Caged Lion

I haven't been able to run since my last post nearly a month ago and it's a source of immense frustration. I'll try to explain a little without turning this into a self pitying rant:

My Physio said I needed to get an MRI scan of my knee before she could help me further as everything she had tried didn't seem to be working. In fact I'm convinced the exercises she gave me made it worse. I saw my GP who said she'd refer me and recommend an MRI, but unless you're in danger of imminent death our wonderful National Health Service doesn't always move as fast as you might like. So I almost instantly got impatient and booked a private MRI, the results of which concluded: "Mild thickening of the patellar tendon at the inferior pole of the patella which is suggestive of a low grade patellar tendinopathy."  - which is good news. Only my wife now thinks I'm a big wuss with a low pain threshold.

When I say it's good news I mean that there's nothing catastrophically wrong but having seen her today for the first time since the scan was done, my Physio still thinks it will be three weeks before I can run again. She also said that this type of tendon issue can take up to three months to heal completely! This is very worrying in terms of my participation in the Copenhagen Half.

My Physio also discovered that I have very short hamstrings today. She thinks that failure of these to lengthen properly when I'm running is probably resulting in my knees being too far forward when my heel strikes the ground which is putting them under increased load and causing my current problem. So, for the time being, I just have hamstring stretches to do. I also need to get myself a Swim Pass and start swimming a lot more. I've been a few times but if it's all I can do for a few weeks I need to do much more before I lose all my stamina.

The pain I'm in does seem to have peaked. The stairs are easier and I can get my leg into the car without physically having to lift it with my hands now, but good grief! it's slow progress. I am going to the park in the evenings to sharpen up my skills with the balls which keeps me amused but I can't wait to get back out there running with them again. There's still plenty of time.