I was all ready to run in today’s half marathon in West Palm Beach, Florida as part of the Palm Beaches Marathon Festival. I drove down there last night, picked up my bib, re-usable goodie bags, re-usable, but not disclosed as such, D-Tag, and headed to my hotel room. After watching television (Wake Forest vs. Gonzaga) for a while, I went to bed. It was when I got up to take a pit stop that I noticed an issue with my right knee. Many years back, I had been diagnosed with a torn miniscus, but never had surgery. Through rehab, I was able to build up the muscles and haven’t really had a problem since, but now my knee was sore and stiff. Recently I have had some “pinching” sensations during training runs and one instance where I needed to actually stop and walk. So, it was around midnight or so that I decided to sit this race out and not risk injuring it further. I have to look ahead to the Disney World Marathon and the Rock ‘n Roll Mardi Gras Marathon in February. Walking on the knee isn’t all that bad, but any twisting motion really hurts.
At least I got to head down to the finish line and see the winner and second place finisher of the marathon as well as many half marathon finishers. I am bummed though for not being able to finish myself and get the cool finisher’s medal!
I think now is a good time to get back into swimming for a few days or more and give my knee a rest from the pavement and pedals.
