I've now been on the new osteoarthritis medication for about 3 weeks and while it has resulted in a marked improvement in the swelling and pain in both my knee joints, I think the level of improvement has plateau-ed. On the one hand that's a little disappointing because I was hoping for a miracle quick fix but on the other hand the improvement is good enough for me to be able to enjoy running with more comfort than I've had for the last ~9 months. I still have to be careful not to overdo it though and am conscientiously mixing up my running with plenty of cross training. The net result is that my weekly kilometerage is the lowest its been for 10 years :( But, that's better than not running at all which is where I was heading before I saw the surgeon and started on this new treatment regime.
Even though I'm not running big kilometres I wanted to run in the Capital to Coast staged 100km event in August. The first stage is in Canberra and then the other five stages are on different trail courses as the event as a whole meanders its way to the coast and finishes in Nowra. But, I've hit quite an unexpected hurdle - ie, there is no viable way for me to get back from Nowra to Canberra at the end of the event on the Sunday night. I can't drive because I'll be running there! There is no hire car company open on Sundays and able to provide me with a hire car to drive back. There's no bus back on the Sunday night. And the only train back leaves Nowra @ 5.45pm and takes ~5hrs to get back to Canberra as it goes via Moss Vale where there's a train/bus change plus a 1hr wait before crawling back to Canberra by about 11pm. Ugh! I've contacted the race organisers who are Nowra based and they have just said "yes, that's an issue for Canberra participants". I think in my case it might be a big enough "issue" - ie, hurdle - for me to have to withdraw. Shame. I'd be grateful if my blog readers have any ideas as to how I can jump over or knock this hurdle down.
3 comments:
Mmm, take the Monday off work, stay o/night Sunday & one-way car hire to drive back Monday?
BTW, don't face the hurdle that way 'cause if you clip it you'll land flat on your face ;)
P.S. The cross-training regime worked well for Lauren Fleshman this year - made the final of the US 5k trials on 10 miles a week of running!
Yes Ewen, that may be my only option.
Depends on which direction I'm running towards the hurdle :) Of course I could clip it and fall flat on my face either way :(
More and more people tell me they run better on less and less kms; including some Aus ultra reps, so there must be merit in the "less is better" theory.
Could you take the Monday off so you could stay Suinday night? It does seem a shame to have to miss the event because of these little logistical problems ;)
Hope the knees are behaving for you too, especially with the new medication.
CJ
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