I woke up at 5:30, stretched every conceivable body part, iced my knee, heated my knee, and ate a bowl of oatmeal. I took 4 ibuprofen pills. I was the picture of compliance.
When I got to our running site at about 6:45, it was COLD- 30 degrees, but a wind chill of 15. The wind was what realllly made it cold.
I tried running, but pretty soon my knee started feeling twingy. Kind of like the rattle you hear before the snake strikes, I guess. So, I walked most of the 20 miles, and my coach was nice enough to show me race-walking techniques (you know, the people you see waddling at a seemingly inhuman and unnatural speed while pumping their arms but never letting both feet be in the air at once).
I'm sure I was quite a humorous site, bundled up in 2 hats, a windbreaker, a vest, a fleece, long sleeved and short sleeved shirt and gloves. Basically a marshmallow with legs waddling along, trying to walk as fast as possible.
But I don't care. I got my 20 miles in, and I am going to cross the finish line at the Austin Marathon, and if that means I have to walk and not run, well, it's not what I pictured, but it's not defeat, either. I still get a medal.
I wanted to run so badly today, but I knew if I did, I'd just make my knee worse. And I am not interested in badly/permanently injuring myself. I have at least fifty more years to run marathons. I've only been running for months, I'm still very much a beginner, and walking this one race is not failing.
As it is, my knee is not exactly pleased about its current situation, but the pain is more annoying than it is searing, which is an improvement. I'm going to take some more anti-inflammatories and take a nap and see how it's doing later today....
but as for right now........... I did 20 miles today! YAY!
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