Five years ago this month marks an interesting anniversary for me. I was out running, something I did every single day back then, and suddenly I felt immense pain in my left knee. It literally forced me to sit right down on the sidewalk for what seemed like hours. I was nearly positive I had torn some kind of ligament or tendon or something like that, though I didn't know enough about running injuries . . . as that was the first one I had ever sustained.

Eventually I made it back to my dorm room, where I ice'd and compressed it as best I could, and let it rest for several days hoping it would go away. My knee didn't feel much better, and eventually I was on my way back to Albany for an MRI. I was actually hoping that it would find out what was wrong so I could get it fixed up quickly, as I had some imminent travel plans to Germany a month or so away, and I wanted to be good for that trip.

The results came back, and lucky for you guys, my parents found the images this past weekend. Enjoy!

knee2

knee1

knee4

knee3

Now, I have no idea what we are looking at, but i thought they were cool. Now you all have seen my left foot, and my left knee. Lets hope I can avoid a left hip injury!

Anyways, The results came back negative for any type of tear or break. Apparently I was perfectly fine, though I could barely walk. As it turns out, I had a really bad flair up of illiotibial band syndrome, which effectively shut me down for months. The reason this event was so significant to me and still is really, is because it was a turning point from being in really good shape, to a long downward spiral into inactivity and weight-gain. I went from running 4-5 days a week to playing WoW full time. I went from 187 (which ironically enough is what I weighed in at yesterday), to 237 lbs.

Finding these images again really just motivates me to never let that happen again, never slide back into inactivity. I'm glad I have this blog to keep the accountability up too, because it is inevitable that I'll have to take weeks off here and there for some random injury. It is nice to know you guys will get me right back into it as soon as I get lazy.