Sometimes you need to revamp things. You may think you have got something going for you, but you always have to leave room for change.
I am making a change in my running. I have been pushing, pushing, pushing for a "time". I don't even know what "time" I was going for, just a better time than previous. This, however, has not been working for me. So, when I went out for my run this morning, I decided to forget the time and strive for something different.
I ran uphill. I increased my distance (or, at least this was my goal). I was sweating, legs burning, and I was working it. Then, right in the middle of "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry, I got a sharp pain in my knee. I slowed down. It kept hurting. I walked, it stopped hurting. I ran again, it hurt. I was more than 3/4 of the way through my run. Do I keep going? Try to run? Walk the rest? The rest, mind you, being mostly uphill. So, I stopped, turned around, and walked back to my house, which I had just past.
Did I give up? Was it a smart move to stop when it comes to knee pain? These questions may seem easily answered, but for me, they aren't. I have spent most of my life making excuses about eating healthfully and exercising. Now, I always have a fear that I am just making an excuse - that I could have pushed through whatever seemed as though it was "too much". Even as I write this, I really don't know. Should I have kept going?
Anthony says no - when it comes to your knees, don't play around. And, I can really get behind that statement - I just don't want to HIDE behind it.
I am running a 5K race in 2 weeks. I don't know how training is going to go till that point, or what is going to happen. All I can do is try my best. Now, if I only knew what that was....