We had a family reunion at Panama City Beach in Florida. Despite the BP oil spill scare, this tourist location was spared so far from tar balls or oil odors. We had an excellent time meeting relatives from Alabama, Michigan, and New York. Only one relative could not make it as she was on an internship in Houston, Texas.

The time was passing as I was first resting on my own, then waiting for the doctor’s appointment, for the MRI appointment and MRI results, the knee pain receded. Remembering my options outlined by the doctor, I was running slowly wondering how far the recreational running would actually take me. I ran in approximately 5-mile blocks several consecutive days without any pain. I was very happy with the environment. I could run on the golf course of a tourist resort. Each day early morning before the maintenance crew started working, I got out and ran around the perimeter of the golf course. The soft green carpet was great for my knee and mind as well.

I ran 6 days in row and I didn’t feel any pain. I took 1 day break and reflected on my recent experience. It’s been 8 weeks since the pain and swollen knee. Now, I could run several days in row which I wasn’t able to do just 5 weeks after the injury, or 3 weeks ago. Does it mean the injury is still healing? That long? Something makes me think the torn meniscus isn’t the culprit. If it were the meniscus causing the problem before, it would be acting again this time. Could the problem be rather tendons in the back of the knee? The pain originated from there.

I looked up tendon problems—tendinitis (also tendonitis)—online and learned that tendons heal in 4-8 weeks. If treated properly (RICE), the tendinitis disappears without consequences. I may have a torn meniscus, but for how long? It may have happened while I was skiing and now the knee MRI revealed it. It didn’t reveal the swollen tendons, since 6 weeks have passed from injury to the MRI scan. This reasoning sheds a completely different light on my situation.

Evidently, I can run leisurely without a problem. I have to find out what would happen when I increase the mileage and speed.