SDW100 - preparation

Since working to come back from my accident I had wanted to aim for something longer, something that would make me feel like I was my old self again. Whilst the metal was in I had no chance, having tried to take part in 24h De Ploeren in December, making it to 105km in 12 hours before the swelling and gait abnormality became too much for my body to manage.

Prior to my metalwork being removed I'd realised that I needed help working out how I was going to get my running fitness and strength back. I had help from physios with regaining my knee mobility and leg strength, but I really needed someone to guide my running build up, to stop me from overdoing things and to make the best out of the (at the time) limited milage I could manage. I contacted James Elson from Centurion Running, and he was happy to offer me coaching. He guided my training with constant feedback from me on the state of my knee and even while the metal was in I felt myself start to run stronger.

Once the metal was out, things improved to such a degree that I felt I wanted to aim for something long as soon as I felt I could make a decent job of it. I was no longer just pushing a broken body around, I was Coming Back from Injury...to me that now meant putting in a good performance. Particularly after I managed to get so close to my old time at MABO. I also felt that I would be better able to manage a longer run with fewer steep decents, those being my real limiting factor at MABO.

I had put my name down for GUCR, and got a place, but that was just going to be too far too soon. Instead I spoke to James about doing the SDW100 - and he didn't say it was a daft idea!! He put it in my training plan as a race and the build up soon began. Aside from a 2 week hiatus when I developed real pain and swelling in the knee which forced me to stop running and get back into the pool (although at the time, I felt this was the beginning of the end again), I managed to put in a fairly consistent effort. My knee pain was, for the most part, manageable. The swelling induced by heavy sessions was offset with some ibuprofen and ice, and consistent gym work allowed me to carry on developing the wasted right leg muscles. I soon learned the importance of continuing my PT exercises...a few days of ignoring my basic static quad sets and it's like the muscle just forgets that it needs to work.

3 weeks before the race James let me test out the knee over a longer distance...Ecotrail Oslo 50 miles. I finished that in first place, with manageable pain, and in a time which was 'adequate' to me. I didn't push myself too hard, just wanted to know I could hold together over that distance without too much fallout. The result was a seemingly happy knee and the ability to go for a slow and comfortable 30 min run a couple of days later...my body was holding up to the distance OK!

So I was as ready as I was ever going to be at this stage. I had a few voices of doubt from some people who know me...was I ready for this? Wasn't it too far too soon? Did I want to risk damaging myself? Each question sowed a little seed of doubt in my head which I found tricky to deal with. But I kept reminding myself, if anything was going to stop me, it was going to be my knee. Not my inability. Not my lack of preparation. and if I couldn't manage this time, then I would just try again after more rehab.