Where have I been? What have I been doing? And how are those ^%$&%** knees?

What do you do when you haven't posted for over a month? What DO you do? Or what do YOU do? Maybe it never happens to you. It's happened to me. Do I give you a month's worth of details on my knees, my travels, various domestic issues? Do I give you a shedload of excuses? This is my third stab at this post and I've deleted the other two because they were .. frankly .. boring. I can't believe anyone wants to read something which I'm actually bored writing. So. Short pithy bullet points for your delectation on the month's pertinent topics:

• Knees. Aah. Not so good at this point in time. After last month's post and all your wise advice I went to see my marathon running osteopath who brought fast relief and got me back on the road. For the past month I've been running shortish runs (3/4M) most days and this has been fine and injury free. However, this Sunday I ran 7M in 2 bursts - 3M at 6:30 in the morning with Sally and 4M at easy pace later in the day. In the evening I could feel my old familiar knee pain. Went to see osteopath immediately on Monday who was surprised at it and surmised it might have been because I didn't stretch after the first run - apparently my legs and kneecaps were very tight. Went out for 4M yesterday which was fine - painfree while running - and will carry on as long as I don't feel any more pain while running. I can still feel it a bit now though..
• Running friends. Ah! You'll all have seen Maritza and Jen's posts on our lovely run in California last month - can I just tell you how wonderful it was for me? Amazing! After a somewhat white knuckle drive to the reservoir where we'd agreed to meet (I'd flown in from London the day before and was about an hour away from where we were to meet - that hour in the car in busy traffic on the wrong side of the road trying to find my route definitely raised my adrenalin levels) it was so lovely to see these two wonderful runners. Our run was glorious - the environment was beautiful and Jen had only just returned from another victorious marathon in Boston - and our big breakfast afterwards was so much fun. They are wonderful girls and I wish I could run with them more often. More than that - it was nothing like meeting people for the first time, we knew so much about each other and it was great just adding this extra dimension.
• Everything else? Well everything else is pretty crazy which is why it's been so long. Work is challenging - I have a lot on my plate and I'm struggling to get things done on time. Home life is good but as all parents know, parenthood is rarely without its challenges. I had a fantastic week in California - lovely food (French Laundry, Chez Panisse, Zuni Cafe - need I say more) but being away from home for a week requires a lot of organisation beforehand and afterwards (and I called in a lot of favours from my favour bank). Me? I'm a bit so-so at the moment. I'm overloaded and make myself slightly nervous with the anticipation that I will drop balls. Which, unsurprisingly, I do. The recent knee pain is not helping my mood.. I feel guilty at all that is being left undone at the moment (which includes posting and commenting on all your blogs - apologies! and I will make up for it.)
  
• Chicago. Aahh. Well... If I were going to do a 20 week programme, I would have to start in 10 days. I want to go - I spent some of my time in California with Jeff and Brian who were such great support last time and with whom I will be staying this time. I really really really want to run with all of you who are coming out there. I just don't know whether this most recent physical upset is a blip - a reminder to take stretching, warming up and cooling down seriously - or an indication that there is something more fundamental that I need to be working on. What I am doing is trying to get 20M in this week (not all in one go, I hasten to add, 5 x 4M runs), and to try and do a very gentle, properly warmed up longer run 8M at some point. I will see how I feel after that and continue to consult with my osteopath. If I do go ahead I think I will have to be sensible and choose a fairly low mileage plan - Hal Higdon's beginner, for example - and gain some fitness with weekly swimming sessions. The alternative is to NOT do a 20 week plan but to pick a shorter program - 16 or even 12 weeks - again with fairly low mileage and to use the "extra weeks" to see whether I can really get to the bottom of this knee pain. I guess either strategy is not that different .. I'm not quite at the start line yet. At some point in the next month I am going to have to jump and buy a ticket - I will let you know how things progress.
  

Till soon my friends - having given you this update I feel like I've ticked at least one thing off my to-do list and I can now get on with blogging again. Again - apologies for my absence - please do not mistake it for not caring. I'm not quite sure whether I'm waving or drowning at the moment...