Another week......another Sportive....

My non-changing X-rays 

The results are definitely in.....my leg isn't healing. I'm not sure whether to be impressed with the NHS or just its level of IT, but it did seem slightly weird to be sitting having a coffee with an old  friend (as in we've been friends for years, not as in he's in his dotage) in his kitchen, while looking at all my X-rays on his laptop. It does rather help that he's an orthopaedic surgeon (www.williamhage.com) and so has been great for discussing different treatment options. Option A was to offload the leg, rest and fix the REDS and hope for healing , but as that hasn't work, he suggested Option B ("that you might like more"). This was pretty much along the lines of what I'd been thinking.....if to gradually introduce running back in again, but be very alert to any worsening of the leg, ie more swelling or pain (Option C would be surgical fixation but this would have its own problems, eg 30% of people get anterior knee pain after tibial nailing, or large scarring and metal reactions after plating/grafting).

The main thing is to look out for my bone health, ie trying to limit/reverse the osteopenia as much as possible but keeping the REDS at bay. I think I've been managing this element quite well......without going into too much detail, I didn't have a "period party" at the end of my amenorrhoea but it almost felt like I should (the first time you think it's a fluke, but then a month later you realise you might actually be on top of this, and then another month down the line you start to relax.....well, except for remembering just what a nightmare periods and their associated pain can be every month!). 

You might think that after being told to start running, that I'd go out for some crazy long run to celebrate, but if I'm honest, I'm scared to run. Not only do I think that I've actually forgotten how to run, and I'm too unfit anyway, but I don't want to cause more harm. I think it will be difficult to work out if any "pain" that I feel is real or psychological/paranoid pain. However, I've bitten the bullet and been for a gentle run. To be honest, a lap of the grass near my parents' house (all of 5 minutes) was enough for me, as although I was barely going faster than the dog walkers, I was puffing and panting, but at least it felt OK.....and I "refuelled well" afterwards!

I will gradually try to build this back up, but not push it, so I must still look to other ways to regain my fitness. Hence this weekend saw me try another Sportive. This one was a 50 mile loop from Lanercost Priory called the Crossborder Raid as it dipped into Southern Scotland. 

The start was rather a shock to the system with a 15% climb up onto Hadrian's Wall but I really enjoyed the ride after that. Although it certainly wasn't flat (my glutes and vmos are definitely telling me that now!) the roads were practically car-free and totally new to me. We had some decent views.....though the Scottish ones weren't so impressive (but that was due to the weather as we had more rain the further north we went...and then returned to sunshine in Cumbria).

I could have done with a feedstation before the 30 mile point, but when we got there it was great...with sausages, sandwiches, cakes, crisps, fruit and hot/cold drinks. Unfortunately there wasn't any at the end, but there was a lovely cafe just nearby so a hearty meal was possible (and I had another one as soon as I got home......as I, taking the refuelling seriously). My friend Doug and I had a lovely day cycling together and chatting all the way round, but other people really didn't seem to be getting so much fun out of it. They would pass us in single file with their heads down (usually on the descents......well they'd pass me as Doug isn't a scaredy cat like I am....but then we'd almost always go past them again on the climbs) and not say a word either to us or the rest of their cycle club mates strung out behind them. It certainly didn't make us want to join a "cycling club". 

It was nice to spot the priory
and know we were almost back!

I'm no cyclist....though at the minute I'm no runner.....but I do enjoy a day out with friends (especially if there is cake involved at some point) so I think I'll keep doing it my way :-) Onwards and upwards...