Good news

The last couple of days have been kind of weird. I went out with my colleagues on Thursday, came home late (but stone-cold sober, as I was the designated driver) and sleep-deprived-zombied my way through a very strange, slow Friday. It involved lots of delicious, sinfully rich chocolate cake. And, sadly, tears. Thankfully, not mine.

My visit to the physiotherapist went so much better than I had feared. When I described my latest troubles, he attributed it to the runner's knee at first. But as I went on to tell him where the pain was located and how it had come about, and after he had examined me, he changed his mind. This was new. He thought that it could be because I'm introducing too many new factors to my training, on my first week of running after this injury. New shoes, check. Interval training, check. The hamstring muscle has been tense for months, and this together with the aforementioned factors could have led to an inflammation in the tendon that joins the muscle with the knee bone. NSAIDS, rest until Wednesday, stretching and rehab were prescribed.

This is good news. My runner's knee had nothing to do with this, and it's been quiet, so all is good on that front. The inflammation in the hamstring muscle can be easily dealt with, comparatively speaking. And I can try running on Wednesday. But he made sure I understood the importance of taking it easy when I get back to running again. Start with 12-15 minutes (alternating running with walking), see how the body responds. If all's well, add a few more minutes. Stick to the brick shoes until the knee is healed, then introduce VFF (that engage more muscles) into the equation again. Find flat surfaces to run on, walk up hills.

And now, for some yoga.