Merry Poppins

You can find simple running formulas for increasing milage, training frequency and how hard to push yourself, but the most important advise is 'listen to your body.'

I had surgery on my knee 2 years ago. One thing my knee would do afterward in rehab is pop. It is almost like a cramp, it just really needs to be popped and then after it pops it feels instantly better. Popping like cracking your knuckles (which I rarely do), but in a more needy way. Months after surgery it continued and I asked my physical therapist if I should be worried about that popping and he said as long as it doesn't hurt there shouldn't be any problem. Two of the most athletically demanding years of my life later, I pop a lot. Maybe I'm just listening to my body more. Every joint feels great after it pops, my feet, ankles, knees. A lot of stuff is popping. But somehow almost in a good way.

I knew I would have to give a number to explain myself, so the other day I counted pops, not including fingers. It was somewhere around 35.