Injury – staying positive (or making the best of a bad job) and keeping it all in perspective

So many shoes, so little chance to use them

When you’re injured it’s easy to obsess about what you can’t do. Having tweaked a knee ligament running on Sunday, I decided to spend some of Monday finding out what I can still do.

I can still do quite a lot. Press ups and sit ups and crunches all seem OK, once in position. Calf raises and even the plank routine look possible, although I’ll give the ‘right leg raised’ plank a miss for the time being and take it easy on the side planks.

None of those involve any great movement in the knee and my right leg can take more than its fair share of any ‘posture’ work that is necessary.

Equally, upper body exercises are OK so I can still bench press, bicep and tricep curl (with my usual rather puny runner/cyclist weights, of course).

Putting it another way, although I think I could do them all, I am not going to try running, cycling, rowing, lunges, squats, leg curls and extensions. That’s a bit of a downer for someone who likes to run and cycle but it could be worse.

I might even try a bit of swimming front crawl, with minimal leg kick?

The knee improved even during Monday and I slept well Monday night. Tuesday, more improvement.

Looking on the bright side:

• the injury could have been a lot worse, especially as I was stupid enough to finish the run with it;
• I can do more than I’d expected, despite the injury. It’s very minor and no medical intervention is necessary;
• the timing could have been much worse – it’s well before training starts for the White Horse Challenge sportive or the ultra marathon (and I’m happy that I’ve done nothing that prejudices the skiing early next year); and
• the achilles tendons and calf muscles are playing nicely at the moment – the break should see them right for when I get back to the running and cycling in the new year.

Back to Wigan on Wednesday to visit my father in hospital again, grateful that the new car is an automatic (but setting a new personal worst of over 8 hours of driving).

Saddest possible post script. My father died peacefully on the Thursday morning, within a month of his 96th birthday. I’m so pleased both our sons saw him in good health and fine spirits in the last couple of months, and that my wife and I went up on Saturday when he was alert and so happy to see us. He was a fine man. It puts everything into perspective. RIP.