And It Begins

Yesterday was the first day of my new plan for 2008. I'd like to say it went well but sadly I can't. It seems my ACL doesn't want to run marathons.

Back in 2003 I partially tore my ACL while playing basketball. I skipped surgery hoping things would heal up tight. After three months I began rehabbing with light resistance. It took another month to heal well enough to run. The true test of its stability came once I returned to soccer because it requires quick cuts back and forth. Its easily been four years since I've thought about the injury.

Now that part of the new plan involves a combination of running and weights I've immediately noticed my legs aren't ready. This surprises me since I can do both independently without pain. Today my ACL aches a bit like a sprain although I didn't hyperextend it. I guess this means no lower body lifting for a while.

I ran the scheduled "easy" three mile run in 25:42, which was a bit faster than the 9:00 pace I wanted. Its going to be tough to slow it down on easy days. I can see now I'll have to swallow my pride on the trail and crawl if I expect to stay healthy in 2008.