Day 144

Today did not start off too well.

Kelsey and Natalie came over and we went out on our two miler. Awhile into the run, I noticed a sensation that can only be described as feeling a cold chill, but only inside of my right knee. Then my knee started to ache. Right over halfway, my knee felt as though it were tightening up and it became quite painful. I decided to do something that I have not allowed myself to do since I started my training. I stopped running and I walked for most of the remaining distance. It felt fine when I walked, but as soon as I would attempt to jog, it would begin to hurt again. My first reaction was to stress out about it. The past few months of my life flashed before my eyes. I panicked. As I was walking back home, watching the figures of my friends fading into the distance, I called my mom and tried to fight back tears of frustration as I explained what had happened. As I talked it out with her, I decided that the best decision would be to alternate between ice and a heating pad this weekend, and rest it. This also means that I will be skipping my 4.5 mile training run tomorrow. I can't type that without wincing. That being said, I have determined not to stress out about this or treat it like a big deal. I'm just going to rest for a couple of days, get a knee brace, and be back in the game next week. No big. I have come way too far to call it quits now, so don't you worry. I have no plan of backing down. All the same, I can't push myself to injury, so I'll just play this by ear. I've still got to give my body credit. Endurance training, particularly when you are overweight, is very rough on your body. This is the first serious sign of wear and tear that mine has shown. I still feel confident in my over-all health.

In the near future I will be completing a half-marathon and I will be running the whole way. Ya'll can hold me to it.

In other news, I went blacklight bowling tonight with my old friends, Vikki, Muriel, Mariska, and Sabrina.

Vikki did not bowl because she is currently carrying a serious bowling ball on the front of her, in the form of a baby that is due within the month. Muriel is getting married within the month, and was busy doing some prep for that, so she showed up late. When she did show up, she was some pretty fierce competition. Mariska had never gone bowling before and had no idea how to even hold the ball. I walked her through some bare basics, then stepped back and prepared myself to encourage her relentlessly through a night filled with gutter balls. Instead I watched in amazement as she earned several spares and the only strike of the night. I managed to pick up a few spares, but my over-all game was far from anything to write home about. Then there was Sabrina. She turned my residual bad mojo from the knee incident right around into joy. I have never in my life witnessed someone with a remotely similar bowling technique to Sabrina's. Hers usually included a little hop somewhere, and then a backhanded roll, but it was never exactly the same. I asked her permission to share her technique with the world via my blog, and she graciously agreed.

Take notes, internet, because this method actually served her pretty well in tonight's game.