A New Sport Awaits

I've had some serious down time in the last few months. My injury rumbles on from last August. I'm not even sure if I can call it an injury anymore! Whenever anyone asks what's wrong I feel as if I'm just making up some pathetic excuse for why I'm not running.  I can't say I've got iliotibial band syndrome, for example, which is what I think people want to hear. All I can say is that whenever I've been for even the shortest of runs, a few hours after the run my quadriceps tightens up to the point that I can barely bend my knee. I also feel that I have permanent inflammation to the knee. Prolonged sitting also causes my quadriceps to tighten and for the knee to then feel really stiff.

I've had countless sports massage and osteopathic treatments since August. Both have helped, but still my knees feel inflamed. The osteopath diagnosed a muscle imbalance mainly due to weak gluteus minimus/medius and I have been working on strengthening these muscles, but so far it's not helped that much. I am starting to think that maybe there is damage within the knee, whether a worn meniscus or ligament damage.

The net result was that I wasn't able to complete my plans for 2014 and I now have no running plans for 2015. My place in the Cambridge Half Marathon and London Marathon will not be used this year.

As running is not an option right now I have turned my focus towards a non-running goal, which is to take part in the 125 mile Devises to Westminster canoe race. I suspect I will be too late to enter this year, so it's going to be a long term goal for next year and possibly also the year after. Ideally I'd like to take part the first year for fun and then the following year to be competitive. I've pretty much decided it is going to be unrealistic to take part this coming April, but I hope to do a few other long distance canoe races this year instead.

My introduction to the world of canoeing all starts tomorrow. I'm going along to an introductory session at the Cambridge Canoe Club so that I can then become a club member.  I was keen to join last November, but they only run a limited number of introductory sessions each year and I had just missed the last one of 2014. Tomorrow I should be put in a canoe, along with a few other novices, and we'll be taken for a paddle along the Cam under the guidance of two senior club members. Our paddling skills are going to be assessed to see if we can become immediate members, or whether we'll need to do a beginners' course. Part of the assessment will be to roll the canoe, get out whilst under water, and then swim to the river bank with the canoe in tow to do a rescue procedure (at least this is what I think we'll need to do). Given that the temperature has been bloody cold for the last few days, I'm not exactly thrilled by my choice to join the club in January!

My next decision is whether or not to start a different blog or to write about my progress into the world of canoeing on this blog.