A weekend I needed

This Sunday I didn't set my alarm, slept in, and woke up about the time we'd normally be leaving for Sunday school.
All I can say is, I needed that. After Boston on Monday, our Tuesday flight left at 6:15 am. David left me at our Atlanta layover to attend a memorial service for our late friend Alfred (this service was a dedication of a conference room at his workplace, named in his honor). I got home alone and slogged through clean up and laundry, then went straight to work. Have you ever taken a short vacation, then returned to find heaps of work saved up? That was my Wednesday. Unfortunately I could barely catch up; I had an off-site meeting on Thursday and was teaching a class Friday. The result was one rushed, exhausting week - and my body was protesting on Sunday!

I was actually already feeling tired on Friday night. As I headed to bed early, David said, "Don't forget our race tomorrow." WHAT?! Dude had signed me up for a 5k for charity weeks before and forgot to tell me about it. So Saturday I had a surprise 5k. I had been only doing easy running, so my legs were stiff and I wasn't warmed up; plus my toes are in kind of bad shape. The combination of Boston's downhills with my consistently water-logged shoes had my feet sliding around, and I have deep blisters and several black nails. Since I didn't know about the race, I picked at all the blisters, and they were kind of killing me. Despite that, I was first female out of a very, very tiny field with a 19:50. I hope I can do better than that in fitter shape, but 5ks are very hard for me so if I want to improve I need some serious work.

Focus on the right wrist.

I got a little surprise when I got home. There was a wrapped present on my desk! David got me this beautiful silver cuff. I love cuff bracelets, and gifts for no reason make me so happy!

On the deck of the Wasp

One of the tall ships

The rest of Saturday was fun: it's Navy Week in New Orleans and even though the Blue Angels show was canceled, we got to tour several ships (the USS Wasp and two tall ships). Because of the drizzly weather, there were no lines or waits, and we missed Sunday's large crowds.

Sunday the rain cleared and we had an amazingly beautiful day: sadly, it was still windy. so not only was the second Blue Angels air show canceled, so was the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 swim (it was replaced with a 2 mile run). I didn't ironman (can't swim, refuse to buy a bike half the price of a car), but I did play football with David after our picnic lunch in the park. Then later I went for a run. I ran ten miles in 1:07 for a 6:42 pace - and felt fantastic. Obviously I have leftover energy and speed that should have been used up in Boston but was untapped in Monday's slow run.
And that brings me to an interesting observation. I'm not sore. I never was sore. I think some hills actually prevent soreness!

And that brings me to another thought - my knee. Last I posted about it, it was enormous, hot, red, and swollen. The problem is that I wake up ok, but at the end of a day of standing and running around, the knee is swollen, stiff, and burning. It feels like it's on fire!
After I took the last picture, the pain was so crazy that I decided to see if I could drain it in case it was infected (do not try this at home). I used a large sterilized needle to probe the scabbed area - I was just trying to see if it would produce pus - and immediately it started gushing fluids. Unfortunately it seems like most of the swelling is retained fluid - perhaps synovial. I mean, I hit it pretty hard. There was no blood in the fluid, but there was a little infection, so I alcoholed it left it uncovered. It is much smaller now, and definitely improving, but it still fills with fluid at the end of the day and still feels like it's burning.

Now that this rushed week is over, I should be able to settle down a little. Once I do, the big question is: how do I spend my running summer? Something tells me my 5k needs some work!