In praise of sore knees. And hamstrings.

And, what the heck? Let's praise painful toes while we're at it.

Why?

I'll tell you why. Because it seems that I have some kind of creepy power wherein I praise something and then -- poof! -- it goes away.

For example, remember how I've praised Exercise TV and all their great yoga programs? Yeah. So much for that. Exercise TV is now defunct. Defunct! As in, gone. No longer.

And Sportskool? I wrote about how much I liked their running programs and, you guessed it, they are out of the line-up. Sportskool is at least still on, but not the running programs. What gives?


To top it off, my new medical practice -- the one that I found after a really crummy experience with my last one -- announced that as of 3/1/12, they are no longer accepting my health insurance. Oy vey!


The way I see it, I should be able to shake my little aches and pains simply by praising them right here on the good ol' Internet.

And so I shall.

Give it up for Left Knee! Knee, you rock. Thanks for hurting on and off for the last month. You've made almost every run a challenge and that's cool. What's life without a whole bunch of challenges, right?

Cheers to Left Hamstring! You pretty much rock, too. It's terrific how you give me that twinge of pain on every uphill. Forces me to slow down. Thanks.

Next up? Right Toes! I know you guys are a little late to this party but I have to praise you for feeling so sore during any and all walking and/or running activity. I appreciate that. I have no idea why you guys are so sore but, yup, you're doing a good job at it!

Yeah! Way to go aches and pains! Keep up the good work!

(But I have to admit, if you go the way of Exercise TV, I might not miss you quite as much as I miss those perfectly coiffed and overly enthusiastic instructors. Just gotta be honest.)

Think it will work? Let's hope. In the meantime, do you miss Exercise TV?


Have a great week, everyone!

~ Felice

Paranoia will destroy ya.

File this under "At Least I'm Not as Crazy as the Happy Runner."

Or just laugh at me. Either is fine.

First, by way of background, we're 5 weeks from the half marathon and every little sore anything has me slightly paranoid. When I started to feel a little something in my left knee yesterday I kinda freaked. I never have left knee problems. Whenever I have any sort of foot/knee/hip problems they are in my right leg. Always. So something in my left knee? Yikes-ola.

It was one of those funny-surface feelings. It felt as if some ligament or tendon was just loose and flapping around right under my skin. It didn't hurt, which I figured was a good sign, but I definitely felt the flapping when I walked up or down the stairs and when I sat or stood.

I didn't want to think about what could be wrong.

And so I thought instead about how terrible it would be to have to miss the half marathon. I would be doomed. These thoughts ran through my head all day, especially when I felt the flapping. Stupid knee!

Or maybe just silly, silly me.

You see, on Thursday I had cut my knee. Just a wee little cut but it bled so I covered it with a band-aid. That's right. A band-aid. Apparently, not a tight-fitting band-aid because that was what was causing the weird flapping around feeling on my knee. It wasn't a torn ligament or pulled muscle or off-set kneecap. Nope, just a little bandage on a little cut.

So, yeah. I'm OK. Still on for the half.

Now, doesn't my crazy paranoia make yours seem normal?

You're welcome.

~ Felice

Nuts-o and knees.

Things have been nuts-o here. I had a tight deadline, which meant I was staying up late and trying to squeeze in work whenever I had a free moment. I also had a knee thing.

I didn't want to write about it because I feared that doing so would give it life and make it worse (weird? sure.). So I didn't say anything and now the knee thing is gone so my weirdness may just have paid off!

But it was a drag. It crept up on me on Wednesday. My knee just started to hurt. On Thursday, it hurt a little more but I ran anyway. On Friday, it hurt for real. I took the day off. When it still hurt on Saturday, I skipped my planned 5K race and secretly felt pretty OK with that since it was pouring rain here.

Then, Sunday. The knee felt fine! Totally better, like nothing had ever happened. I ran 5.5 easy and enjoyable miles. Monday, easy and enjoyable 4.5. Yesterday, I ran 4 through an evening drizzle. All three runs were grade-A fall runs and (knock on wood) my knee hasn't bothered me one bit since Saturday.

I feel like I dodged a bullet!

I've got a lot of catching up to do but I'll leave you with a giveaway to check out:

Mel -- Tall Mom on the Run is hosting an AWESOME Brooks for Her giveaway! She's giving away a pink jacket that is just too cute. Enter here.

Have a great (half over) week!

~ Felice

I may be a runner but I'd rather not have runner's knee, thanks.

Boo. Hiss.

Knee pain. Not too bad. Just slightly annoying.

Self-diagnosis: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome a.k.a. Runner's Knee.

Boo. Hiss.

I felt the pain on Tuesday, about a mile into my run, and ran through it. No pain after the run until later that night when I felt a pinch at the top of my knee. A little ice and ibuprofen seemed to do the trick but when I ran on Wednesday, I felt it again.

Boo. Hiss.

I took Thursday and Friday off and did some Shred workouts instead. On Saturday, I had planned to run a 5K but skipped it because I had Conal's party that afternoon and just way too much going on. So, another day off.

Yesterday, I decided to test it out on a 5-mile run. No problem. Today, though? I feel it. What gives?

I'll pull back a little this week and use some ice and Advil when necessary. Hopefully that will take care of it. It really isn't bad, just annoying.

Even with the knee thing, I had a great weekend! Two parties for my little two-year-old (toddler party on his birthday and then a family hoo-ha the next day). Fun. He loved it all. Especially the cupcakes. And I don't blame him because if there is one thing I can do, it's bake up a yummy cupcake and top it off with some butter-laden frosting goodness.

Now, the sun is shining and said toddler is napping. Happy Monday!

~ Felice