The lack of aerobic exercise really got to me. My appetite plummeted, and I could feel condition falling away by the day. The irony was that the real issue was my knee, not the highly visible bright blue left arm. And then at the beginning of Feb I joined Mrs S on a very gentle 1-mile run. All seemed OK. And then a progression of gentle 2, 3 and 4 mile runs, all light on intensity. Over the last week I have upped a gear, and on Wednesday I ran about 8 miles at a brisk pace. All good, and I'm thrilled.
On the other hand, I am now cast-free. I counted down the hours once I had a week left to go. One by-product of getting more running in is that I was sweating inside the cast and this was creating an unusual and rather interesting aroma. This wasn't what the rest of the family said. On Monday Sue and I went to RSH hospital and I went through an immensely exciting cast removal process from a kind but scary-looking tattooed bloke. Having a circular saw buzzing millimetres from your wrist is quite an experience. Here's a video clip of the episode. Luckily, the terror I felt isn't too obvious.
Afterwards, I felt horribly vulnerable. The skin on my hand and arm was really tender, and there was no up-down motion at all. I felt like a crab that's just shed its shell. We had to go back to the chairs and wait to see the orthopaedic consultant, and I had awful worries that I would be received with shaking heads and new casts.
As it turned out, the doc (wearing her usual remarkably short skirt) told me that I had healed remarkably well and that I was much more mobile and less vulnerable than expected. I was given a removal wrist splint to wear out and about and we were sent on our way. I'm now just about back to normal... just avoiding heavy weights. No cycling or press-ups just yet.
Yesterday I ran Southampton parkrun. My knee was fine, but I have a chesty cold, and my lungs felt ragged. I finished in 18:49, way off my best but a modestly successful return to competition after a barren and frustrating few weeks.
I'm still trying to be good. Running-wise, no heavy-duty off-road stuff for a while and no Grizzly in March. But I feel like I'm back.
