back on track

I love running.

I really love running.

Love.Love.Love.Love.Running.

If I could, I would marry running. That's how much I love it.

Running makes me happy. Running is a stress relief. Running gets me out of the house. Running makes me stronger. Running doesn't talk back or whine. Running allows me to eat more than I should and not look like I eat a gazillion calories a day. Running takes me places. Running is fun. Running is good for my body. Running makes me feel better about myself. Running is awesome.

Back in August my left knee started giving me problems. It hurt after my runs. Then it started hurting about halfway through my runs. Then it hurt when I started my runs. And then it hurt before, during and after I went running. Crap!

So I stopped running.

Sad, sad day.

That was around Halloween.

I tried just walking. That sucked.

I thought maybe a new pair of shoes would help. So I waited patiently for Christmas to come and Santa brought mama a new pair of shoes.

I love Santa.

Santa let me go to the Road Runner store and pick out my new pair of running kicks.

While I was there, I asked the knowledgeable dude who was helping me what I could do about my knee situation. He asked me a bunch of questions and right away he knew what the answer to my chronic problem was.

My IT band was overworked, I wasn't stretching it enough and most of my running routes are in the same direction, so my left side was compensating for the slope in the road.

He gave me all sorts of tips on what I should be doing. Basically stretching the heck out of it and giving my left thigh a deep tissue massage a few times a day.

R-e-l-i-e-f was pretty much instant.

I've been running now for about two weeks and nary a problem with my knee.

It's a running miracle!!

Not really.

But, yes, to me it's a running miracle!!

Now I'm a happier mom and wife. All because I'm a runnin' fool again.