I told you I’d talk a bit about my running, so here is the first one.

A lot has happened since May 2022, yeah it’s been two damn years since I messed my left knee up rototilling a new flower bed at the house. It did quite a number on my running life (no running at all) and other things as well. Surgery at the end of November 2022, where the surgeon did a bit more than a simple clean-up the meniscus tear – a planned 45 minute surgery ended up being a 3+ hour, 66 year clean-out and repair job.

Then you add in Stoopid runner syndrome and when from January to April of 2023, I attempted to come back despite the pain, thinking I could run through it and it would heal like it did back in 2011 when I had just had the meniscus surgery on the right knee. That extra work in there made the healing process a lot slower to say the least. Along with being 15-20 pounds heavier, well that didn’t help a helluva lot either.

I couldn’t deal with how bad the knee was feeling and had to shut everything down in mid-April. Yeah, me of little brains, finally figured out that pain while walking, much less running probably ain’t a good thing. No, I’m not a professional athlete who had access to all the great new different gadgets get back out there or the physical therapists to advise me on the best way to recover.

Just an aging runner who wants to get back to running before the body was ready. Yeah, it was just me and my desire to get back to running, not a great combination for someone who doesn’t have a lot of self discipline when it comes to things. Especially, when I was using 55 year old Harold as the base with a minor surgery to recover from, not the new and “improved” edition at ages 66, who had a LOT more surgical work done this time.

Which meant I didn’t run at all until the end of July 2023 when my daughter talked me into letting her do an old home remedy on the knee – a comfrey compress. She called it her hippy remedy. I don’t know if it actually helped or not, or whether it was simply I’d given it enough time to let me try again. Either way, it felt good enough to run a bit and I promised myself that I’d do better this time.

I’d get back to running a little – finally.

And this time I did act a bit smahter and didn’t rush the process nearly as much. Me being me, I still would push a little too hard and pay for it with a few days off.

Also the treadmill was and still my friend. Running outside to be honest hurt the knee more, so I did most of my mileage on one at the gym. By the end of 2023, I was running 2.0 to 4.0 miles most runs, while dealing with all the usual gotcha’s that crop up when returning to running from an injury, with my weekly mileage around 10-15 miles.

It was progress, though a bit on the slow side.

As the new year started I had ideas and hopes that things would keep getting better.

They have!

However, at the same time I’ve had to deal with some blips along the way that have made me consistently inconsistent through the winter/spring.

• I found that if I had to do snow removal that running was not option, I was simply too tired.
• Nowadays I focus more on what I feel comfortable doing and running outside during the winter just isn’t worth it anymore. My hamstrings don’t do well in temps below 35*F and slipping or sliding in the ice/snow while on a run doesn’t do a damn thing for me. Which means driving to the gym and if the roads are nasty, a day off.
• In February after avoiding COVID, we finally got whacked by it. It took me down for about three weeks and while I think I’m finally past it’s remnants, sometimes I just don’t have any energy and those days I realize I have to take a day of rest even if I wanted to run. I don’t believe that have long COVID, but at the same time I’m learning there are limits for an old fart and things ain’t been the same since I got walloped by it.
• And now, I’m dealing with a painful bout of Plantar Fasciitis, which has derailed my running for almost a week. However, instead of attempting to run through it, I stopped and have been babying the left foot. Today I was able to walk 2.0 miles with a long hill (down/up), without it being too grumpy, so hopefully, I’ll get back to running sooner than later.

Even so, except for February when COVID kicked arse, I’ve managed over 70 miles each month and while that don’t seem like a whole lot, it is a lot better than the dreaded 0.00’s I had for far too long.

Oh yeah, I can’t forget about Father Time’s impact on my running either. At my age (a lot closer to 70 than 60) he’s a sure bet to win the race and make sure that I slow down considerably from where I was a few years ago. I was slowing down before the injury and now with my motivation to run fast a lot less and me a bit more wimpy about what I’m willing to endure in the discomfort levels. My paces are more in the 10:00 to 11:00 range when I run outside. Though I can push myself a bit faster on the treadmill. It is a hit to the ego, but at the same time, I also know that I’m still running, which is the important thing.

I’ve moved back from being an surgically repaired runner, who couldn’t run if he wanted to and wondered if he would ever run again to one who has a manageable owie that is still running, just a bit slower and hopefully a bit wiser than before.

Yep, I’m back to running pretty regularly and it is a good thing. Who knows maybe this summer I’ll even wander around and find a race to jump into at the last minute. Yeah, that would be a good thing, I think and get me to re-connect with the local running community.