Gyms Hurt

Last Monday I finally committed to a gym. Well, committed isn't exactly the right word. I signed up for a 10-day pass, but the cost was enough to get me a little bit more motivated. I started on the treadmill (a machine I've never used before) and ran an easy 3 miles at setting 6 (if that means anything to you). It was light, and I felt pretty good afterwards.

Of course it's not until the next day that you really feel it. And I do mean you FEEL it. So anyways, when I got up on Tuesday my knee was in so much pain I couldn't believe it. I did everything right (or at least I thought I did): I stretched a little before, and a lot after. I eased into the run and eased out. Well, it turns out it wasn't anything I did, so much as it was the shoes I used.

Unbeknownst to me, you really do need proper running shoes if you're going to run 3 miles your first day out. So it turns out my feet tend to pronate, not too much, but enough to cause me to essentially be running on the outside of my knee. (Pronation means your feet flatten inwards when you step, thus your knees tend to bend inwards as well. If you want to know whether yours do or not, stand straight up with your feet perfectly parallel and bend at the knees. Watch the line that forms from your ankles to your hip.)

I have, in short, fucked up my knee. I've purchased an excellent pair of running shoes (provided to me by the Running Room which also gave me all the info on how I run, etc.) and I'll be moving over to the cross-training machine, and we'll see if that helps.

Other than that, I'm slowly mustering up the strength to go use the weight machines. I have this extreme level of embarrassment about using these machines as I would be starting out on the little teeny tiny weights that weigh almost nothing. Hooray for being a beginner...