Hurts so good

Injuries are the dreaded fear of every runner I know. There is nothing worse as a runner than being in shape and able to run, sans that one pesky part of your body that got itself injured and is now making your life miserable. Darn you, knee, or hip, or foot, or pinkie toe, etc.

I've never been a particularly injury-prone runner. I feel like I should knock on wood even as I type that! After my second marathon a couple years ago, I had some IT band issues that caused side knee pain, but it happened to coincide with a really snowy winter, so I was sidelined during the crappy part of the running year, anyway. And, late last year, I had to deal with my plantar faciitis, which sucked, but didn't put too much of a crimp in my run schedule. Especially once I finally went to the podiatrist. It's like they're trained to deal with people's foot pain or something. Weird. 

And, even if I am not particularly prone to injuries, it does seem as I get older, I am getting injured more frequently. Stupid aging process.

So, about a month ago, I went for my regular morning run. Everything went fine. I mean, I had to catapult over a couple giant snow piles at some intersections, but nothing too crazy. I got home, and everything was fine.  I showered, and everything was fine. I put my daughter in her car seat and drove her to our morning activity. Everything was fine. Then ... I went to get her out of her car seat and all of a sudden, EEEK! I felt this horrible sharp pain in the back of my left knee. Ouch!

Now, of course, because I'm an optimist (denial isn't just a river in Egypt, you know) I think, "Hmmm, well, that's painful. But, I'm sure it will be fine. I'll walk it off. It'll be better in a few minutes."

As I continue through my day, the pain got more and more intense. The more I walked on it, the more it hurt. It was not good.