The knee has been acting up after a bad run last Sunday. It’s an old injury, a skiing accident from when I was about 15. Last run of the day (obviously) when I was heading back to the lodge after a good day on the hill and I was too relaxed I guess. I caught an edge and my ski spun backwards and took my knee with it; I used to keep my bindings tighter than I probably should have, so it didn’t pop off.
I hit the ground, embarrassed, and someone stopped to ask if I was OK.
Fine, I responded, and stood up, and promptly fell down when my knee didn’t support me.
Maybe not so fine.
I was only a few yards from the first aid hut when it happened, so the stranger helped me to the hut and by the time I got there it was definitely starting to tell me I’d done something very wrong.
Someone found my Dad, who’d been on the hill skiing as well. He brought the truck around and off we went to the hospital where I remember the doctor seeing me and asking if there was some specific spot on the hill that was attacking people that day, because there were several others in emergency with virtually identical injuries.
Let’s be honest here…it was a great day, with good snow, on a weekend, of course there were several people in the emergency with ski injuries.
Nothing was broken, just some tendons and ligaments harmed. He wrapped me up, handed me some crutches, and sent me on my way.
Dad dropped me off at school for the next few weeks, getting there on my own wasn’t an option given winter and the route, but I got to learn the joy of walking on snow and ice with crutches up and down the walkways. I also got to be entertained by others who left me stranded against the lockers as they swiped my crutches and hopped up and down the hallway.
The knee has been fussy on and off in the decades since, but not too terrible.
I was worried about running when I started two years ago, but the running seems to have been beneficial, for the most part. It reminds me to be careful once in a while, and last week, running down a steeper part of a gravel road at the end of a 5km run it got mad at me.
It’s been mad at me all week.
This afternoon we went on an 8km hike to see how it is doing. I’m off this coming week and hoping to get a few good runs in, and a couple o hikes. I’ve been a bit of a slug the past few months and I can feel it. My cardio fitness has definitely slipped and I suppose that’s also why the knee got mad.
I suppose I shouldn’t have assumed that after four months of barely running I would be able to just just straight back into 5-7km runs.
Fine…I’ll back it up and build it back up again.
Inch my inch…..kilometre by kilometre.
(Refamiliarizing myself with the fun of my Lensbaby lenses)
