Chronic injury may have put me out of both marathons

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post on here, and that’s because I’ve been left pondering what to write. Since I last wrote about my training, my running ability has deteriorated, so building up the courage to publicise the fact has been hard, so consider this brave.

To cut a very long story short, I’m injured. Almost a year ago to the date, I had Laparoscopy – aka, keyhole surgery, to determine why I had consistent knee pain. It was discovered that I have a meniscus tear, which in Leyman’s terms meant I had damaged the sponge cushion in my knee. After the operation, I spoke to the surgeon who explained how the damage was too deep to trim, so I was to wait until it broke off, when they would then remove it from the cap. Since then, I’ve ran two half marathons and started training for my two full marathons in Berlin and Amsterdam.

The problem started about three weeks ago when I started suffering from a stiff knee, or more to the point, stiff knees. Something wasn’t right – yes I knew my left knee wasn’t the best, but both? I had to research what was causing this pain, and at first, I thought I’d cracked it. After a lot of Googling and a few late nights, I found out that I was suffering from over-pronation – a condition where fallen foot arches twist the knees closer together. To heal it is difficult, but to assist the condition is very easy – you simply use insoles that support the collapsed arch. So, a £25 purchase on Amazon was made, and two days later I had my new insoles.

At first, they worked. In my own words, they’d changed my life, and for a few days they had. They made walking, running and every day-to-day task a dream. It’s only now when I take my shoes off that I realise how bad my posture was because of my twisted legs.

I advise everybody to check for over-pronation – as did a colleague’s boyfriend who now can’t live without his new insoles.

This is where it gets depressing and desperate, as, after reaching the 13 mile stage two weeks ago, my left knee started playing up. It’s a constant issue for me, from sleeping to cycling to work. I can’t describe the feeling – it’s not a pain, but more of a popping sensation, which normally leads to my leg locking where it then becomes impossible to straighten. It’s drastically affecting my training, with me only jogging an eight mile road-run last week. And when you consider that I have six weeks until I stand at the start line, every day matters.

I’m lying on the sofa as we speak, resting my injured limb. I’m talking to it, rubbing it, praying for it, man I’d kiss the bloody thing if I could. Right now I’m very concerned that my dream of running both marathons with three weeks in between was a bit ambitious knowing the condition of my knee.

Fingers crossed this doesn't last.