Time has stood still and I remain cast adrift; all a result of the persistence of my knee injury. The Lymphoedema management project has been shelved, for now at least, and all my energies have been directed to my knee. The injury has proved far more pernicious than I first thought or hoped, and has really tested my mental resources. Although by nature I have a definite “glass half-empty” character, when it comes to what I believe I can achieve, I am the eternal optimist. If this means nailing a tough session, I always believe I am equal to the task; if this means ‘healing myself’, I have faith that I will be cured within a few days. Positive self-talk is a marvellous attribute but is unfortunately not always foolproof, and inevitably I am left disappointed. Ten days on from the first stab of pain, I am not healed and it is desperately tough.
The initial visit to the physio over a week ago was a relief as she diagnosed a tracking problem that should have been relatively easy to fix, no cycling or running but cross training was an alternative. Thankfully I have access to a well equipped gym and I duly trotted out an hour here and another hour there, at least feeling that I was salvaging some remnant of fitness and controlling my lymphoedema. I became fully acquainted with the delights of daytime TV pumped through a bank of TV’s to the audience of middle-aged, middle-classed masses – what a strange world, but that’s another story. But the pain has persisted and after pushing through a painful final 20 minutes of a one hour cross training workout earlier this week, I conceded defeat and stopped all lower body exercise. Back to the pool I went, pull buoy and hand paddles at the ready.
A huge amount of upper body work in recent days has allowed me to keep my spirits up for the most part but this too is starting to take its toll and has its own problems, such as developing shoulder issues and weariness. It would be just like me to throw myself into something that in reality I’m totally unconditioned for, and then create another injury! Going from zero kilometres of swimming back to my old levels of 10K-12K in one week sounds like a recipe for swimmers shoulder!
A visit to my Sports Med Doctor today has shed more light on the problem, and I should be pleased that it is not serious, it is patellofemoral pain most likely caused by tightness in my quad (rectus femoris) muscle. But the prognosis is rest, stretch, rest, stretch and more rest, stretch. Repeat, until the pain has vanished. Not what I wanted to hear. I already stretch religiously and can quite easily get my head round doing more. Far harder is dealing with more rest, but this is what I know I have to do.
Coach Helen and I have discussed the options over our usual latte this afternoon. I always put a considerable amount of faith in the fact that she will be able to help; she has the uncanny knack of getting straight to the relevant point and knows me almost as well as I know myself. We are very similar in outlook and very often I get a virtual mirror image straight back of what I project out. Perhaps that’s why we get on so well? So another plan has been hatched, just to get me through the next week before I return to the physio. I will continue to swim, even though my aversion to the water is every bit as strong. Encouraging tweets from triathlon queen, Tamar, have spurred me on in the pool. And, at least while I trawl up and down the lane I feel that in some small way I am doing something positive to preserve a small element of my fitness and manage my lymphoedema. Right now this is all I have to hold onto, but it will do!
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