OK,I am now a runner again,and I am SOOOOOO HAPPY.

[dougb]

OK,I am now a runner again,and I am SOOOOOO HAPPY.

I went to the Doctors Office at 0900, and sat in the waiting room,all

the worst thoughts went through my mind,like what if i cant run any

more,and I have all these marathons paid for into 2008,and besides,I

LOVE RUNNING.

I finally got in to see my Doctor,he was great,told me he guessed i

was ready to get rid of the cast and back to running,I said no

kidding,I am climbing walls,he laughed,he had gone through same thing

a few years back.

He checked my knee,poked prodded,and squeezed it,made me walk and jog

inplace,I felt ok,a little sore and stiff,but he said thats normal.

He told me to walk this morning,not run,he made me understand that if

i went running to soon i could really cause problems. So I went on

walking tour of Charleston,was very aware of how my knee felt,walked

about 6 miles and all was good.I called him at 3pm and told him about

it,and he said I had his OK to run a slow and easy 3 miles,but if I

felt any pain to STOP right away. So on with the shoes,my lovely

running shoes, and out the door. I took off at a very slow pace,and

felt good,WOW,I am a runner again. Ran the 3 miles,felt great and was

tempted to go further,but I held back,not going to mess this up.

He knows I am running the NY HALF,and he said that its ok,but to take

my time,not to go for a PR,and I told him I am going to enjoy the

sights of NY,after all how many times can you run through TIMES

SQUARE,and Lower Manhatten.

So to ALL of you,thanks for your support and words of

encouragement, they worked,I am one of you again.