First of all, the weather. It was about fifty here today. If I closed my eyes really tightly, it almost, sort of, felt a little bit like winter. Not quite cold enough, in my opinion, to wear a coat, but still, undeniably chilly.
I went to have lunch with the kids at school today. Bryce's class goes to recess directly from the cafeteria, and as the kids were lining up, I overheard the teachers talking about how they had been instructed to have recess inside today because it was "too cold" to play outside. Annie said that their gym class didn't go outside either. When we lived in Minnesota and there was a foot of snow on the ground, and the temperature was below zero, my preschoolers sent 30 minutes every day on the playground. Also, when I went to pick up the kids after school, I was talking to one of the moms who was wearing a Lands' End parka. I remarked to her that it must be nice to have a chilly day so she could break out the heavy-duty winter wear (as I'm standing there wearing nothing but a sweatshirt). "Oh this? she asked. "I wear this all winter." Texans are wussies.
Secondly, I got chewed out by a librarian today. If you notice the book list on my sidebar, you'll probably see it's quite a bit more ample than usual. I did some book scouting over the weekend, and then reserved a whole bunch of books at the library. When I went to pick them up today, I had a pile of ten. When she brought over my pile (practically collapsing under its weight), I said something to the effect that I was surprised that all of the reserves had come in at once. She told me that it would be much better for me to just make a list and reserve one or two at a time than get all of them at once. Now I'm determined to read them all and prove her wrong. And besides, what else am I supposed to do in the evenings during the writers' strike?
Finally, any runners out there with a surefire cure for runner's knee? My left knee has been bugging me since the marathon. It hurt really, really badly for about a week, and it's been getting slowly better, but now that I've resumed my normal pace and distance (30-40 miles a week), I'm starting to worry that it will never fully heal. I did get some rocking new shoes yesterday (the Asics GT-2130s) and I'm hoping that wearing running shoes that don't have 900+ road miles on them will help too. I'm getting scared that my running schedule for the next few months, with another half and another full marathon on the horizon, may be a little bit too much work for my poor knee.
8 comments:
Sorry about the librarian--that's happened to me before as well. I never expect them to come in at the same time either!
About the runner's knee--my dh has been dealing with one of his knees for awhile as well. He even tried PT, but really the only cure was time. He has just started running again, starting slowly and building up to a marathon in May. Good luck--I hope it continues to feel better.
Arizonans are wussies too (me included). It was in the low 40's when I dropped the kids off for school and it was freezing - the wind didn't help!
The kids here in Utah have to stay in if it's under 25. We've had no recess for a couple of days....makes my kids NUTS!
Funny. I remember people breaking out the big parkas if it was 50 degress in Texas. There is a high of 40 here, and I often wear a zip up hoodie over layers. I guess it's harder to acclimate to cold when the avg temp is 80 degrees.
My knees always hurt when I would run a lot, except after I started biking. I think it is because strengthening my leg muscles makes my knee more stable. So, try strengthening your legs.
I agree that Texans are wussies. I grew up in Logan, Utah and we never had recess inside because it was too cold, and believe me it got cold. I am also amazed at how much they complain about drainage, I mean the water is going to be on the roads for maybe two days if it is a really bad storm. Come on guys, snow sticks around for a lot longer than that, it could be worse!
It is in the teens wind chill here in the Midwest and my kids still have recess. The oldest is complaining because he keeps forgetting his hat and he gets cold. I'm trying to make him deal with the natural consequences of forgetting to bundle up, but the mom part of me if having a hard time of it. I'm compromising by making sure he's at least wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
The library ladies do that to me too. Another one they don't like me for is reserving a whole series at once. But I hate to read number 1 and 2 and then have to wait 2 weeks to finally get number 3. Plus, I always get the books back within the deadline. You'd think they'd be nicer to their most frequent customers. :)
Wow, it's 50 and they don't go out? I'd have a fit... Up here, the kids are given a choice whether they want to go outside or stay in during recess if it gets below 10 degrees. As the prinicpal pointed out, they're much more likely to get sick if they stay inside all day. Pretty much the only times recess is cancelled is if it rains really hard, or if we have an inversion in the winter and the air gets too polluted...
LOL - I grew up in Logan, Utah. too, and they never, ever cancelled school or held recess inside. Now I live in Boston, the schools close (or delay opening) if the weather forecast predicts an inch of snow.
I'm definitely a cold weather runner - if it's over 60 degrees I overheat. While I was living in Logan, it got so cold my eyelashes froze and broke off after a run. There's an article in the NYTimes today about how cold is too cold to work out. Researchers say "never" - as long as you keep movin'.
As for your knee - I agree that strengthening exercises will probably help. You've probably tried ice already, but I've had no problems with my knees or IT bands after I started icing after every run. Stretching and yoga never helped me much, but others swear by it.
Good thinking on getting new shoes. I ran in Asics for years - they're awesome. Have you ever had your gait analyzed to see if you over/under pronate? It might be helpful to know if you have any structural issues that can be corrected with a shoe type, orthotics, etc. Good luck!
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