Runner Motivation Report: August 30, 2009

I left the house at noon today to go running, leaving a screaming kid behind for my wife. I’m so glad she supports my efforts! It was important for me to get out there, as I am falling behind already in my goal that I set for myself on Nike+.

With the run today, I have only been out 2 times, with 8 more to go before 9/19. This means I am behind on my target:

 

I should have gone out for a run several days ago to stay on schedule, on August 28th. But I did not.

Aug 28 Obstacles

• My right knee was sore from my Aug 24 run. The ligament on the inside of my knee (MCL?) was tender to the touch. This lead me to decide to give it some time.
• Work was very busy.
• I was committed to visit a sick friend in the evening.

These obstacles were enough to keep me from running. But I did make it out today:

Aug 30 Obstacles

• Right knee was still tender.
• Stella was acting up when I wanted to leave the house.

Aug 30 Solutions and and Motivators

• I knew I was behind on my goal, though I had not logged into the website to check to see how far behind I was.
• I knew it had been almost a week since my last run – not a good start to getting back out there.
• Decided to see how the knee would do, and hoped for the best
• The weather was perfect for a run. Overcast, and cool.

I did run significantly faster than my previous run. This is good.

But I should have stayed home. From the start, both knees were an issue. They both felt sore as I made my first lap. Uh oh. After about 4 laps, it got worse - I felt a warm gushy feeling in my left knee. What could that be?

For the rest of the day, my left knee hasn’t swollen up, but I can definitely feel that it is hot. I don’t know if I tore something, or just irritated it. I have a feeling I will be on the sidelines for a few weeks. I can’t ignore this problem.

This blog is about how I stay consistent in running. It is sad that I have barely gotten started, and I am already failing in that. Injury is always a possibility, but to be hampered so early is really disappointing.

I have a feeling this was caused by my tight ham strings. I was hoping that running would loosen them up, but clearly mistaken. I have learned that I have to fix this problem first before I can go running.