SIX. MILES. (!!)

I really hope that this isn't a premature statement...but I believe this "runner's knee" situation has finally left the building. After keeping a close eye on my knee the past 7 weeks and having two pain-free 3 mile runs last week, I decided it was time to really get out there and see what it had in it. My plan was to go six miles, but obviously stop, turn around, and walk home if it flared up.

Good news. It didn't!

On Wednesday I ran 6 gorgeous, sunny, ache-free miles. It felt great, to say the least. I hadn't realized how much I missed stretching my legs like that and zoning out into my own thoughts. For the first three miles, I tried to listen to Joy the Baker's podcast but found my brain was too busy to really listen to it (which I still need to do since I can't miss one episode because her and Tracy are so dang hilAIRious). So on went my tunes for the second half.

After basically taking 7 weeks off from running, I was more than willing to take it verrrry slow, which turned out to be harder than it sounds. I kept wanting to speed up, then reprimand myself, then turbo it agian, and so on.

This morning (ahem, at fivefreakingthirty) I churned out another 3-miler verrrry slooooowly. I had tree trunks for legs. Granted, I had not had coffee yet but I'm guessing it will take awhile for my fitness level to creep back up to where I was before that whole knee thang. Too bad I don't believe "awhile" reads "one week," since that when my marathon is.

I've put some thought into whether I should or should not attempt the marathon, and I decided...what the hell. I paid for it, my injury has fleed (I hope), and I want a t-shirt and snacks. The worse that happens is my knee pain flares up, I have an asthma attack and/or there's an earthquake that sucks us all into a giant hole. So yeah...I'm going.

In the meantime, I believe that proper marathon fueling is to visit the great state of Oregon two weekends in a row for wine-binging, doughnut-eating, and staying out waaay past my bedtime. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!