I’ve been debating with myself for a while now about writing this post. I’m not really a superstitious person (knock on wood), but I’m more than a little afraid that if I say it out loud (or post it on the internet) then it’ll come true. Rationally, I know this isn’t the case. Saying or not saying something won’t change whether it is or not. Just because no one’s around doesn’t mean the tree doesn’t make a sound. Maybe if I toss a couple more non sequiturs together you’ll get bored and stop reading. Because if no one reads this, then mentioning it won’t make it come true. You see . . The thing is . . .
I think I might be injured. Non-runners probably don’t understand that sentence. You either are or are not injured. How could you not know? But runners understand there are varying degrees of injured with sprained ankle (Level 1) on one end of the spectrum and bone protruding through skin (Level 11) on the other. And as we progress through training cycles, various muscles, tendons, and ligaments will pop onto and off the injured spectrum with regularity. Nothing that would necessarily stop you from training, but something that needs a little extra attention or forces you to get a little extra recovery. Most times all you need to do is skip a workout and you’re back in business.
So far in my career, I’ve never been much higher than a Level 3 on the injury scale. Typically, this has been right after a hundred mile race and more times than not it’s been a knee that has caused me issues. Usually, I will feel/notice my hamstrings being tight, but I’d never rate them higher than a Level 0.75. Well, my knee issue is back although this time it’s my left one and not my right, which has been my nemesis before. I haven’t run more than 5 miles since Boulder Field and most weeks I’ve been logging 8-10 miles. I’ve probably done fewer miles in the past 30 days than at any time since I started running 5 years ago and my knee still feels a little off. So I’m not really sure what’s going on. Several days back, I finally started wearing my lightweight knee brace when I went out for my daily runs. Why I didn’t start wearing it several weeks back is beyond me. For all the experience and knowledge that I’ve gained since I started running, at times I can be really dumb.
Today my knee started feeling a little better. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say I just didn’t notice it as much. Either way I am hopeful that maybe I’ve been able to reverse jinx myself out of an injury (knock on wood again). So it’s possible that I have a thing. It’s also possible that I don’t have a thing. As with all things in life, I’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.