Down for the Count

OK, running and I apparently just do not mix. A couple of weeks ago,
some folks at work decided to start an after-work running club, and I
thought it'd be worth giving it a go, both to see if I could in fact
seriously run, and for the social aspects of joining the group. I ran
nearly 3 miles that first time, and couldn't walk for a few days
afterwards due to the sore muscles in my legs. Fortunately, a short
bike ride the following weekend did the job to blow the overdose of
lactic acid out of my legs and things were A-OK again. The following
week -- last Wednesday in fact -- I figured that I'd give it another
go, but just take it easy and not push as hard. Which I did, really.
I only covered a couple of miles and I definitely didn't try to go as
fast. But -- just as we were starting out, I landed funny on my right
foot and felt a weird twinge in my right knee. I shrugged it off,
stretched some more, and kept going. The next day, again I was
limping, but this time due to pain in my knee joints, not the muscles
in my legs. It was a bit annoying. I left that Friday for a long
weekend's vacation in Boston with my wife, celebrating our one-year
wedding anniversary. The best way to get around in Boston is, of
course, walking. The first couple of days I did ok, but the limping
continued. After the next couple of days, my left knee got better but
the right one seemed to just get worse. Of course I was being
stubborn -- we came to Boston to see Boston, not so I could just sit
in front of the TV in our B&B while my wife wandered around alone --
so I ate a bunch of Advil and iced my knee each night. By Tuesday I
could barely walk without great discomfort. We came back on Wednesday
(yesterday) and I got an urgent-care appointment with a doc this
afternoon (Thursday). After hearing my story he prodded, poked, and
twisted my knee asking if any of that hurt, and then decided that I
probably didn't do any damage to the joint itself, that I pulled or
over-strained a tendon on the inner side of the joint. He even went
and dug out an anatomy book to show me the area in question. He
prescribed some anti-inflammatory meds (Nabumetone 500mg, generic for
Relafen), instructing me to take 2-3 per day as needed, and if things
weren't better in a couple of weeks, to come back for a follow-up
appointment. Sounded great to me at the time, but as I realized on my
way back home, I still can't freaking walk. And cycling is
unfortunately out of the question. That new tent and sleeping bag I
just bought for THIS WEEKEND's planned bike-camping overnighter aren't
going to get used just yet. ARGH &^%@#&$^%@#$

My appointment was at 3:30 in the afternoon, I had to leave work
early. I wasn't at Kaiser long, so I hopped back on the bus to go
back to work for a couple of hours. The bus I was on swerved
erratically and shuddered to an abrupt stop in the middle of the
intersection of Jones and O'Farrell -- apparently we somehow hit a
pedestrian. That's crackhead central (well, one of 'em in SF) and no
doubt the crackhead thought she could beat the bus through the
intersection and lost. I heard a THWACK that was apparently her head
hitting the front glass -- which was spider-cracked afterwards.
Immediately afterwards, I saw her running around in circles in the
middle of the intersection, and then collapse. Lots of people
gathered around (did anyone call 911 I wonder?) and a beat cop showed
up just after. I decided the whole thing was a sign to NOT go back to
work, so I hobbled down Jones towards Market to catch a bus back home.
Took me a while to get close to Market, and I looked back up the
road, taking note that an ambulance STILL hadn't arrived -- but then a
SFFD paramedic unit rounded the corner. By the time I got down to
Market my knee was screaming bloody hell and I knew that I'd made the
right choice to just go home. Weirdest thing, in true self-centered
SF fashion, is that I was barely phased by the event. I'm more
stunned by this fact than anything else. Jaded, I am.

Bah, time for another pill...