TITLE: A Seven-Year Itch
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: March 04, 2018 11:07 AM
DESC: 
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BODY:
Seven years ago, I went out for my last run.  I didn't know at
the time that it would be my last run.  A month or so later,
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2011-04.html#e2011-04-03T10_07_16.htm">
   I noted</A>
that I had been sick for a couple of weeks and then sore for a
couple of weeks.  After another four weeks,
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2011-04.html#e2011-04-30T10_05_29.htm">
   I reported</A>
that my knee wasn't going to get better in a way that would
enable me to run regularly again.  That was it.

My knee is better now in most important ways, though.  A simple
fix
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2011-06.html#e2011-06-03T13_46_27.htm">
   wasn't possible</A>,
but a more involved surgery
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2011-07.html#e2011-07-28T21_20_58.htm">
   was successful</A>.
Today, I walk a lot, especially with my wife, ride a bike a lot,
again especially with my wife, and otherwise live a normal
physical life.  The repaired knee is not as mobile or responsive
as my other knee but, all things considered, life is pretty good.

Even so, I miss running.  A couple of years ago, I wrote that
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2015-11.html#e2015-11-01T10_16_04.htm">
   even five years on, I still dreamed about running</A>
occasionally.  I'll be up early some morning, see a sunrise,
and think, "This would make for a great run."  Sometimes, when
I go out after a snowfall, I'll remember what it was like to
be the first person running on fresh snow out on the trails,
under ice- or snow-covered branches.  I miss that feeling, and
so many others.  I still enjoy sunrises and new snow, of course,
but that enjoyment has long been tangled up with the feel of
running: the pumping lungs, the long strides, the steady flow
of scenery.  Walking and biking have never given me the same
feeling.

My orthopedic surgeon was worried that I would be like a lot
of former runners and not stay "former", but I've been pretty
well-behaved.  In seven years I have rarely broken into even
the slowest of trots, to cross a street or hurry to class.
The doctor explained to me the effects of running on my
reconstructed knee, the risk profile associated with contact
sports, and what contact would likely mean for the future of
the knee.  As emotional I can seem about running, I'm much
too rational to throw caution out the door for a brief thrill
of running.  So I don't run.

Even so, I often think back to the time I was rehabilitating
my knee after surgery.  Our athletic department has a therapy
pool with an underwater treadmill, and my therapist had me use
it to test my endurance and knee motion.  The buoyancy of the
water takes enough pressure off the legs that the impact on
the knee doesn't damage the joint.  I think I can achieve the
same effect in the ocean, so the next time I get to a coast, I
may try an underwater run.  And I dream of getting rich enough
to install one of those therapy pools in my house.  I may not
be a runner anymore, but I'm adaptable and perfectly willing
to enjoy the benefits of technology.
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