Knee KO

Earlier this week I made the difficult decision to pull out of the Berlin Marathon due to an ongoing problem with my knee. 

The eight-week-countdown-klaxon sounded on Sunday and as much as I wanted to grit my teeth and continue trying, I faced little choice but to be realistic. After a two week break from all high impact exercise I hoped there would be a more tangible improvement but I barely lasted two miles before the pain returned, eventually pulling up after limping to four miles. In the final mile of my five mile route I walked home knowing the decision had been made for me. I've been unable to run properly for five weeks and I don't want to even think about how many miles have gone from my legs in that time. If my knee was 100% I'd back myself to get back up to the distance in eight weeks, but it's a long way from 100% and it's reached the time where I need to get it seen to. 

I saw the GP on Monday and have been referred to the knee specialist who I will see next week. The British Heart Foundation have been really supportive and helped me pull out of the marathon without any problems, essentially saying I will get a place in a marathon next year running for them which is good as it's a nightmare of a process.

I will continue the mind numbing exercise bike and swimming routine to hopefully keep some sort of a solid base of fitness to get going again. Whenever I can. 

I know that in the grand scheme of things me being unable to run matters very little, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't pretty fucking gutted. 

I will fix the knee and go again.

At least my teeth are looking good.