A four month break…

I can’t stand on my foot. Every time I do, pain shoots up from my ankle. Its September 2010 and I have decided to go for my first Wednesday evo run session. Something that I have been putting off for a couple of months. The reason, as much as I love cycling…well let’s just say that running has never been my thing.

But here I am ready for the run, yawning as I always do when I am nervous about doing sports. I have decided to start with the beginners, although one of the ladies in that group looks at me and ask me that I surely must be in the wrong group.

We start I stick to the back don’t want to be showing off. (I know I can’t keep it up). So there I am trotting along, thinking this is a bit slow, I guess I am all right… and whack my foot goes into a hole and all my weight on the ankle. I blow out, it hurts. I am cursing myself for being stupid and not focusing on what I am doing.

It hurts but I try running on. I catch up with the group, we start running up the hill towards the castle, the pain is still there but maybe I can run it off.

We do sprints and run around the block a couple of times. And then we stop and start stretching. After the stretching we wait I while till everybody finishes. And then we set off…and that’s when I stop, I can’t run, I can’t even stand on my foot.

I come home, do RICE which I know from my first help courses. The next day I go to the GP. She tells me to rest it. I do for 2 weeks at which point I do the palace to palace ride. I do the 70 km off biking. My ankle still hurts and a week after the ride, my knee starts hurting when I bike. Its back to the GP who tells me that I have probably over compensated on the ride and my knee has taken the brunt. She tells me to rest further. After a month with no change I go back and tell her what now. I tell her I have private healthcare. She lights up and says, “Why didn’t you tell me straight away”.

So in short I have been dragging my foot along for a month, to the detriment of my knee . And NOW she tells me I should go see an expert? Hurra for the NHS.

I see the expert, he sends me off to Windsor Physiotherapists and Jiallil becomes my new best friend, task master and healer. We work hard, I follow his advice. I run on the grass, I do the home training. I get the wonderful ultrasound.

When we hit February I am back to training again.