You may be wondering why I’ve been a bit quiet on the site and disappeared altogether from social media. Well the explanation is quite simple – I’ve been struggling with a major injury and long covid for over a year and I’m trying to get back to some semblance of normality.
One knee is ‘bone on bone’ and the other is heading the same way. It’s not as a result of the thousands and thousands of miles I’ve run in the last 10 years (in fact that’s probably kept me out of the Doctor’s waiting room) but as a result of Osteoarthritis which I’ve had since my forties.
Anyway a replacement knee operation would put an end to my running days and I’m not ready to go down that route until I’ve explored all other options. But …. just in case, I have already started to take up cycling thanks to my friend Mike who patiently accompanies me. This is actually quite a common pursuit for ultrarunners – see the amazing and inspirational Mimi Andersen.
I’m still running every day – I’m on day 794 of my current run streak, although running a hundred times around my kitchen during covid isn’t quite the replacement for the mountain races in the Sierra Nevada. My weight has ballooned – when I came back from running across Spain I was 78kg and after running across Italy I was 83kg which is my fighting weight. I’m now 94kg!
I’ve been working for a charity helping oldies with their IT(!) and am well under way with my next book. What! You haven’t read my first book yet – here’s a link to “Moving Mountains – running from the Atlantic to the Med”.
So I absolutely haven’t given up on my running adventures and I’m going to write a lot more on this blog about my approach to adjust to these challenges in the hope that it might help others in a similar situation.
Keep well!
Andrew