Mondays

Nearly everyone dreads Mondays, I'm not sure why, but today I'm feeling it too. Lying in bed and taking a mental status check on how all the parts of my body are feeling, I notice an abnormality. My right knee feels different than my left one and something just isn't right. Even if I didn't know what had happened or had any background information, I would've still sensed the same thing. It's crazy how in tuned one can be with the body.

Two Mondays ago, I went out on a morning run and slipped on ice and fell. The inside of my right knee was the first and main limb to make contact, taking nearly, if not all, the impact. Ouch. I popped right back up and finished my run. It hurt, and I could feel the swelling, but I've fallen before and have always gotten back up, so there was no reason to stop the training session. Once I got back to my hotel room, I took off my thermals and assessed the damage. Just as I expected: a huge lump with fluid and tenderness.

I did a lot of icing, compressing, elevating, and rubbing the next few days. Even though this treatment spelled out the famous RICE, it wasn't the right kind of rice. I never rested it. It felt fine so I kept running and hiking and running some more. I have a high pain tolerance, and really, it didn't hurt much unless I was massaging it to heal the bruise. It did feel different running, but nothing enough to make me stop (and I wanted to make the most of my altitude training!).

This is the best it looked after 3 days of massaging

Picture doesn't do it justice

Last Monday, I knew something was wrong since there was still a lump on the side of my knee despite the bruise being gone for days and walking up the stairs caused discomfort. So I made myself rest. By rest, I mean no running. I could still bike and swim since they are low impact. Wrong. Just bending the knee causes inflammation to the ligaments.

Today, after a weekend of testing my knee's limits for race day, I'm caving in and giving it as much rest as I can, so I can at least make it to the starting line next Sunday. Not too sure about that finish line, but I'm only going to focus on the one line in front of the water. That's what matters at this point. You can't finish what you don't start.

Parked myself in front of the tv

It's hard enough for me to sit still, and let alone not train, but a soldier's gotta do what a soldier's gotta do. Lose the battle, but win the war (watching too much television? which btw is so tiring and uninspiring). I can feel the fitness leaving my body at a rapid pace. :(

Hopefully next Monday will be better, so I can start liking Mondays again.