I can do this. I can totally do this.

My knee has made a miraculous recovery. If I sounded like I was overreacting to a little pain yesterday, let me explain:  last year around this same time (I remember, because on Easter I was in so much pain I could not walk from the church to the car, someone had to drive me) I was hobbled to the point where I went to the doctor for x-rays, and I never go to the doctor if I can avoid it.  The pain yesterday wasn't that intense, but it was the same type, and I knew from experience it could keep growing. 

Around mid-morning I realized that the smart thing to do would be to take the five miles in easier increments.  At lunch, I got in the car and mapped out a 1.6 mile route, and then immediately walked it.  I took long deliberate steps, but not fast ones, and was careful to keep from striking my heel too hard.  I kept reminding myself that this was not a calorie-busting walk, or a fat-burning walk or a "how many minutes can I cut off a mile" walk -- it was a therapeutic walk. There is a time and a place for a therapeutic walk.

I had planned to repeat that route after work, and then at night do the balance of the walk with Banks.  But something came up late in the day, so I had to forego the second work-walk, go home and take Banks for the remaining 3.5 miles.  Since I knew we were traveling more slowly than usual, I dispensed of the hour and a half time measurement, and concentrated on a well-worn 3.5 mile trek that took us around our neighborhood and into the outskirts of St. Ed's.

One of the reasons I'm healing fast is that my knee brace was my constant companion yesterday.  I wore it all day to work, for the walk last night, and for the 2.5 miles Banks and I walked this morning.  That thing really stabilizes the knee.  Don not underestimate the power of a generic drugstore knee brace, and don't hesistate to invest the $15 or so dollars in it if your knee starts give you trouble  They really work. 

The pain yesterday (she droned on, self-absorbedly) seemed to emanate from the center of the knee, and shoot downwards.  Today, it's quite localized around the center.  I got by with only three Aleves yesterday morning, and the three I took this morning should last me for the rest of today.

I plan to do easier, incremental five miles today and tomorrow, then get back on track starting Saturday.  Meanwhile, here's a shot of a beautiful field of early bluebonnets we passed yesterday.