Do as I say, NOT as I do.

First things first:

22 mile bike ride + standing/walking around for 4+ hours at night gig + 4+ mile "easy run" turned Tempo = ANGRY QUADS/HAMSTRINGS

The best part about that little equation is that neither Deputy S nor I wanted to run, but we didn't want to let the other down so neither called to cancel. When I arrived at his place Sunday night he looked like death warmed over, i.e. hungover, and I was completely exhausted. So what did we do? We still hit up the trail... and instead of making it a recovery/easy run, we decided to just go balls to the wall to get it over with. So much huffing and puffing! You'd have never been able to tell I just ran a marathon two weeks ago... seriously. Hardest 4 mile run ever and it was our own faults.

4.37 mi @ 8:22 - FAIL.
But it's ok because last night I had an "easy" 3 miler planned... but apparently I have forgotten how far 3 miles is and what "easy" is defined as...
I need a Garmin. There, I said it.

Now on to the real reason for this post;

I have a confession: I've been a very bad girl.

Not in the naughty way you're thinking! Perverts. (Well actually...)

No, I mean in the "I've been running through pain" way. For months.

I have no viable excuse either; basically I didn't want to acknowledge or accept all the pain because I was bound and determined to run Chicago nomatterwhat. If I'd have gone to see the doc I was fairly certain he'd of said "No Running" and quite frankly I didn't want to hear it. I did however promise myself after Chicago I'd finally go get a once over. So I headed over to "Dr. Knows-It-All-And-Refuses-To-Listen-To-Me" this morning; requested X-rays and a new referral to an actual sports orthopedic. (Not to be confused with the quack he sent me to last time that didn't know how far a marathon was.) The knees have been an ongoing issue as ya'll know (ITB) but I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything more serious and the foot started hurting after Chicago and despite R.I.C.E.'ing like a MO-FO there's still been lingering pain. Now I may have mentioned this but I HATE my doctor. He doesn't listen to a thing I say, EVER. For example, this is how the start of my visit went this morning;

Doc: "So I see you need a referral, what's going on?"
*Begin haphazardly perusing medical chart*

Me: "Well I ran the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago and the entire time I was training I was in pain, you might remember I came for ITB issues and you referred me to a PT."

Doc: "Hmmm what was that? You ran a marathon you say? Which one? Did you finish?"

Me: *In my head* No dumb@ss I only ran 3/4 of it.
What I really said: "As I said, I ran Chicago and yes I finished."

And so goes the rest of our exchange. Mind you this is after I sat in a waiting room for an hour after which I spent another 40 minutes in an examining room waiting on him to see me before he sent me down to x-ray.

Diagnosis: Thinning cartilage behind both knees and soft tissue bruising on my foot.

Prescription: Quad strengthening via xtraining, more ICE, new shoes and ease up on the running before I head back into marathon training for Gasparilla. Also, extra refills of Naproxen and samples of Skelaxin. I love me some anti-inflammatories!

It's safe to assume I am overjoyed that it was nothing more serious as I was majorly worried there was going to be a stress fracture and/or a "No Running" stamp put on my chart. Thank you running gods, I owe ya one!

So now that I have my piece of mind I will give you this advice:
Do as I say, NOT as I do.

If you feel pain, GO TO THE DOCTOR!

Do NOT continue running thru pain hoping to "run it off" and do not be hard headed. Stubborn thy name is Morgan. Had I of just sucked it up and gone sooner I would have gotten this piece of mind and not been running around for the last few months in constant pain wondering if at any minute my leg was going to break off. FAIL.