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.