Sept. 10, 2022
1st K: 5:54.56
2nd K: 5:38.49
3rd K: 5:42.46
4th K: 5:43.58
5th K: 5:36.83
6th K: 5:22.86
7th K: 5:29.11
8th K: 5:22.08
9th K: 5:20.13
10th K: 5:19.24
11th K: 4:48.15
Total 11 K: 1:00:11
I hit a nearby park after getting off work and jogged on grass for an hour in bare feet. It was another pain-free running session. I take it as proof of steady recovery.
The late afternoon park was filled with active visitors of all ages. A group of teenagers were playing soccer. Parents were having fun with their small son or daughter with a ball. Middle-aged runners were lapping the track, some at a brisk pace, others at an easy one. Groups of elderly women were going round and round as they enjoyed chatting with one another. With the warm early autumnal sun pouring over all of us, it looked like a typical late Saturday afternoon at the park. And I was one of these many locals that constitute this peaceful view.
On reaching the park, I took off my flip-flops and started running with them in my hands. I dropped them off on a speaker's platform stationed near the exit to the parking lot. After that I lapped the track again and again as I listened to a You Tube lecture by Paul Roetzer about AI, one of a number of subject matters that I want to delve into these days. It is informative in that it gives you basic knowledge of what AI is and what it can do. There are some examples to illustrate how AI works. So it is a good introduction to the technology, especially to someone like me who is a relative novice on the topic.
While running, I simultaneously listened to the audio, and thought about my knee and what it would be capable of doing down the road. From time to time, I had this iffy feeling creeping up around the injured area. My heart sank, afraid that I might have to take a long break from running again. My spirit lifted, though, when the iffy feeling evaporated as I moderated the pace and adjusted the form.
Thirty minutes into running, I asked myself, "Shall we call it a day? Or do you think it's OK to go on?" The iffy feeling had long gone. I felt slightly exhausted, but I thought I could cope with that if I slowed down. On I went.
It's funny, though, that once I decided to go on, the slight hesitation that I had left before making that decision seemed to transform itself into some kind of fuel. What I mean is, though I decided to go on, on the condition that I would slow down, the pace did not change so much. And the slight feeling of exhaustion almost seemed non-existent from the start!
I was checking my lap time each time I ran 1 K. But I lost count about 45 minutes into running. My Timex has recall function, so I checked how many Ks I had already run. It showed I was in the middle of the 8th K. I decided to run at least 10 K, and then was going to decide whether or not to go for an extra K to make it a solid one-hour session.
When I finally covered 10 K, my Timex said 55 minutes something. Another K would make it a one-hour session. At this moment, I slowed down and tried to enjoy warming down. But when I ran the first half of the remaining K, I could not control the burning desire to pick up the pace, especially when I saw the blazing late afternoon sun shining on me, I injected the pace in the remaining few hundred meters, of course without taking wider strides because that could kill injured knee, but by increasing cadence while keeping the strides small.
The watch said 4:48 for the last K. And I was pain-free. Another mission accomplished.
I look forward to seeing how my knee will feel tomorrow morning. Hopefully, just a little soreness and Baker's cyst just slightly more swollen. But that's it. I hope. I do not care so much about Baker's cyst because it does not hamper anything of my daily behavior. It is just a visual abnormality, plus my body's natural attempt to heal the part of body that worked very hard. We all work hard sometimes. So do some body parts. And we all recover when we rest well. And so will body parts. Human body is resilient
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