2011 Goal

As I look back on my running in 2010, I am happy that I survived the year.  While I had some successful races (100K and 100 miler), I spent most of the year injured or dealing with nagging issues that make running painful.  Obviously, I want this year to be different.  I long to sign up for races but have realized that I will have to deal with my knee injury as it has not gone away on its own.  I took time off running, limited my mileage, kept my paces slow, used the foam roller/stick/Strassburg sock, iced, etc. and got through most of the year without the pain getting back to where it was in late July/August.  However, I guess the combination of some faster miles and my body deciding to put me in check before I sign up for a slew of races caused my knee to start hurting a lot over the past week.  So, my only running goal for 2011 is to get the knee pain resolved. 

Wednesday I will see my orthopedic doctor.  I had a MRI in August and it showed bursitis in the semimembranosus gastrocnemius bursa (fluid sac where calf and hamstring meet behind knee).  I'm hoping the doc can use that MRI (paying for another is not in my budget), drain the bursa, and send me on my merry way to get more A.R.T. with very little time off running.  I am wishing I had taken care of this later in 2010 when I knew that the bursitis had not gone away, but I took less discomfort as a sign of healing...so now I have to see what the doc and my insurance can do to help me with my 2011 goal.  Fingers crossed!