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May 31: 6.2 miles in Central Park (1 lap)
--What a tough run today. It was a muggy 65 degrees out, which to my surprise contributed to a very uneven run for me. I was moving at a good pace one moment, then I was striding at a snail's pace another. Some of this was because my left knee was finally communicating to me that I should be afraid. In this morning's run, I was getting tightness yet again on the medial side of my left knee, so much that I stopped twice to stretch my hamstrings. This run I even felt a lateral knee twinge that was freaky for a second, but not enough to say it was a pop. I was getting scared that my knee would go, so after I finished I went straight to my doctor. Since I have no superficial pain--only discomfort when I'm running, aggravated some when I'm on a decline and some inclines--my doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory and to see him in two weeks. That for now seems to jive with my suspicions of late, that I have inflammation in my knee, causing "things in there" to overwork or overstretch. I hope it is corrective. I may be on treadmills more over the next three weeks as I'm doing a lot of travel to hotels--please hope my knees stay healthy!!

May 29: ~3 miles in Central Park
--This evening I ran for the first time in over a week. Last week, I worked a job that had me on my feet for hours at a time, up early, and exhausted by night, so I was for the most part too pooped to run. Tara Quinn joined me for the run today, and we were all over the park, pretty much because we had to find a bathroom in the park after a mile or so of running. No problem, though; my left knee again started acting weird earlier in the day, somewhat buckling two or three times--I hadn't been doing my hamstring stretches, which seem to help with the buckling--so I didn't mind taking it easy. The run was relaxed and I still felt strong with no knee problems. I hope maybe Sunday I can get a hardcore run in around the park.

May 18: ~7 miles in Central Park
--What a beautiful morning to run! My running partner for the morning, Tara Quinn, cancelled on me so I was solo. I started my run at 11am sharp and ended at 11:54am. It's hard to gauge how far I ran given that I had to turn around at W. 109th St. because it was blocked off for the AIDS Walk. I had a stonger run today and yesterday's longer run didn't impede me in the least. If I ran an 8-minute mile, I only covered 6.75 miles, but I'm pretty sure given the map I have and the strength of my stride that I topped 7 miles. A man tried to pass me not once but twice and he got no more than six feet in front of me before I lapped him on both occasions. I love that.

May 17: 7.8 miles in Central Park (1+ laps)
--Up early to go for 2 laps in Central Park, the NYC subway system defeated me, having me take three trains to CP rather than the usual one train and eating up my available time. No matter--on the run, I rationalized it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go for 12.2 miles just yet, especially since I've planned a 10K run tomorrow morning. The weather was a little chilly at sub-50 degrees, but my running felt a little stronger. I noted on the Biography clock that I started at 7:24am, and I finished at 8:27--roughly an 8-minute mile.

May 15: 6.2 miles in Central Park (1 lap)
--There were a few raindrops but no rain ever materialized. Despite good hamstring warm-ups and stretching, my left knee seemed to cramp for an occasional stride around mile 4 or 5. I stretched afterward. I was supposed to meet Jenni Cramer on this jog, but I got to our meeting place too early!

May 13: ~4 miles in Astoria (2 laps)
--Just a lighter jog the morning after the previous night's 10K. I didn't think I'd be able to run this evening, plus I had the morning free.

May 12: 6.2 miles in Central Park (1 lap)
--Great weather for a run this evening--55 degrees. A coworker who volunteers with the New York Road Runners Club helped me isolate the problem with my good knee: I have a tight left hamstring. I used a new website he introduced me to earlier in the day--Sports Injury Bulletin--to get some great stretches for loosening and building flexibility and strength in my hamstrings. I need to make sure I keep my hamstrings healthy else I could be dealing with very serious injury. I paced myself today, but toward the end I got a little competitive with a guy who tried to pass me; he stayed ahead of me a nice amount of the time, but in the end, I lapped him. Rock!

May 10: 6.2 miles in Central Park (1 lap)
--This was my first lap in Central Park since 6/20/2002, when I tore cartilage in my right knee which led to knee surgery. It felt great to be back running in the park!