Waving the White Flag

On Saturday morning my alarm clock jolted me awake. It was 7:30. I had plenty of time to munch down a piece of toast and wash it down with a few cups of coffee before joining the team at Cell Phone Field for what would be the last cross country workout of the year (their race is NEXT weekend). However, at 7:31 I sighed then rolled back under the warm sheets. It had rained most of Friday so the grassy field was surely slick. Normally conditions like that would have been enticing, but my knee had been giving me trouble so I knew the right thing to do was to take the day off. 

But, let's rewind a bit... 

I took Monday off per my knee. 

On Tuesday, I ran 8 with Scott Koonce and Jordan Snyder. It was good to see him back out there.

On Wednesday, I ran a solo 8 and I did the same on Thursday.

On Friday, I ran with a huge group on NBDPers and got in 8.

During the work week, I had been looking for a doctor (who accepted my insurance) who would be a good fit to see me and check out my knee. It wasn't getting any better. Since September (at least), the area immediately below my left knee has been a source of nagging pain for me. I tried to rest (for 2 weeks), I tried to push through it (I succeeded...then it came back), but now it appears as if there is something bigger going on down there. I decided to run out the rest of the week, just for shits and giggles, but when the week ended I would raise the white flag. That's it. This is likely the worst injury I've had since the 2 x stress fractures back in 2010. But, it might be worse. I'll know more soon, I hope. If I shut things down, hopefully I can nip this in the bud and be back up and running (literally) in order to execute a spring season. Who know, though, since I don't know exactly what's wrong. Someone suggested it might be a torn meniscus, which could require surgery to fix. 

On Sunday, I broke my rule and headed out to meet the team for a run at Pierce Mill. We were gathering in unity to run in the honor of our teammate, Lauren, who passed away a year ago when we were all on a trip to Lexington, Kentucky for the USATF Cross Country Club Championships. It was good to see so many people at the run. It was also nice to trek across the snowy trails of Rock Creek while the snow still fell. Regrettably, my knee was bothering me from the get go, so I opted to call it a day when Michelle and Kate turned around just 1.75 miles into the run. The others were running 10. 

Later in the day a red fox ran in my backyard through the snow. S/he was moving swiftly; a handsome specimen, for sure. I watched in awe, then a great sadness swept over me.