I Might Run

In January I committed to running a 5K race before the year was over. I'm not one to set a goal and not reach it, but I can confidently say that this goal will not be reached. In the beginning I had a plan. I stuck to that plan. I was on target until a series of events starting with my Achilles tendon injury set me off course.

I am not one to quit. I did what I could over the summer, which consisted of putting away my running shoes and biking. I biked to work all summer long, sixteen miles a day, eighty miles a week with inclines that had me peddling past other cyclist who stopped to catch their breath. I am in shape.

But I still can't run. Mid-September I put away my bike and strapped on my running shoes again. I could run about a mile before the knee pain kicked in. Oh, my knee. The knee that suffered a torn meniscus at Alpine Meadows in 2002. The knee that waited five months for surgery. This is not a knee pain to be taken lightly.

Maybe it is my shoes, I thought. So I purchased new running shoes. I hit the track and ran lap after lap. I ran through the pain. I punished myself because my mind, heart and lungs wanted to run but my knee was holding me back. When I was done, I could barely walk. I limped home. Two days later I limped to the store and returned those new running shoes, limped to another store and bought a different pair.

It is now two weeks later. A lot has changed over the last two weeks. I am feeling the effects of my positive pregnancy test. I'm feeling icky, tired and weak.

Yesterday while I was lifting weights I considered the treadmill for the first time in two weeks. It was always my goal to run through my next pregnancy. It is not like me to give up on my goals so easily.

I decided to run for ten minutes and stop if my knee hurt. Baby steps. I made it through my trial run without incident. Maybe my running days are not over. Maybe I still have that 5K in me.

Of course since I am carrying a life, I will wait to test my theory. 2009 sounds like a good year, the year I give birth to baby number three and run a race. For now I can train. I will take it easy and not push too hard. But I will try, because if I never try I will never know.