Compression Knee Brace ... not the answer

I rolled out of bed at 7:15am feeling well-rested and ready to begin my weekend. I wasted no time at all making coffee and pushing through my routine exercise regimen. I was done exercising and walking Ykraps by 7:40am. It was another cloudy & cool morning. The temperature was in the mid 40s. I was sipping coffee in front of my company laptop by 7:50am. Unfortunately, work required my involvement from jump. I heard Mindy and the kids beginning to stir shortly after 8am. I was doubly surprised when Mindy and the kids were up and downstairs well before 8:30am. That’s very unusual. Mindy had a breakfast date planned with one of her friends, and then yoga afterwards. She needed to get moving. I wasn’t expecting so much noise and company that early. Typically, the house would remain quiet on a Saturday morning until almost 10am. Mindy began clanging pans around while making breakfast burritos. UGH! I decided to get my run in early. I left just after 8:30am. At Mindy’s suggestion, I decided to try wearing one of her knee braces during my run. It slid on easier than I expected given the obvious difference in our leg sizes. It was taught though. It didn’t seem to help or harm at least for the first few hundred yards. And I still couldn’t establish a natural running stride right out of the gate. Quickly, though, my legs muscles started cramping up, especially my right calf, and the one with the bum knee. I had no choice but to drop down on my arse at the curb and rub out the cramp and remove the brace. It was restricting my circulation. I rose to my feet and gave it another go. This time, within about 100 yards or so I was able to come close to my natural stride, and except for a few minor squirts of pain, I ran the rest of the three miles without incident. Mindy asked right away how it went. I described the run in great depth and detail. She surmised the brace was too tight. Possible, but I reckon it’s not a stability issue but something else all together. For the first time, I noticed what appears to be some swelling around my knee, but still next to no pain regardless of where I push. In the back of my mind I am wondering if I simply might’ve strained or pulled a ligament ever so slightly while golfing. If so, I didn’t notice when I did it. The only other thing I can think of as a possible cause is mowing the lawn. There, I often slip and slide when push mowing the slope, especially when it’s wet. Mindy left for breakfast and yoga some time after 9am. It wasn’t even 10am when Bella came down and asked to go down to Makayla’s place. I said yes. I made myself a breakfast burrito then spent the majority of the next several hours immersed in work related matters. Time went by quickly. I hardly heard a word from Jacob. Mindy got home around 1:30pm. By then I had managed a shower but was still involved in work. While working, I kept a loose eye on a college football game – can’t recall which game. The Buckeye game didn’t start until 3:30pm. Mindy decided to make chili for dinner, and also to bake another apple pie from scratch. Mindy and I tossed around whether or not to allow Jacob to watch the Buckeye game. Most important to me was that he understood why he’s was being punished and then that he showed contrition. Satisfied that he had, we agreed to let him watch the game. The Buckeyes started slow, and quite honestly, their offense hardly even showed up at all. But as bad as our offense was, Wisconsin’s was worse. We scored two touchdowns off of interceptions and another on a kick-off return. Prior to today, Wisconsin was undefeated and their quarterback had been sacked only twice in five games. We sacked him six times! Mindy invited the neighbors down to watch the second half of the game with us, and later to eat chili. We had a fun time. One of Kenny’s employees, Scott, came over too. His girlfriend was at the game with her parents. The Buckeyes won 31-13. We were elated to win. During the late afternoon and early evening, and also while watching the game, I kept an ice pack on my knee in hopes of finding a simple cure. Mindy’s chili was delicious as was the apple pie, although apple’s never been one of my favorites. At 8pm we started watching the Michigan/Iowa game. Our company headed home somewhere near 9pm. Mindy put the kids to bed soon after everyone was gone. Meanwhile, I dosed in and out of sleep, but elected to stay up for the game’s entirety. Mindy headed to bed near 10pm.