It's been awhile...I know.

Finishing the half marathon was one of the coolest moments of my life. It was this seemingly insurmountable goal that I set and then achieved. Did it go perfectly? Nope. Miles 7-10 were horrendous. There wasn't a water stop like the race officials said there'd be at mile 6 which meant I couldn't take my goo pack like I had been training with so my energy drained. My knee was really aching... and then hurting.

But HMTT was amazing. My coaches, even the ones I never met during my training, would randomly pop in on the course and run with me for a half a mile or so. They would encourage me, give me information about the course ahead and tell me how proud they were and excited for me they were.

Having my family and friends at the finish line was the icing on the cake. Kendayl trained with friends. She talked about it with them and many came to support her. I wasn't the same way. I said to myself - this is my goal, not theirs. So I don't expect anyone to come stand for hours on end to see me cross. Looking back I wish I had made a big deal of it. Because sharing that and allowing my friends to come support me made that moment so much bigger and so much better.

So a big THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU to everyone.

My coached said that we would need to take it easy for a few weeks after the race. They talked about the running blues and how hard it can be to be training and training and then...nothing. They weren't lying.

My right knee and leg were really bothering me the days and weeks after the race.

I got impatient and ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning with the Cooks. It was a 10K of the most hilly parts of Richmond around the UofR campus.

Eventually my leg recovered but my knee still hasn't. After about 6 weeks of pain, I finally went to a doctor. I have patella misalignment - which I already knew and can't be fixed without major surgery. But nothing major except that I had over worked my knee and most likely my patella was rubbing against my bone causing the inflammation and pain.

I'm seeing a physical therapist and I'm not aloud to run until January at some point. I also was given the RED LIGHT on running the DC half but I should be clear to run the Ukrops 10K at the end of March.

I haven't written since the half because I am really disappointed. I feel lazy now. I was on top of the world and now I am back to having to be careful and feeling sidelined. Before the race - I was regularly exercising and feeling great about my body and now I know I'm losing a lot of that progress.

But we're taking it a day at a time and I am incredibly excited about the 10K and about getting me knee back in shape. So stay with me! I'll be back :)