i've had to stop sitting cross legged. when i run on the treadmill now, pain shoots up my upper left calf, connecting my ankle to my knee in a tight band of pain. most people would probably say "well, stop running then." obviously it hurts, but it hurts not enough to stop since my half hour on the treadmill is part of my day i look forward to the most.
around the end of the first mile is when i zone out. i try to always run on the same treadmill, the one across from stairmaster number 122. sometimes i watch sports on tv, sometimes i just stare at that 122 bobbing up and down and i run at 5.7 miles per hour on a machine that gets me absolutely nowhere.
i'm also trying to focus on breathing. try concentrating on breathing in your nose and out through your mouth for a half hour; it's incredibly zen. there are four things i'm consciously aware of: the techno pulse in my ear which eventually (also around mile 1) starts to turn into white noise, the placement of my feet on the treadmill that coincidentally helps me check if my calf is in burning pain or just a mild tingling, the 122 bobbing up and down, and my breathing. it's the one time of the day where my brain shuts up and my body goes onto autopilot. on the bike or elliptical i'm able to think, and form little conversations in my head, but on the treadmill, everything just shuts up and for half an hour it's the peace of a nike commerical where the woman is running down an open, empty road.
so in a month where nothing has made sense, my mind is permanently racing, and my body feels beat down, i'm going to sacrifice a little bit of my knee, which now feels like it's permanently shifting to the left for a half hour of glorious peace and quiet.
