I thought I was feeling pain on Saturday. That was our ten mile run. All I could think was, Ohhhhhh, my knees.....my ankles....my lower stomach muscles...ouch. I tried to give myself a break for being such a wuss - that's almost half a marathon!! Or, at least, that's what I'm telling myself to make it seem more manageable. I only ran once all week last week because I was trying to give my plantar fasciitis-ridden foot some time off so it didn't rip in two and leave me crippled and in need of surgery. Turns out, the reason you have to run everyday during the week is to keep your body used to getting pounded so that when you do the long runs, to keep your body used to getting pounded even more, you don't get injured. That now makes sense. I wouldn't have said I was injured, per se, but walking was terribly difficult all day Saturday. I rubbed some Muscle Massage Gel on my knees and felt pretty much okay...until today.

I suppose part of the problem might be that I'm bartending nowadays. It certainly doesn't leave me with a lot of time to sit with my feet up (not that I'm complaining, I would die if I had to sit behind a desk all day, but there is something to be said for being on your feet less than 10 hours at a time), and my "knee problems" have always been exacerbated by working in restaurants (was it worth an eternity of unremarkable knee discomfort to have those 12 months of life as a middle school cheerleader, starting me, I'm sure, on the way to early arthritis? Really? Was it? Yeah, maybe. I mean, that is how I got friends for the first time. And got invited to parties. And had a boy ask me out that my best friend didn't order semi-against his will. Ah, puberty. Anyhoo...), so my current employment is not exactly helping me heal. Work is just making me hover at a stabilized level of pain, though. Running, a necessary daily task, seems to activate the crushing, disabling left knee horror. I don't quite know what to do about this, other than spend the latter 3/4 of my workouts running like Forrest Gump before his braces came off, swinging my leg around in a circular motion from the hip without bending my knee - very attractive, I assure you. I have an email out to my coach detailing my ailments. I'm hoping she's responded with some reassuring, just-push-through-and-it-will-feel-better sort of missive. I suspect I may be too optimistic.

But, then again, what do I really need my knees for in the long run? Especially since they have such glorious prosthetics now. And ESPECIALLY since I'm not doing this for me or the health of my joints. This morning I had to go run up and down the parking garage near my house 6 times (in case you're thinking that sounds fairly easy, join the club. And, oh, by the way, you would be mistaken). After the first (yes, FIRST) one I thought I was going to quit after number two. But I managed to give myself a stern talking-to in my head that convinced me to go for number three. Okay, halfway...DYING (and by the way, if you're reading this and didn't live in Houston today, you should know that it was about 400% humidity, which canceled out the "mild" 80 degrees), and ready to call it quits. Right at that moment, a guy going into his work called out to me loud enough to get me to pull out my headphones. Last time that happened it was followed with a sleazy comment and a wink, so I was definitely on my guard.
Him: "Which one are you running?"
Me: "Full (ohhhhh, he must be a running enthusiast! That's okay, then)."
Him: "You're running for my son."
Wow. I had forgotten I was wearing my Team in Training shirt. Needless to say, I didn't think about my knee again for quite awhile. So, yes, I am running for man-in-parking-garage's son. And for man-in-parking-garage. And for my father-in-law who is having his esophagus taken out in surgery tomorrow because he is fighting esophageal cancer. And for Andy Allen. And Jesus Torres. And Amy Oliver, who I never met but whose story I have heard and am moved by through my friend Cherrie. And James' sister, Elizabeth Loyd. And my grandpa. And all the other millions of people out there who are fighting blood cancers, and all the other cancers, and their families, and their doctors, and the kids in high school right now doing well in biology and thinking, "I want to be pre-med." I am honored to be running for them.

To find out more about Team in Training or to donate to the cause, go to:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/houston10/aclack