Eight weeks to go. The training is progressing though sometimes it feels like really hard work. I've been going through these gates a lot recently. But are they the gates of heaven or hell? Going one way leads through into the deer park. Past the church and the obelisk. It can lead to a wonderful world of antlered deer stags, ice houses, world heritage, buzzards, the foothills of the dales, and a cafe with scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Heaven on earth. But it also leads to a very long mile uphill - the 'Studley Mile', up to it's very own Barkley gate at the top which I have to touch to complete a strength sapping speed interval. Eight minutes of hell doing each hill effort. Only to have to turn around and repeat, again and again. Or onwards through those gates at the top to do another 23 miles to complete a back-to-back-marathon-long-slow-trails-weekend. The thought of doing it is daunting. Going the other way through the gate is usually good. It'...
And, with a squelch, we're off (again)! Back on a (cough) slightly delayed and amended plan.
The knee has been set free. The troublesome flap of torn meniscus has been successfully nibbled off. If only I'd had a crystal ball at the start... Three months standard conservative treatment (which turned into four) of allowing the tear to sort itself out didn't work. This conservative approach for tears like mine often results in what they call auto-amputation, meaning no need for surgery and all the complications that surgery can bring both in the short and long term. However, surgery has now worked. So far.
Yay 😊.
I walked out of the hospital following arthroscopy and partial meniscectomy that morning without needing to use the crutches they gave me, and managed a gentle half loop parkrun walk four days later, and a low resistence flat 40 minute cycle ride a further three days after that. Regular knee exercises pre- and post-surgery have helped.
So, with just over 10 months to go, it's rehab, building back base fitness, and increasing distance up to christmas, followed by event specific prep through to the end of May with plenty of back to back runs and some multi-day adventures. All with a heavy dose of patience and TOFU PASTA (see my last post). Hopefully the cycling and strength work I've been managing to do over the summer will hold me in good stead. I've been talking to various people in the know. We think it's still possible to make the start line for a succesful LEJOG during June 2025. It'll be tight but I'm going to give it a damn good go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and all that.
My promise: No more mention of knees. And plenty of mention of progress and milestones reached.
Oh, and the 'squelch'? No one told me that for two days after the surgery, every time I flexed my knee, it would squelch like one of those squidgy tomato sauce bottles.
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