Maybe These Days Are Over, Over Now

My disappearance from the blogosphere over the last few days was due to work commitments. On Wednesday we had some of our dealers from far afield in for product showing. It was a great few days and timely considering my consultation with the Doc.

On Wednesday I saw Brian McKeon for a follow up consultation regarding my constant knee pain and the outcome was almost exactly as I had mentally prepared for. Basically my options are Micro-Fracture surgery or deal with it. I went for the latter. I cannot deal with an evasive surgery such as micro-fracture. The Doc said it would fix my knee but I would not be able to run for 15-18 months. That means little or no activity until 2011 and who knows where I'll be or what I'll be doing. I know that after 18 months of inactivity I will hardly be able, at 33.5 years old, to return to a competitive level of running. Option 2, is to deal with the pain and accept that I will not be able to do much training. I figure I'll take the gamble and if my knee gets really sore again I'll get the surgery and accept that the running game as I've known it for the last 20 years is over. But if I can train somewhat free of pain and run 40-50 miles a week with swimming and biking I may be able to run decent times and even enjoy wearing the green at a Cross Country international.

My cartilage is very eroded on the medial side of my knee. I have a notch defect which is like a pothole in the cartilage. The pothole leaves a small piece of the femur exposed and when I run I feel that piece of femur bounce off the tibia with no cushion. Its sore but the bone is strong and if I don't over do it I may be able to get back to some decent form. My bike riding will keep me fit and now I will incorporate aqua jogging, alter-g, and elliptical. I will throw the kitchen sink at it and see if it works. The big negative is that the Doc does not feel confident that I'll be able to run very hard on the road or track. He thinks the force of running sub 5 minute pace on the knee will be very painful. It may improve but I'll always feel it. Anyone who has had to deal with this, please contact me and let me know your progress, or lack thereof!

Last night Frankie and I joined Terry Shea and Carley Greytok at Sunset Rubdown. We met up with Henry Guzman and his lady friend Suzanne and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show. Personally it was extremely helpful and emotional. I love music as much as running, and the joy I feel when I hear beautiful music is hard to measure. I did not want this show to end. Spencer Krug is a genius and perhaps, aside from Thom Yorke, the best live vocalist I've heard. His voice is so unique and anyone who has heard his work with Wolf Parade or with Sunset Rubdown cannot argue this point. I could write about this show for hours but lets just say, I was completely lost in the sound. I could not sleep after and all day I had a high, similar to the feeling you get after a great race. I am hopelessly in awe of talented musicians.

Lots of think about and many mental battles to deal with. Its nice to have a wealth of great sounds and friends to help with the process,

Love Kel