The story that should not be told

Bob

Okay.  Here is the thing.  My knee hurts.  It has since the marathon.  I have been running since then, but it has not been the same.  It will get better.  It does when I rest it, but what exactly is rest?   Here is my philosophy.  I have an active job and am on my feet all day, so I can't really rest.  Therefore, if I can't really rest, I may as well run.  This has worked in the past, but not so much recently.  Frustrating.  I did not run in an event on Saturday in order to rest it and not aggravate it more.  Guess what, it felt better.  But...and this is a big ole but.  I am totally aggravated.  Not running, even for a few days makes me mad.  I'm like an angry bear that got his salmon taken away.  The salmon is right there, I can taste it almost, but it got away.  Or the bear can taste it.  I get all mixed up in these analogies, or metaphors, or whatever they are.  Am I the bear?  Or am I like the bear?  Or, am I the salmon.  Or, since I am toxic, am I salmonella?  It reminds me of the old story, Salmonella and the Seven Dwarfs.  Salmonella's evil stepsisters would not let her run with her seven dwarf running buddies and she turned into a pumpkin at midnight.  Right in front of a prince.  So close to marrying a prince and she turned into a pumpkin.  Come to think of it, I could be the seven dwarfs.  When I can't run, I turn into the Sybill of dwarfs.  7 personalities of non running fairy tale dwarfs.  Wimpy, Grumpy, Gimpy, Tubby, Sobby, Ingy and Rex.  In addition, I start to get mad at other runners.  I typically love all runners.  So much fun.  So happy.  Improving.  Running. Running, etc.  But when I am not running, I think, "why are they running?  Where do they think they are going?  They are going to hurt their knee.  Running is bad for you."  I feel, in my case anyway, that the whole being smart and listening to my body thing is not my deal.  Remember Woody Hayes and his three yards and a cloud of dust philosophy?  Mine is close to that, except it is "put your head down, stupid, and run straight."  The point of the whole thing is that I will tell you and anyone else that rest is good.  And it is.  In all seriousness, I am actually kind of careful when I run.  I have been injured before to the point of not being able to run.  I made that better.  I have figured out what works for me and how to work around certain pains.  I said I would not let that happen again.  This one kind of snuck up on me.  I don't consider it an injury, but rather something that is slowing me down to a degree.  I am at the point in my life that I do not want to slow down.  I want to keep getting faster.  I got away from some of my core workouts.  My strengthening workouts.  I gained weight.  None of this is good for someone with some pre-existing problems.  I'm fixing it.  Getting stronger, watching what I eat and concentrating on my form.  The bottom line is that this pumpkin wants to be a princess again.   I really need some new slippers too, but that is a story for another day.