70 weeks later..
August 25, 2012 by mark5tewart
A few weeks ago I completed the annual city2surf race in Sydney in a time of 74 minutes - 3 minutes slower than the last time I completed it injury-free 3 years ago. I was very nervous but had trained hard for the last 6 weeks and felt strong but still didn’t want to push too hard. It’s been a long road back but proof that you can get there if you listen to what your body and what your physios are telling you.
In the week leading up to the run, the Olympics provided 2 contrasting stories for ATR sufferers. First I winced as Liu Xiang hit the first hurdle in his heat after suffering his 2nd AT injury in successive days. Seeing him holding his already taped-up AT was heart-breaking and a harsh reminder of how cruel the injury can be. Later the same day, Alistair Brownlee won gold in the Men’s Triathlon after tearing his AT in February this year - his recovery has been amazing and he’s an inspiration to everyone on this site.
Good luck and happy healing.
Mark,
Great to hear you are doing well. I always appreciate when people return with long-term reports.
Don’t forget to add Women’s Beach Volleyball gold medal winner Misty May-Treanor to your list of those that have suffered an ATR and come back from it to win Olympic gold.
The reports I’ve seen on Brownlee indicate it was a “small tear” (a partial rupture?) and also that it was treated non-op, straight into an AirCast boot for a month, while he worked to keep the rest of his body in shape — and walked on an underwater treadmill! Photo of THAT setup at bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/17488407 .
Am I reading that right?
Thanks for logging in and giving us all continued hope, things are getting back to normal for me as far as walking around goes, although holidays and day trips are cancelled for this year, to avoid the risk and temptation to domore than the tendon allows.
Congrats on making it back to competitive sports, sounds like a nice achievement too, even if it is a slower time, it’s a still a time and something to be more than just proud of - again congratulations.
Olympians give us hope and also remind us of the caution required, that hurdler was a legend in his time and it was bad to see his Olympics end the way it did, worse for people who can directly relate to that type of injury too - tape does not replace a tendon.
@Norm, yep that was the guy alright, quite the achievement but at such a young age, I’d say that coupled with his type of injury and with the finances behind him to work ‘full time’ on fitness and recovery (and only fitness and recovery) the odds were always good that he;d make it back in time to compete.
Not taking anything from him though, gold medals only come from what you put into it and he’s certainly put in the shifts and overtime over many many years to achieve that goal so well deserved, even more so when they’ve overcome such adversity in a short time before the event.
I agree with Andrew, Thanks for blogging an letting me see the finished product. I haven’t even had the surgery I need yet, but reading your story gives me hope and perspective. Although, I’m not a serious runner, I hope I can eventually get back on the trails, hike, run (hopefully), and do what I love.
Thanks for sharing
@markstewart Congratulations on your recovery and a huge thank you for starting this blog. Can I ask how your Sural Nerve is now ? Is it still numb, painful. Can you balance as well on the AT foot? Thanks