Back On Track

Okay, I got my act together, saw a sports medicine doctor who is on my health plan, got a positive prognosis--been feeling better since I wrote the previous screed anyway--and have begun the doc's Back to Running protocol.

Yesterday, I walked for half an hour at a good pace with no discomfort. Today I walked at the same rate for four minutes, ran for one, and repeated that three times to make fifteen minutes total. I felt it every time I landed on my still weakened (but no longer Bum) knee, but it seems to have survived alright.

I repeat this for two more days, then increase the ratio of running to walking by a fifth until it's

Good for what ails you

fifteen minutes of just running. Each level lasts three days. Any discomfort, I back off to the previous level.

I've added two more calf and hamstring stretches to my daily warmup, and am trying to complete the prescribed number and duration of kegels to strengthen my "core". I wonder if a slight grimace is the tell that I'm clinching my butt and holding it for ten seconds, again and again and again, while I'm trying to appear casual waiting at the crosswalk, sipping a latte, etc.

It feels good to have a plan, although after timing myself today, I'm looking forward to a comeuppance when I start using the stopwatch for my first hundred meters.

Onward.