With broken knees, I throw my 2 cents in...

Last week I ran harder and longer than I have run in the past 10 years. I ran in the rain, and it felt good, felt refreshing, it kept me going. I woke up the next day with terrible pain in my knees, as if the inner side of my knee was bruised. It felt like my bone was bruised. So I have taken the week off, and in the meantime I discovered that it was more than likely due to the fact that I have flat feet and the wrong type of sneaker for my foot. So I went to marathon sports and they analyzed my walk and found the right shoe for my foot. I am now completely ready to get back to it, except for the fact that my knees still feel bruised and stiff. I'm worried, since we only have a few weeks until the race.

So in the meantime, I'm reading about Mary and Carrie's progress. After reading Mary's entry, I realized I have no idea what the difference is between jogging and running. Absolutely no idea. So, like the good little researcher I am, I looked it up. This is what I found.

Jogging VS. Running

• Jogging is the 70's word for running.
  
• According to running guru Dr. George Sheehan: "The difference between a runner and a jogger is an entry form."
  
• According to the American College of Sports Medicine, running is 5 mph or faster.
  
• Jogging is a vaguely-defined term which generally refers to a type of slow running, previously called "roadwork" when athletes in training, such as boxers, customarily ran several miles each day as part of their conditioning. In the 1960s to 1970s the word "roadwork" was mostly supplanted by the word "jogging" and this form of running became quite popular among many people at that time, mainly throughout the Western world

The last definition, from wikipedia, was very interesting to read as a new runner. The article on running included this information, on stride rate.

Most elite runners in the world run at a stride rate of 90 strides per minute (180 steps) regardless of the running distance and the runner's physical build. (Stride distance, however, does vary, being longer the shorter the running distance). It has been postulated that human physiology dictates that the 90 stride rate is the most efficient in terms of energy expenditure when running. Most beginning runners have a lower stride rate. This may cause most of the energy to be expended in vertical movement rather than in overcoming the friction of air. Also, low stride rate may also be indicative of overstriding.

Once my knees recover, I plan to count my strides during my next run, to see if I'm efficiently using my energy. I'm dying to know! Please knees, don't fail me now.