KNEES!

So, as I was walking today with my friend, we decided to take a different route than usual.  This different route took us down a small, barely-two-lane road with no sidewalks.  Normally, I'd be very concerned, but this road is hardly ever travelled; plus we could see cars coming with plenty of time to get over for them to pass.  So I wasn't too concerned.

Of course, we hadn't been in the road for two minutes when a large moving-type truck came barrelling toward us.  My friend had her little one in a jogging stroller, so she was able to get off into the grass.  I, with my dinky little umbrella stroller, had to fight my way through the thick underbrush (which, of course, was the same thickness as what my friend so easily navigated).  Once the truck passed, my friend was a little ahead, so I decided to jog up to meet her.  I shuffled along, pain in every step.  Definitely thought to myself, "This was a mistake.  I'm obviously not physically ready to run."

Another car came through, and again I found myself just a few yards behind my friend.  I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to jog up to her again.  This time, though, I actually picked my knees up more as I ran.  And lo and behold: it didn't hurt as badly.  It still hurt, so I won't be running any marathons anytime soon, but I may have had a small epiphany there.  It actually excited me to know that there was something I could do to my form to lessen the pain of running.  It makes me want to work harder, just to get to the point of jogging a significant distance, in order to test this new form I've discovered.

(Of course, those of you who are active runners are probably rolling your eyes and snickering behind your hands at my realization of something so obvious.  Well, to that I say: Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.)

I will say, however, that I'm a little concerned that the pain in my knees isn't getting any better.  I mean, I'm not expecting them to be pain-free overnight, but I'm a little worried that I may have done irreparable damage to them by being so sedentary all that time.  If I can't see any improvement in a couple of weeks, I may go to the doctor and make sure there isn't something else going on.  I'll keep you updated!