Grrr

I'm a little annoyed right now.

I headed to the gym tonight to complete a pretty simple run.  I knew I'd be doing more walking than usual because it's been awhile and I had brand new running shoes on.  Sometimes new shoes bother me, sometimes they don't.  

I did my warm up of steadily increasing how fast I walk, and right when I started to run, BAM.  A shooting pain up through my knee.  

Let me back up real quick.  About a year and a half ago, I started getting some swelling in my right knee.  It would mainly be swollen by the end of the day, so I thought it just had to do with unsupportive shoes or I ran into something.  Then it became incredibly difficult to bend it- walking up and down stairs was a joke.  When my knee was hot to the touch, I finally went in to the doctor, had it x-rayed, got an MRI, and was first told I had rheumatoid arthritis.  I promptly started crying.  I was 24 at the time.  

I also got my knee drained and then a steroid shot in my knee.  BEST. THING. EVER.  It was like magic with my knee.

Then I was told it was just plain old arthritis, but I'll have to have a knee replacement at some point in my life.  Whatever.  We'll see about that one.    

Anyway, I probably shouldn't even be running and I should be sticking to things like the elliptical, swimming, and other activities that aren't too rough on my knees.  But I haven't had any problems over the past year, since I joined a gym, with the exception of a few random swellings or pains that I can work through.  I figured I could handle some running.

Side note: My knee has actually never been better since I started working out more.  I know my body is not where it needs to be, but I'm working on it.

And this is where I get frustrated.  Y'all, as soon as I picked up the pace and then stepped my foot down, the pain hit me.  Walking was fine.  I tried to run a few more times, but it just wasn't happening.  I stopped early and didn't complete my goal of 3 miles (just three miles...you'd think my knee could handle that when it's handled plenty more these past few months).  It's so easy to get discouraged after today and think there's no way I'll ever complete a half marathon if I can't even run a MILE without knee pain.    

I know that's not true.  I KNOW I have to build back up and I know this is {hopefully} just a fluke.  Right now, I'm about to wrap my knee, ice it, and elevate it.  I'm going back tomorrow for a shorter run and we'll see how it goes.  

Gotta take it one day at a time, right?