I mentioned this in an earlier post, but each weekend during this program, I have gone out for a short jog. I stopped running almost 7 years ago, and limited my hiking over that time as well. I developed sharp, intense pain on the side of my left knee, when I was running or hiking downhill. Over the past 7 years, I did a small amount of stretching, and foam rolling, and dry needling, trying to cure the IT band pain that I self diagnosed. With hiking, it didn't do much. Even as I was accepting the TMS diagnosis and understanding this information, I was very skeptical of the knee pain being a result of TMS, and was doubtful that the pain would go away. The first time I ran, the pain started within 3/4 of a mile, but there was no pain once I stopped running. The second time, the pain started even faster, and I was able to push through for the entire mile or so, but my knee continued to hurt into the next day. This created more fear and doubts. I noticed more back pain too. This setback was frustrating, but I am proud that I did not give up. I am convinced of the TMS diagnosis, and I ran again this past Sunday morning. Again, only for a 1.25 miles, but I managed to avoid any knee pain! This week, my shoulder stopped hurting, and it switched back to my upper back. I have had a lot of stress for the past week, and I am still working on acknowledging the anger, and finding time to check in on myself during work. Despite that, I am proud of my courage to face my fear of the knee pain. I want to keep this up, and I hope I can eventually do longer trail runs by next year. Thank you.