ouch

I have been involved in an on-again off-again relationship for 7 years with... the gym. Once every couple of months, I get really motivated and manage the strength to work out regularly. This lasts for a few weeks, but eventually something "more important" ends up becoming a priority (these "other priorities" include school work, church responsibilities and social activities). But a couple of weeks ago, when I put on a pair of pants that used to be big on me and found that they were way too "snug," I decided that enough was enough. I needed to get back to the gym. But I knew that I needed some sort of goal to work towards otherwise it wouldn't last (and it wasn't enough to just say that I wanted to lose XX lbs because I say that ALL the time and yet here I am again). So I decided that I would start working towards running 5K in the spring, which would give me enough time to get somewhat into shape (I secretly fear that I would start one of those races and that it would take me so long to finish that the race sponsors would pack up and go home before I finished and I would get to the finish line, not see anyone and just assume that I got lost).

I found a running schedule that I felt I would be able to follow, and after a couple of weeks of running, I thought I was well on my way to achieving 5K stardom. And then it happened... my knees started feeling sore. Being the new tough athlete that I was, I kept running. When the pain continued to just get worse, I figured that maybe I should take a little break to help my knees heal. Which brings me to this week. I thought my knees were doing better. The pain I was feeling when I walked up and down stairs was gone so I figured it was time to go back to the gym. I started my workout with a 5-min warm up walk. No pain. Good. So I started running. Oops. Spoke too soon. The pain came right back. So now here I am contemplating my running career. Should I go see a doctor? Will a doctor simply destroy my dreams of running triathlons? What will the doctor say when she finds out that these poor injured knees belong to the next Nike-sponsored world champion marathon runner? What if my Olympic long distance running career is over before it ever began???