Sparta and Me - Chapter 11
So that was how
I left it in January 2017, at rock bottom again, or so I thought until I saw the
consultant.
‘That pop you heard was probably the
end of your femur giving
way’
was not something that I
really wanted to hear at the beginning of a year in which I had expectations of
kicking on from 2016, to put it mildly. 4months on crutches and another 2months
with knee brace and to compound it I didn’t make it through the lottery again
anyway, even with 2 names in the hat.
The MRIs in
December and February showed significant bone oedema in the medial condyle of
my femur and two insufficiency fractures of the femur itself underneath the
cartilage. The consultant was now pretty sure I hadn’t damaged the cartilage itself
and there was just age related thinning instead, but that was of little
comfort. The only option was to allow the bone to recover in its own time. He didn’t
want to disturb the cartilage in surgery if it could possibly be avoided and if
I ran on it in its softened state or the blood supply worsened then the end of the
bone might collapse totally and the only option then would be replacement.
The consultant
had heard of Kouros. He understood and wanted to get me fit for Spartathlon if
at all possible but there are no quick fixes for this issue and I had to rely
on what I am good at, patience enough to do the job … eventually.
The April
MRI was better news. The oedema was dissipating but very slowly and I could still
see the residual bone defects on the scan. He said these might not go
completely but there was still a good chance of 100% recovery, if I did things
properly. What’s more I could now ditch the crutches if I kept the brace for
another 6-8weeks. Then I could try running, 1K at a time and back to resting if
it hurt. Louise came with me – she didn’t want me bullshitting her about what
he said I could do, but I would have been good anyway.
I tried 1K
in June, after 6 weeks. Hardly worth getting
changed for really but I was hoping it would feel so good to be back out
there again I’d love it, only I couldn’t even convince myself it didn’t hurt, so
I was good and went back to resting - For another fortnight, then I tried it
again and it was a little better that time.
Since then I
have been looking for little milestones. After the pain of dropping out of
Athens 48, 4 Inns, GUCR, Nomad 50 and KACR I was seeing some progress. It has
been a tough job, one minute up and the next down as I felt some pain and even
more despair, but from 1K I upped it to 1mile, then 2 miles. I even managed 30miles
overall in July. The road ahead looks to have bends in it and I cannot see too
far but I am keeping as positive as I can. Last week I ran 8miles, slowly. At 6mph
I was fine but at 7mph it hurt. I did the same run a week later and the bit at
7mph didn’t hurt. Pole Pole as they say in Kenya – ‘slowly, slowly’ has been and will need to be my mantra for the
rest of 2017 at least.
I’ve even
done a race. Louise allowed me to do the club race at Carsington in July if I ran
with her, and would grab my vest if I started
trying to pull away from her. I was very conscious of the downhills in particular
and walked them. Last week I was allowed to run the Shipley Park club race on
my own. I was surprised that my legs actually felt good, but more surprised
still that it didn’t hurt. My lungs and chest were bursting though and there is
lots to do … but pole pole.
The cycling
has helped. It’s been 30years since I’ve been on a road bike but I have done 2x
100milers with another to come in September. It seems to have helped prevent my
leg muscles from wasting away entirely but it hasn’t stopped the weight from
returning –and it took so much effort to lose it in the first place.
It’s now
only 6weeks before the UK team goes out to Greece again. It’s hard but I guess
it’s for the best that I didn’t get in this year now. At 8 slow miles with
6weeks to go and with all the weight back on I lost last year it would be
foolish in the extreme to have tried anything . At least now I have 14months
and 4 names in next year’s hat. There is lots of work to do but only one goal,
one focus. There is a plan for 2018 but I can still take nothing for granted at
the minute and as such is contingent on me getting to the end of the year ok. At
present I am just so pleased to be running at all and there is still
improvement week on week such that I can just
about forget that I’ll be 60 when the 2018 race arrives. But age is in the mind,
at least partially. In 2006 I was worried that I was too old but in 2016 I managed
to get fitter than I have been since 1996, let alone 2006. I can still do it.
