No Running, Please...

So after the marathon I had some pain in my right knee.  Lucky for me, it was not the same sort of knee pain that was associated with the lateral release I had on my right knee in 2006, or my left knee in 2010, but still it was enough for me to notice and call my knee doctor to have it checked out.

I saw Dr. Hines last Friday, and seriously, he's the BEST!  We discussed where the pain was (inside of the knee below my knee cap) and determined that that is the part of my knee that takes most of the stress from my running.  I would hate to have pain in the lazy part of my knee.  His course of treatment?  Get off the streets and get on the bike.

While I am all about getting on the bike now, I have my awesome Trek bike that I bought from a friend, and I actually have pedals for it now, and the shoes are at my sister's house in Edmond, I don't want to NOT run. 

My week to week and a half running ban started on Saturday afternoon right after the 10K trail run we did at Lake Thunderbird.  We had already planned it and I hated to back out at the last minute.  The run was awesome, and it raised money for the local Relay for Life, which is a win win for me.  This is the first trail run for me since December, and it was so fun.  There is something freeing about the trails, and by freeing I mean you need to constantly look at the ground right in front of your feet and make sure you don't trip on anything.  The trails seem to fly by, and I believe this is the reason why.  I did almost fall a couple of times and Kim went down once.  She gets style points for how fast she got back up and not missing a step in the process.

I finished in right at an hour, which is not bad considering I had only really run once since the marathon.  Dodging trees and roots doesn't make for being very speedy, at least not for me.  So now I am on a week long running ban, and it is killing me.  You take for granted that tomorrow you are just gonna go for a run, until you can't just go for a run.  Cross training is good for you and I believe it makes me a stronger runner, but I don't want to cross train every day.  I even got on a machine that is like an elliptical but is not an elliptical this morning just to get some cardio in.

I am trying to figure out how I can go cross train with my running group tonight and not run, but I don't think it's going to happen.  Running to me is as much social as it is a workout, and I hate missing the social aspect of it.

For now, my running shoes are sitting in my bathroom just staring at me.  They look so lonely.    But I'll sit it out for a few more days and then I should be as good as new.