A.K.A. I'm injured, and I am really bummed out about it.
I hurt myself plenty as a kid/teen while playing softball, soccer and the like. But I haven't hurt like this for this long in years - probably since senior soccer season (that was the year they discovered my tendons weren't connected to my feet properly, but that's another story for another time). I was running 16 days ago and I decided to take a different path (mistake 1). I wanted to start looping back on my normal path, so I cut through a side street (mistake 2). It was a big hill, but since it was the day in my workout when I was supposed to be running hill intervals, I thought - no big deal! (mistake 3). I booked it up the hill and around the corner and after a couple more blocks, my knee hurt.
I ran through it (mistake 4) and got home, iced it and went to bed. The next day, it was still bothering me so I stayed off it and iced it again. Day 3 was better, so I ran on Day 4, and I only made it .75 miles. I had to walk-run for the rest of my 3-mile loop and call it quits.
Fast forward 12 (!) running-free days, and I thought I would be nice and well-rested. I went for an easy run and made it 1.71 miles before I had to walk. I did a couple short intervals after that and had to walk the last .7 home. Today, I'm back to not being able to go down steps.
I serioiusly almost cried last night becuase I am so frustrated - my race is in five weeks and there is just no way I can do it. I know I've done it before, but I won't be able to do it this time, I don't know how it's even possible. And that makes me feel like a quitter. A quitter becuase of something I can't control.