Learning to Rest

I think my left knee is going to be my biggest obstacle in training for the marathon. My long run is only up to 14 miles and avoiding debilitating injury is going to be more challenging than I thought. Toward the end of a run with Geoff on Tuesday I had some sharp pain in my left knee and it turned into a dull ache on Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday I was standing in my driveway ready to go for an easy 6 mile run, despite the aching, and then I recalled Em's post about skipping her tempo run because of pain in her arches and IT band, and Geoff's remark to me on Tuesday that if my knee hurts slow down, stop, or change my stride. Then I realized there is the option to rest and postpone my run until today. I did, and although I was a bit cranky last night, I think it was a good idea as this morning my knee felt better and my legs still felt tired after 2 days of no running. Here's to training smarter.