As I cut through Tranquility Park last Friday for a lunch run down one of my favorite trails, I encountered a homeless bum in my path. Not wanting to break pace, I changed course onto some stepping stones, and promptly lost my footing on a plug of mondo grass. My knee and ankle were none too pleased, but the euphoria of the lunchtime run took over. (Even in the extreme heat and humidity, the lunchtime run never loses its thrill. Perhaps it is the sense of playing hookey to run. More likely, its the comfort knowing that the whole run will be confined to an hour or less).
By Friday evening, the knee was still protesting, so I've been going easy this week - nothing longer than 6 miles, with a fair amount of spinning/bike riding to make up the cardio. After another disappointing run yesterday, I broke down and bought one of those jumper's knee bands you see all the roadies wearing. I tried it out today for a light 5 miler. It seemed to offer some relief (as in, I could run slowly without the knee locking up) but I'm not convinced.... Perhaps I should try a large brace, but the thought of adding one more insulating layer in this heat is abominable. For now, I'll stick with the jumper's knee band and googling quad/kneecap exercises.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I think the proper term is hobo. Anyway, if you wrenched your knee like that, I'd lay off it completely for 3-4 days. Not that I'd actually take my own advice or anything.... Hope it comes around soon.
ReplyDeleteMiles -- thanks! "Otherly-addressed" etiquette is so complex. I mean, is it demeaning to those adventurous, well-coordinated and skilled "otherly-addressed" guys and gals that ride trains (aka "hobos") to group them in with those that never leave the comforts of the central business district? And is it improper to group the grocery-cart-abled with those that carry a bindlestick? Where's Ms. Manners when you need her?
ReplyDeleteAs for the knee, I opted for a pool workout today. The "timed drowniing" exercise (deceptively referred to as treading water with no hands) was a nice distraction from the knee smarting. I'll probably lay off it entirely tomorrow and attempt the HTRex run on Saturday. We'll see....