A physio, a musculo-skeletal specialist and a surgeon have all said said the same thing; I need to appraise my hobbies. My right knee has what I would describe as a grumbling condition, and what the surgeon described as degeneration. The more I pound it the more likely it is that one day I will actually mangle it. The surgeon described degeneration as the meniscus hardening, so layers will flake off until the whole thing falls into little bits and presumably drops out of my leg and into the floor.
However, there is a technological glint at the end of the tunnel of running morbidity. I have spent a large sum for an unloader brace that takes the presure off the knee as well as re-aligning the whole joint to spread the impact. So far it has been pretty good - runs of up to two hours have been possible with only the last few minutes evidencing joint pain, and even then it stops when I do. I have used it after the run to aid recovery, and also at work for a slightly embarrassing six weeks in order to retrain my leg.
On top of this the consultant I bought it from showed me how crap my core strength is; particularly my glutes. This doesn't seem fair as I tend to do some kind of glute exercise every day, but he said that exercises don't work, as the moment you go to your chosen exercise you revert to old behaviour. Instead he gave me exercises that are part of a general gait overhaul. The first one he calls 'dog poo'; where you pull your foot back along the ground as if scraping the offending turd off your shoe. I then need to trace large butterfly shapes with my leg, jabbing my finger just above my back pocket to ensure full glute-engagement, and after that walk backwards on my tip-toes like Nadia Comaneci on the beam. As if to hasten my demise, he also suggested I got a slackline (I aready have one) and set it up (I never do that), as they are really good for developing core strength. I am 52 ffs.
Well, three months in - what progress? I have been able to do some sort of running, although mostly along the lines of marking time rather than progression. I think I have the brace to thank for that, but lack the scientific rigour to go out without it to see whether it hurts. I have definitely lost any speed I previously had, and my stamina is chasing after my speed, calling out for it to wait. However, I have maintained some sort of running through the winter, and haven't actually gone mad. I have been out cycling with the local tri club; although lack of fitness shows up the hills when my usual romping up ahead of the others has been replaced by a spluttering and leg burning second place behind someone who has just come back from a training camp in Majorca.
In terms of looks, well, I think I have set a new trend - Robocop meets greying dad. The whole right leg encased in plastic:I am thinking of wrapping my calf in some shiny material so people think I have a prosthetic leg. It would certainly explain my slippery descent down the results list.
However, a new secret weapon was revealed this week. I found an article that said that visualisation is the way forward, and the author's chosen way of engaging the glutes is that just prior to the back foot leaving the ground you imagine the foot up against a glass wall. This will then throw the foot upward in a skippy way. Well, I have tried it and it is an interresting proposition.
In an attempt to replace my interest in ultras with a more knee-friendly distance I ran the Parkrun yesterday. With my new-found technique of skipping along with a myriad of glass walls forever pressing against my back foot, I tiddled through the race, and finished in 21.30. This is hugely slower than my normal 19 min times, but it felt pretty good on my kneee despite the brace steadily slipping down. At the end I was standing round chatting, but upon deciding to leave, my glutes competely went on strike to the extent of me nearly falling over. This I take to be a good sign - the glutes had clearly been working hard. Time will tell whether I have happened upon the answer.
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