Would I Change Anything?

Someone asked me the other day, "If you knew years ago, when you first started running, about the knee issues you have now, would you do anything differently?" My immediate response was "Absolutely NOT!" No way! I would do it all over again! All the running experiences that I have had over the past 16 years have made me the runner I am today. I think it was Oscar Wilde that said, "You never get any fun out of things you have not done." That is so true!

I have been thinking about that question a lot and to be honest, there is something I would change. I would have run more marathons, more often! When I was a new runner I thought I needed to wait at least 6 months in between marathons. So not the case! The first time I ran back to back races (2 weeks apart) I PR'd on that 2nd race. At that point I was hooked! Train once for several races...that is my motto... It is also good time management. It works for me. And YES, I am careful! I take rest days, in fact, at my peak I would only run 4 days a week. I do listen to my body, probably to a fault! 

Running is my thing. It is what I do. But running has become quite a luxury for me lately. I can't don't run in between races to give my knee some recovery time. I do strength train and get on the elliptical machine daily. Like I have said before, it is my new best friend! It is keeping my fitness up. I  have been doing my "long runs" on the elliptical~ 2-3 hours at a resistance of 10. It is a far cry from running. So when I do get to run, it is magical! It is fantastic! It is heaven!

Since July, when I was diagnosed with degenerative joint disease (DJD), I have been so lucky to be able to run 4 marathons and 1 half marathon. And hopefully, will be running two more marathons this year. I have had to be extremely careful with my training. I don't want to make things worse, but I also can't sit back and let my knee get me down! You have to stretch the limits in order to find where they actually are. And that is exactly what I am doing. I know I will eventually have to take some time off to have surgery, but right now I am going to do anything and everything my body will allow me to do. And that makes me happy!

Keep running!