Pain in the Knee

I'm beginning to hate the left side of my body... or at least just the lower leg part. Two years ago I spent the summer rehabbing a bum ankle and foot with four different you-name-it-itis problems, causing me to miss a triathlon and walk most of the Falmouth Road Race. I knew it was too good to be true that I've been able to run as much and as many miles as I have without abnormal pain.

That was until my left knee decided to stiffen and lock up on me making it hard to walk pain-free for the last couple of days. (Perhaps it's the good ol' patella tendonitis that I had in college showing its face once again).

Guess my knee is trying to tell me something: Even God had to rest one day and I am so not above God.

Since my race last Sunday, I have taken just one day off from working out and running. I have come to love running so much that it didn't even dawn on me that maybe I should take a day off and not to push myself so hard (although it didn't feel that way seeing I enjoyed going out for each run--well, except that day it was 99% humidity). Although I don't have much choice in the matter, I have resolved to take a break this week because the last thing I want to do is push it and make everything worse. Or end up like our friend Tom Brady here.

During this working out streak I not only now know that I need to give my body some rest, but I also realize that I need to eat better. I was starving every day last week because I was burning energy and fat but not replacing it properly. As I increase my mileage, I need to add foods with more protein to my diet. I've become a little too addicted to tracking calories and having some left over at the end of the day (thanks to my favorite new tool myfitnesspal.com, which also has a Blackberry app to track on the go), so I need to start using all of those calories on good food the days that I run.

This whole diet and training for a half marathon experience is filled with learning moments and has made me more aware of how my body works. Although I'm mad at my knee right now for getting in the way of my routine and potential progress, I am grateful for it--and all of the other body parts and muscles--because they allow me to run and walk and jump around every day.

Guess I can spend tonight doing laundry. Or shopping for new running shoes. Yuck. I wonder what God did on his day of rest...