A new (to me) look at exercising

I was a runner at one time. I went from couch potato/non-athlete to runner when I joined the military and had to run a mile and a half in 12 minutes in order to graduate. In addition, there was an award you could earn if you ran an average of three miles a day during the training period, and that was motivating. After I graduated from training, I continued to run three to six miles a day. I was hooked on that runner's high you hear about. It always took a mile of awfulness to reach it, though, no matter how fit I was. At about the three-quarter point I'd always feel like quitting, as if I couldn't put one foot in front of the other to save my life, and yet I did. And then I'd hit the mile point, and all of a sudden it was effortless, I could run forever, I couldn't feel my feet touching the ground -- was I flying?

After the babies started coming I went from running to walking. I did a lot of walking, racking up Volkswalk kilometers every weekend. We had dogs all through the years, and the dogs needed walking.

And then, a few years ago, something happened. My knees went out on me. We completed a three-mile Volkswalk as a family, and by the last mile I was in agony. I haven't Volkswalked since. I did a little walking (still with the dog) since then, anywhere from 1/4 mile to 2 miles a day, but my knees got really bad this spring, even with the water kefir, and now it's a struggle to walk 1/4 mile. I walked half a mile this morning, and I think my knees are done for the day.

I'm still hoping this Paleo thing will help to restore my joints. Hoping. My elbows and fingers seem to be responding well, anyhow. Let's hope the knees get the message.

Anyhow, I had read on some Paleo discussion board about someone my age whose knees had given out -- did Paleo (or maybe it was Primal), eliminated inflammatory foods, and the knees came back (against all orthopedist's predictions). That's what I'm hoping for! I hadn't been thinking about running again -- I'd be happy just to walk, to be able to be on my feet most of the day and not hurt.

After reading this article this morning, I'm even more certain about not taking up running again. Who knew? I always thought I was doing my body a favor by running three to six miles a day...