It’s been a while, a very long while. Coming back from injury, it’s been slow going. These days I’m taking it run by run.
Some background
It was January. I was on a run and felt a tweak in my left knee. While I’ve had various issues with my right knee including the fabulously named fat pad impingement, my left knee had never caused me issues.
After that run, I went home and rested. Knee was swollen, elevation, ice, physio. More elevation, ice, physio. Tried running again, same issue, and again. I deferred the London Marathon. I’d already deferred the Guernsey Ultra given I had another shot at London.
Life got in the way. Things didn’t go to plan, with running, with life, shit happens.
Gym life
These days, I’m at the gym, 4, 5, 6 times a week. It’s taken years but I finally followed my physio’s advice and signed up.
Why was I so reluctant in the past? I had a certain image in my head of what gyms were like. Perhaps it went back to my first few experiences of gym life. I was at uni, I was very self-conscious, I hated it. These days, I’m older, more comfortable in my skin so what the hell.
And weirdly enough, I’m really enjoying it. I’ve managed to keep up some basic cardio fitness and feeling stronger. It also means that I’m doing all those stretches I should have been doing for years on a daily basis to avoid further lower back issues.
On coming back from injury….
Finally I can run again. On Saturday I did my longest run since February. Forty minutes on the treadmill – I wanted to keep going. While excited at being able to run again, I’m also being cautious. The build up is slow, I’ll be mixing it up with gym sessions, and treadmill and short outdoor runs.
This has been the last couple of weeks…
And lots to do before full marathon training begins – lots more strength training for injury prevention and overall conditioning, a lot more miles to be run.
Wish me luck!
Well done on getting into the gym and getting that knee and other twinges better, and best of luck with your ongoing training.
Thanks so much Liz. Don’t know if I’ll get to the marathon but doing what I can! 🙂
I too have been battling fat pad impingement for nearly 6 months now. It’s been a nightmare. I received a cortisone shot the other day to help with the inflammation. Any advice you have on how to get through the dark days is appreciated. BC I’ve had many of them. I am afraid I will never run again. Thanks in advance.
So sorry to hear that, that’s really rough. To be honest,and I never thought I’d say it, going to the gym has been a life saver for me with my current dodgy other knee….it means I can work on injury prevention + strengthening, and keep up some level of fitness, albeit a lot of it not directly running related but will benefit my running. Well worth chatting to your physio/PT to see what they’d advise.