Slowly but Surely

I ran 11.5 miles on Saturday with Carol, Denie, and Benny.  It was my longest run since the 60K back in mid-November.  My knee held up, but the rest of my legs didn't fair so well.

Today, I did my favorite stairs 27 times.  The goal was to be able to walk up the stairs 20 times.  I actually walked up the stairs 19 times and ran up the last 8.  I think I will be ready for the Empire State Building Run-Up if I can do one or two of these stair workouts each week.

I must have watched about 9 hours of football this weekend.  I figure my 11.5 miles and my stair workout, combined with all the laying around on my sofa watching TV kind of balance each other out.

If I do well in the Empire State Building race, I will be grateful that I live near these stairs.  

Not What I Wanted to Hear!

So, I saw the doctor last Saturday, and he thinks I have a partially torn medial collateral ligament.  He recommended no running for 6 weeks, or another 3 weeks since I had already been sedentary for 3 weeks.  And when I start back again, to only run 2 days per week.  This was my initial reaction:

The doctor continued to talk, but all I heard was blah, blah, no running, blah, blah.  Meanwhile, I was thinking about going out and testing my knee the next day.  How was I going to be ready for the Empire State Building Run-Up in February and the Boston Marathon in April?!  So I went out and did a few stairs.  

Well, maybe a bit more than a few stairs.  Seven sets to be exact.  And then I did them again the next day.  

But the snow made me nervous.  I had visions of tearing another ligament.  I stopped after 3 sets, went back home, and had some hot chocolate instead.  

The knee held up OK.  It was a little sore, but doing stairs is easier on it than running.