Author: Almighty Bob

It seems that my hypermobility has bitten me in the…uhh… knee. I do tend to overextend my knees anyway, and I have had to concentrate hard on feeling like my knees are bent when running, because then they will be in correct alignment. Well, as my mileage has increased with my marathon training, I find that I do tend to lose form towards the end on tired legs. Throw in a pothhole during the last mile and an even more dramatic hyperextension, and here I am with a popliteal strain.

Stuck indoors. No running. No more marathon in June. Feeling pretty deflated right now, especially since my training had been going so well.

I guess I should look on the bright side. At least this injury gives me the perfect opportunity to focus on my strength and conditioning this month. How do you guys cope with this sort of thing? I feel like a caged animal right now.

Bob… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

I’m slowly making progress with the running. The most pleasant surprise of all was the realisation that my latent stamina from all the ultra running is still there. So long as I am not in pain, I can still walk massive distances without batting an eye. The thing that still eludes me is strength.

So far I have been adopting a run-walk-run training strategy, with the goal of gradually increasing the running time. I have also just entered the Solway marathon on June 4th. It’s a nice, easy route with a generous 6 hour cutoff, so even if my walk-run becomes more of a walk-walk, I should still finish easily.

Will anybody else from here be there?

Bob… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi All

I had the misfortune of suffering a hip fracture nearly 18 months ago. I was on high doses of steroids at the time (autoimmune condition) and was worried about the state of my bones. Well, all it took to break my hip was a little stumble on the stairs. After that it was all a blur. The surgeon who performed my hip replacement confirmed the diagnosis of osteoporosis and I was in hospital for months learning how to walk all over again. There was a lot of muscle damage and maybe some nerve damage too, which slowed the healing process significantly.

It has taken a lot of hard work, first to stop using crutches, and then to work on my gait so that I no longer walk with a limp. I am proud to say that I am finally walking normally. I also managed to wean off of the oral steroids and my bone density has improved significantly since then. I still need to be careful though. Really don’t want to undo all this good progress.

Back in the day, before my immune system went nuts, I used to run ultras. My personal favourite was ultra distance trail running. My guess is, those days are long gone now, but I would still like to get back to doing the things I enjoy… within reason of course. My confidence is shot to bits, so I am hoping my fellow hipsters on here will help keep it real.

I am also an avid fan of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, hence my username.

Mighty Bob… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)