I went for a second opinion on the MRI from last month, expecting to have the doctor give it a quick look and tell me to get a bike.
Instead, I got a full examination, a bunch of measurements, an MRI read, an ultrasound of the knee and the doctor said, “This isn’t so bad, I think I can have you running by tomorrow.” He did some massage, talked quad stretching and workouts, put me on a Power Plate for a while, left me in a hyperbaric chamber for 35 minutes and wrote me a “prescription” for more cushioned shoes.
So, I did an experimental 5K tonight. It hurt walking there and it wasn’t easy getting started, but the run itself felt fine. It was a slow two laps around the Central Park reservoir. No watch, no POSE, no CrossFit, no CFE, no coaches, no race schdule, no intervals, no Tabata, no flats, no vest, no number, no cadence, no timing chip, no ego problems with getting passed by everyone. Just the slowest 5K of my life, watching the form on each step. After not expecting to run a 5K again, it felt great.