Rock it like you’re 80, I’ll take 4

Yesterday at the gym I resumed running at the gym for the first time in nearly two months.  My sore/stiff right knee which still is not 100% has been the culprit.  Running a little more than two miles on the treadmill required much more effort than I could believe.  I felt pretty miserable from start to finish, despite running at a slow pace that used to be child’s play for me when I was running twice a week and in much better cardio shape.

During the run I felt some deep, mild pain in the joint which was not unexpected.  It wasn’t severe enough to cause a limp so I kept going.  During the last minute of the run where I briefly ratcheted up the speed of the treadmill to 8mph I felt like I was ready to have a grabber.  I can only hope this is just the painful to start to a slow return to a regular running routine.  Today I woke up with a mildly sore knee which was overshadowed by a much more painful lower right quadrant of my back.  I was walking around like the house like I was an old, old man this morning.  My gym bag is packed and ready to go today anyway.  As you approach 50 years old working through aches and pains is so commonplace that it just fades into the background.

I put in to take next Tuesday off, giving me a glorious four day holiday weekend.  Part of the reason for this is my Memorial Days are pretty busy the last few years.  I have a race to time first thing in the morning and then in the afternoon is the running club picnic which typically involves lots of drinking.  Having a recovery day Tuesday will make enjoying myself Monday more plausible.

And finally a cute pic of the older chicks.  Hopefully today we will integrate them with their week younger sisters that are living in the guest bathroom.