I guess I've been fortunate, other than a mountain bike wrist fracture, I've never had to deal with sports injuries...until now that is. I've watched my training partner and bff(that's her and I in the picture) deal with hip flexor, knee and achilles problems, followed by hours of physical therapy and I HAD been spared of these. Until last Sunday, we ran 13 miles on Saturday, 9 miles on Sunday with no problems, then Sunday afternoon... Wham it hit me I could barely walk, the outside of my knee felt like someone stabbed it with a knife, or pulled a Nancy Kerrigan on it! I did the old rice (rest, ice, compression, elevation..well maybe not the ice) on it and hoped for the best. Yup, and then what does captain dumb dumb do on Monday...I realize that Ragnar Relay will run right into Diabetic Training Camp so I call and tell them to count me in. Maybe it was my personal way of fighting back against my aging body, maybe it was my natural self destructive behavior, or maybe it was that I just couldn't pass up such a fun adventure. Camping, running through the night, hanging out with other type 1's, nope, definitely couldn't pass this up.
Lately when I look in the mirror I realize I'm getting older, wrinkles, sun spots, grey hair, facial hair, knee pain, it's all there right in front of me! The problem is my mind still feels 19, but once again, the mirror and my aches and pains, unfortunately tell the truth. I did start to lift weights 3 weeks ago after a 15 year hiatus in order to prevent injury, guess I was a little too late. Well, I still believe age is just a number! And hey, I've earned everyone of those wrinkles out riding and running for hours. I have a friend who has a botox addiction, it's a good thing I have a triathlon addiction because I can't afford both!
So anyway, I took it easy through the week with running and ventured back into the trails on Thursday, now with a knee brace on. So far so good, it's still a bit sore and doesn't feel quite right, but I'm back on the glucosamine and a stretching routine and will hope for the best. Today a bunch of us did a run called the fat ass run, very appropriate name these days, they must have known I was coming when they thought up the name. When it started it was 5 degrees outside and WARMED up to 15, LOL. My knee made it the 16.5 miles("thank you knee"-maybe if I thank it , it will leave me alone) and only feels a little sore, my accucheck on the other hand was acting a bit wacky in the cold, maybe it takes after it's owner!