Chondromalacia of the patella

Er, runner's knee. Yup, I'm pretty sure that's what I have. I've examined several diagrams of the human knee on the internet (though I've steered well clear of the photographs of what appear to be dissected cadavers) and it seems that there are just so many darn tendons surrounding the joint that this diagnosis is sort of the catch-all way of saying you could have strained or pulled any one of them.

Unfortunately, I'm not so good at accepting the fact that I'm injured and being patient about it. Luckily I've gotten help in the form of an encouraging email from a fellow marathoner-in-training, but it's still going to be a frustrating week for me.

So any additional words of support and commiseration are more than welcome. In fact, I'm begging for them. I'm also hoping to have help keeping things in perspective. So feel free to remind me of the much bigger problems wreaking havoc in the world right now. I'll just sit here and continue to play melancholy dirges on my violin and sigh loudly every few minutes.