On the comeback trail?

At last, the Mohican 100 results have been posted, as have the 50-mile results. It took nearly weeks, but who's counting? On the Mohican 100 e-mail list I b*tched pretty badly about the delay in posting the results and probably ticked a few people off, but oh well. The results should have been posted 10 days ago.

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A few hours ago I did something I haven't been able to do for nearly two weeks--run. I got on my treadmill, with my knee brace on, and started walking briskly, thinking I'd walk for about 40 minutes to burn those friggin' M&Ms I wolfed down at work today. But then something came over me and I began jogging at about 12-minute pace. Then my 12-minute pace turned into 10-minute pace and on and on. Before I knew it, I was trucking along at 9-minute pace, pain-free and en route to 4 miles in about 42 minutes.

OK, OK...so 9-minute pace (which I ran the last 3.5 miles) is super-slow. I know that. Usually I'm at 7 or faster. But 9-minute pace and four miles is a start, right?

I'm still pain-free and feeling good, but very much cautiously optimistic.

My goal tomorrow is about 4 miles at super-easy pace on the trail in South Chagrin Reservation. I'm planning to start at the Polo Field, work my way down a few miles and then turn around and head back. I can always add a little by running around the Polo Field.

If I'm still pain-free tomorrow morning and after tomorrow's run, and if I'm able to run 50 good miles next week, I may start thinking about putting the Buckeye Trail 50K back on my race schedule.

But only if....

One final thought: I'm thinking about taking Chondroitin for the sake of my cartilage. I'm skeptical as to whether it works or not, but at this point I'm willing to try it. By order of my sister-in-law, who's a pharmacist, I can't take Glucosamine because I'm allergic to shellfish, but she said Chondroitin would be OK. Problem is, finding just Chondroitin is proving quite difficult. All I'm finding is Glucosamine-Chondroitin. If you know of any places where I can buy just Chondroitin, please chime in or drop me an e-mail.

Here's to a day of encouragement and hope.