Running in the swimming pool really sucks

Following my 23-mile run three weeks ago, my left knee gave out.

For days, I dutifully iced and elevated it and ingested lots of ibuprofen. I even went to the clinic on campus, where I was told by a very old, slow-moving physician that I had injured my iliotibial band, which runs down the outside of the leg. I had to have him spell it for me. Days later I realized he meant my IT band, which runners commonly injure. His lack of expertise with runners notwithstanding, I was very relieved when he told me to just rest and get back to running once I felt up to it.

However, when I tried that - about 2 weeks after the injury - I had to stop after running about one block. The knee became swollen again the next day, sending me into a slight panic. To try to remedy things, I have taken two drastic steps to try to salvage my marathon training (Days left till marathon =37):

1. I made a pact with God (I'm not even religious) that I would give up smoking (I only smoke a cigarette like every few days - don't freak out), if he would allow me to recover in time for the marathon. I thought I began to feel some slight improvement after that.
2. I swallowed my pride and went to the gym this morning to run in the swimming pool, which I heard is a good, low-impact way to keep your muscles in some kind of shape while you're recovering from a knee injury. As if I didn't feel foolish enough, during my little therapy session a group of doughy, middle-aged women descended on the pool for a water aerobics class. I think THEY looked at ME with a mixture of pity and amusement.

"the arts"

It irks me when people talk about "the arts." As in: "I wish I had more time for the arts in my life." Or: "I am a big supporter of the arts."

Unless you are a big-time philanthropist and are actually in a position to affect the art world in a major way - like by donating a million bucks to a museum and having them name a wing after you - then you really have no business calling it "the arts." It just sounds pompous and dumb.

Better, though still not good: "I wish I had more time to appreciate art" or "I love art" or "Art is a big part of my life."

Best: Don't refer to art like it's some kind of hobby or activity. If you have really been touched by art, it's not something you need to say. You're too busy whiling away an evening with a good book or movie, losing yourself in music, or finding beauty in the daily life around you to even talk about it.

Thank you, my left knee

And a little shout out to my right knee, for taking up the slack while my left one did its best not to hobble me.

Distance covered: 23 miles

Length: 4 hours 35 minutes (including about 10 minutes worth of water/bathroom breaks)

Route: Santa Monica to UCLA and back, with lots of loops to make the extra distance

Starting time: 5:30 am, in pre-dawn darkness except for a big, bright moon

Challenges: I almost lost it even before the running began for two reasons: (1) I tried to turn on my new iPod shuffle, and panicked when nothing happened. (Turned out the "on" and the "off" positions are kinda hard to tell apart, in the dark.)

(2) I stupidly pulled a muscle on the outside of my left knee while doing a quick stretch. Almost cried thinking I couldn't do the run, then decided to run on the knee, gingerly. I was running pretty darn funny for a while, with my right knee doing more than its share. Eventually the pulled muscle warmed up, and the pain went away. It was still stiff at times, and I took very cautious strides during the entire run.

Personal triumph: For the last 2 miles, three other runners and I ran ahead and ended up finishing a couple of minutes before the rest of the group. It felt good to take advantage of that last wind I got, and as we neared the end point, I thought our little senior center at Ocean Ave. and Broadway the most beautiful building in the world.

Blogging angst

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I get busy and forget that I even have a blog, and that is one reason I go for long stretches without any new entries. But other times, I would like very much to blog but can't because I can't think of anything appropriate. It's hard out there for a blogger, especially if he/she is trying to strike a balance between writing something that's personally satisfying (like a good diary entry), yet still suitable for public consumption. With that in mind, here are my own personal rules for blogging.

What a blog entry should be, if possible:

• Personal
• Clever
• Written with readers in mind (i.e. Interesting, hopefully, to someone besides myself)
• Purposeful (Such as being a funny story; an update for anyone who cares about events in my life; or thought-provoking.)

What a blog entry should avoid being:

• Overly revealing
• Too clever
• Excessively self-absorbed (Though this may not be possible, given the nature of personal blogs.)

The end.*

*I'm not the first one to steal this neat way of concluding things, popularized by Sauj. It's nice and short and suits my bad habit of ending things in a hurry when I get tired of writing, like my newspaper articles back in the day.