Oh boy, so I crashed my bike early Sunday morning. Aside from a monstrous black bruise on my thigh, I was fine--I did 75 minutes on the elliptical at its highest ramp setting later that day, and spent a good ten minutes crouched down brushing mud off my horse's legs after that. No problem.

Skip to Monday afternoon; my right knee is tracking a little funny. Monday night, if I try to straighten it after it's been bent more than ninety degrees it sticks, sticks, sticks, CRACKS into place and sets me off cursing in pain.

Tuesday morning, the whole inside of the knee is tender where I must have hit it in the crash, and any un-bending procedure involves me relaxing the leg completely and carefully manually manipulating the patella to minimize that jolt of pain.

I have bad knee genetics--shallow patellofemoral grooves, pronation. I took an impact to the other knee when I was fourteen and it never recovered. I've seen every sort of specialist and heard everything from "patellofemoral syndrome" to "bone bruise" to "huh.. pretty crunchy cartiledge there, eh? (to the nurse) FEEL this!" to "it would have happened on its own later anyway." I was advised to use orthotics in all my shoes (not just my running trainers), and to wear a brace for any activity.

Of course, the brace didn't last long. I preferred to build up my muscle and NOT have a weaker, more dependent leg. When it gets sore, rather than favour it I push it harder, push it through, and most of the time I work through the pain. I've managed the injury well, but its unpredictable incapacitating moments are what ultimately ended my running career and got me into cycling.

Well, now my old injury seems a walk in the park compared to what my right knee is up to! I just tossed the ole brace on it and already feel a difference, but UGH, what an awful feeling when it grinds out of place.

In less than an hour I have an opportunity to go mountain biking for the first time EVER. I can scarcely walk on my right leg, but I'm brought back to track races where I was too injured to walk and still got the adrenaline up enough for something resembling a dynamic warmup, staggered to the line and waited for the gun not knowing if my legs would support me. They miraculously worked every time.

So um... here's hoping that technique works again! I've got the ice pack handy, and the guy taking me on this trip has already insisted we're not going to do more than a few roots given the state I'm in (says he just can't stand the thought of the extra weight of the spatula he'd have to bring along to scrape me off the trail otherwise). YAY MTBING!