Well this year has certainly been very trying. After a pretty average start to the season I got through a solid 3 weeks at Falls Creek and was starting to feel pretty fit. With a few track sessions under by belt I was looking forward to some low key races with the big primary goal of running fast at the Melbourne and Sydney A-Series, and placing in the top 3 at Nationals.
These plans all came to an abrupt halt when I had a fall at training and snapped my collar bone. It was a pretty freaky fall. We were running in a pretty tight bunch when I got checked, somehow managed to flip in the air, and come down directly on my shoulder landing on the lane rail. At first I just thought it was dislocated and thought I’d be able to relocate it and finish my session. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as this. Jeff drove me to the hospital where I found out I had broken my Clavicle and would be out for 6 weeks. Being an ultra keen/crazy athlete my thought process was “ok, I’ll take 3 weeks off and then I should be right to run with a sling on.” At that stage even the thought of 3 weeks off seemed like an eternity. The next day I had to go back to the hospital to talk to the orthopedic surgeon, and I was again hit with bad news. It turns out the end part of my clavicle had not only pierced through my deltoid but it had also shattered. I’d also ruptured my AC ligament and would need total shoulder reconstruction and wouldn’t be back running for 6-12 weeks. That was 4 months ago and I’m still not back running.
The first week after the operation was terrible. I was in so much pain and so disappointed that my season was over. After a week of gloom and doom, I hit up the gym and jumped on a recliner bike (so I could hold my arm). Getting on the bike changed my whole outlook. I realized I could hit out pretty hard sessions on the bike and hopefully keep pretty fit. Unfortunately, I got a bit too enthusiastic with my new found exercise and, within a week had built up to an hour and a half pretty much smashing myself. My knee was starting to get a bit sore and initially I ignored it but after a few more days it was sore just walking around. I had to give up the bike and replaced it with walking. All up I did 9 sessions on the bike, and 4 months on it is my knee that is preventing my return to running not my shoulder.
I’ve since learnt from sports medicine doctors and physiotherapists that you should never do hard sessions on a recliner bike, as both your back and your knee are in a compromised position and it is easy to damage both. Being a physio, I really should have worked this out myself but it’s amazing how easily ‘athlete me’ takes over ‘physio me.’ I would never prescribe the cross training I gave myself to any of my patients but yet for some reason I was willing to flog myself, and as a consequence I badly damaged my fat pad. Fat pads are located beneath the knee cap and don’t really have a function. They are packed with nerve endings so if you aggravate them they are very painful. The problem with fat pads is that once you inflame them, they become enlarged and it is very easy to flair them up again. I have now been through 3 cycles of starting running, re-aggravating my fat pad and needing to rest. Such a frustrating process. I’ve now decided not to worry that I’ve lost my fitness or think too much about the future. For the time being I just want to be back running.
I had a cortisone injection into my knee about a week ago and this, combined with pool running, glutes/VMO exercises and plenty of stretching, should see me return to a walk/run program in 2 weeks. I’m determined to be very patient this time, returning to running and even if it takes me a month to be able to do 40 mins 5 days a week I’ll be stoked.
