Running...Pure Bliss?

6 months ago (plus or minus a few days) I took this picture before going to work.

That was me trying to be really happy about not being able to bend my knee. 

Today I ran for 15 minutes straight (after I had lifted, climbed 47 flights of stairs, and went 2.5 miles on the elliptical.)

While this may not seem like an accomplishment to some of you, I'm going to celebrate it.

Prior to surgery, I could run for miles.

It hurt my knee, but I loved it so much I didn't care.

I've tried running a time or two since surgery and it hurt a little.

And to be honest, I was scared.

Scared of hurting myself to the point of not being able to workout anymore.

But moreover, I was short of breath. And it was hard. A lot harder than it used to be.

It's amazing how quickly you get out of shape when you are bound to the couch with a bag of ice for weeks on end.

So I ultimately decided it wasn't worth it and have found other ways to burn calories in the meantime.

I put off going back to bootcamp until last month, mostly because I was scared of running.

And even when I did go back, I ran timidly, not pushing myself like I used to.

But today I decided to go for it.

I made it 1.26 miles in that 15 minutes.

I wasn't short of breath.

And it honestly wasn't that hard.

But most importantly, my knee didn't hate it.

It fact, it felt amazing.

While I was running I kept thinking about the doctors who told me that the impact on your knee when you run is 7 times your body weight.

I've lost almost 17 pounds since I had surgery.

That's 119 less pounds pounding down on my knees with each step I take.

Wow.

I then started thinking about what it would be like to run after I lost 20 or even 40 more pounds.

WOW.

I'm pretty confident I finished that 15 minute run grinning from ear to ear at the thought.

While I realize I should not approach running like I used to moving forward, and I've fully come to terms that my workouts can't look like they used to, I'm elated my knee let me get a little taste of that joy back today.

I also can't wait to feel what is it like to run as a 20 or 40 pound lighter version of myself.

I can only imagine it will be pure bliss.

Until then, I'm going to keep lifting and running and climbing and spinning to that dream to make it a reality.