It's a miracle! I'm healed!
Well, not exactly, but yesterday I ran at least 1.5 miles without stopping. I ran it in 17 min and 15 seconds. (I say at least 1.5 miles because I think the 1/8 mile indoor track in our new gym is a little off with its measurements. A co-worker and I agree because our times significantly drop off when we run on the indoor track rather than outside. Another friend claims a 30+ second increase to my quarter mile times could easily be caused by having to slow down in the turns.)
It's the first time since December 12th that I've run that far. I took my AF physical fitness test in December and the mile and a half is part of it. After the test, I got busy and didn't really try to work out again for a month. In that month off, my problems with my right knee got worse. When I tried to return to exercising in late January I started having serious problems. I eventually went to the doctor who referred me to a physical therapist. The physical therapist's program has helped tremendously. It took a while though. Two months ago after a couple of weeks with the physical therapy program, I tried to run for the first time in a while and I simply couldn't because when my foot impacted the ground the pain in my knee spiked up to an 8 out of 10. But I have been doing my PT and gradually increasing my distance. Yesterday was amazing. I felt some twinges in both knees, but nothing bad enough to be called actual pain in my right knee. And I simply toughed it out and kept running until I had done 12 laps.
I am tempted to try the same thing today, but I am trying not to overdo it so today's cardio should just be one of the cross training machines. I'm excited though. I expect that at this Army pre-deployment training I'll have to take the Army physical fitness test which includes a 2 mile run. I'll also have to take the AF physical fitness test before I deploy. Because I passed in December, I should not have to take it again until next December. But because it cannot expire while I am deployed, I'll have to take it before I depart for Iraq in October. With the way I am being jerked around with my schedule, it wouldn't surprise me that I leave in late July and do not return to San Antonio so there's a good chance that my AF physical fitness test is coming up on me fast. I need to keep training and keep healthy. My biggest fear right now is that during the Army training, I'll somehow screw up my knee again and I'll be back to the physical therapist, pain, and working my way back up to running.
My eventual goal is to be back to running three miles regularly and participating in 5Ks again. If I get really into it, I might up my training runs to four or five miles to try to drop my 5K time, but right I need to focus on getting to the point where I can run 3 miles without stopping. That should get my mile and a half and 2 mile run times down.
It's the first time since December 12th that I've run that far. I took my AF physical fitness test in December and the mile and a half is part of it. After the test, I got busy and didn't really try to work out again for a month. In that month off, my problems with my right knee got worse. When I tried to return to exercising in late January I started having serious problems. I eventually went to the doctor who referred me to a physical therapist. The physical therapist's program has helped tremendously. It took a while though. Two months ago after a couple of weeks with the physical therapy program, I tried to run for the first time in a while and I simply couldn't because when my foot impacted the ground the pain in my knee spiked up to an 8 out of 10. But I have been doing my PT and gradually increasing my distance. Yesterday was amazing. I felt some twinges in both knees, but nothing bad enough to be called actual pain in my right knee. And I simply toughed it out and kept running until I had done 12 laps.
I am tempted to try the same thing today, but I am trying not to overdo it so today's cardio should just be one of the cross training machines. I'm excited though. I expect that at this Army pre-deployment training I'll have to take the Army physical fitness test which includes a 2 mile run. I'll also have to take the AF physical fitness test before I deploy. Because I passed in December, I should not have to take it again until next December. But because it cannot expire while I am deployed, I'll have to take it before I depart for Iraq in October. With the way I am being jerked around with my schedule, it wouldn't surprise me that I leave in late July and do not return to San Antonio so there's a good chance that my AF physical fitness test is coming up on me fast. I need to keep training and keep healthy. My biggest fear right now is that during the Army training, I'll somehow screw up my knee again and I'll be back to the physical therapist, pain, and working my way back up to running.
My eventual goal is to be back to running three miles regularly and participating in 5Ks again. If I get really into it, I might up my training runs to four or five miles to try to drop my 5K time, but right I need to focus on getting to the point where I can run 3 miles without stopping. That should get my mile and a half and 2 mile run times down.