the knee problems stemmed mostly from a 4 year old pair of orthotic shoes with the heels run way down on the outside edges. i got new sneakers a couple of weeks ago from the v.a. along with different inserts. i really owe them a lot. they don't see too many improvements at the hospital. the docs say it will take upwards of 2 months to get my (body) frame back into alignment. meanwhile, i can feel a difference, both in re-alignment pain and easier movement of the knees. rah, rah!
wanna laugh? i had only planned to do a .1 century (snort!), but i felt so good i kept going. i got really tired at the end and it was a looong way home, so caught a city bus and dozed. gonna shoot for a .5 century. that sounds almost respectable. will have to be on the road earlier.
thanks for the encouragement, folks! i'll try to pay it forward by monitoring the c/a category and waving pom-poms with each person's improvements.
will take more pics, too.