Sidelined

It would seem that my personal highlight of the year is the 1/2 marathon I did in May.  It was so much fun accomplishing something like that.  As you may recall, during the 1/2 my knee literally screamed at me.  It was so loud I was sure other people heard it.

I took a couple weeks off to rest the knee, rest my body and just take some time to sleep!  During StomachGate 2011 I decided to hit the road and start doing some running.  I thought I would do a light 4 mile run, get the old legs and lungs workin' again and do some training for the next 1/2 marathon, probably in September or October.

My knee had different ideas.  At mile 2 it screamed again.  This time louder than during the 1/2 marathon.  Pain shot through my leg and I couldn't put any weight on it.  I limped the 2 miles back home, at least getting in my 4 miles that I wanted.  I hobbled over to my brother-in-law who knows a thing or two about medical stuff.  He confirmed that pain is coming from my lateral collateral ligament.  I laughed because, seriously, the lateral collateral ligament.  That sounded so fake.  He just smiled and told me to look it up.  Of course I did what you're warned not to and Googled it.  I learned some things:

1.  Sometimes you eat crow.  My brother-in-law is super smart about ligaments and stuff.
2.  It keeps your knee in place, so it won't bend out to the side. 
3.  It's a ligament = not much blood flow = long time to heal.
4.  An LCL sprain or tear is very hard to prevent.

After two weeks of constant tenderness I went to the doctor.  He confirmed all the things that I had learned on the world wide webs.  He sidelined me for a month.  Not just from running, but all forms of exercise except cycling. 

If it's not better in a month, I get to do physical therapy and wear a brace.

My summer training is on hold.  My summer ice cream eating hasn't slowed.  I best be getting on that stationary bike at the gym if I have any hope of fitting into my shorts.