allowed myself to think about running again. At least think about it in a positive, hopeful sense. I wanted to make some goals for ‘once I’m running again.’ Some of these may be impossible given whatever my knee injury might now be… but dare to dream right?
- Run some 5Ks. Believe it or not, I’ve never run a 5K for time. There was that one time I ‘illegally’ ran with my brother, but spent the race running backwards to keep him moving. And hmm… I think that’s it! I really want to see what I’m made of when it comes to shorter distances. These may also be more knee friendly to me.
- Run another marathon. My last full marathon was “pre-ankle injury” and I really want to get back out there and make it happen. I have a goal of running Boston someday (yes, I realize that with my times I might have to wait until I’m 80), but I will never get closer to Boston if I never get back to marathons.
- Get better at hills. Nashville is hilly, enough said.
- Improve my asthma. I really want to get it under more control. Right now I feel like it’s okay, but I’m hoping to really be able to say “yeah my asthma doesn’t affect my running potential at all.” Not there yet.
- Do fun runs! Whether they are 5Ks or half-marathons, I want to do more races with friends or groups of people. I think those types of runs really shake up the “I’m running this for serious for time” and always help me remember the fun social aspect of running.
- Be a Runner’s Knee success story. I’m not there yet, but I want to be able to say to other sufferers, “Hey! You can get through it! You can run again, it’s just a speed bump.” Fingers crossed that will be me.
Happy Running!
Kelly
What are some of your running goals? Have you ever overcome a big injury?