Hi, I'm Rick and welcome back to the series following my journey back to
fitness after knee surgery.
It's been a while, so in case you missed the previous episodes or can't quite remember
what happened, here's a quick recap.
It's not great.
I've got quite a lot that needs fixing.
Early on in 2021 I injured my knee whilst out on a run.
It's not the first time in my life I've done damage to my knee.
And when the scans came back with what was wrong, it was decided that
surgery was the best option to fix the problem.
So I underwent the surgery on my left knee to try and get some cartilage growth.
That was a few months ago now, and since then I've been working hard on my rehab to get back to
walking and eventually running.
In the last episode, Manni freed me from my crutches and I took my first steps.
So is it all still looking up? And when can the goal of running be actually achieved?
Let's find out.
So I'm about two miles from the house and I just had to stop
because the pain in the left hand side of my knee has just got to a point
where I can't actually put another foot in front of another.
I tried walking uphill, and then it was hurting.
And then I stopped and then started again.
I'm going to actually have to crouch down because I can't actually get any further.
I'm gonna have to call Chantal, my wife, to come and pick me up
because I can't actually walk.
I can't put another step in front of another.
Manni. Hello, mate.
So I was like walking probably about a mile
away from mine,
and all of a sudden the sharp pain just came straight on in the front
of my patella and I just couldn't carry on.
I literally I had to stop and lean against the wall.
That was it.
I think my legs need really strengthening up.
I think we've got some work to do.
Please help.
Keep taking the steps all the way back to me.
Don't stop this time.
Perfect.
Good.
Well done Rick. Don't stop.
Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop.
Morning.
Just gone six o'clock.
One thing I've got to get much better at is the strength in my
legs and building up that strength and endurance.
So the muscles are basically doing a lot more work.
And I know this. Manni keeps telling me, but I've also got to keep the weight off while I'm doing it.
So as well as doing the weights to build up the strength in my
muscles, I also need to keep the weight that's going
through my knees, so there's less pressure on them.
So one of the things I have to do now is 20
minutes spinning, one and a half minutes flat out,
one minute rest, and it's an absolute killer.
I'm heading into the hospital today to find out exactly what's going on because I've
still got pain in my knee.
I'm not nervous.
I just really want some answers about why I'm still feeling that.
I'll let you know I get on.
I've just been in to see the surgeon, and it's not great news.
It turns out that the operation hasn't really worked.
Even though it had a, a 50% chance and we kind of knew that,
it doesn't look like it's done anything and the cartilage is actually
got worse. The cartilage is broken away a little bit more, and that
area where there's no cartliage in between the two main bones
in my knee and there's just more more fluid.
There's a bigger white patch there and I've been referred to see
another surgeon, in a different part of town
and yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely gutted to be honest.
I'm absolutely gutted.
Oh, mate, you've seen the MRI.
Um, I am gutted.
We've got the image here.
This is the femur, and these are called the femoral condyles of your of your leg.
And you've got this whitening here and- that's water, isn't it?
That's yeah, that's fluid, which is being caused by impact.
And you can see on the bone that white there and whitening on the tibia.
So that shin bone- that's bruising? And that's bruising.
And it's very difficult.
We know we've built up the muscles around that knee, and we've really done well with our rehab programme.
But actually the joint has also taken a little bit more uh,
a little bit more damage.
We do need to think in terms of our rehab.
Where do we go from here?
I suppose what I'm just trying to get around in my head now is the fact that
we've done all this work and it seems, looking at my
knee, that it's got worse.
But symptomatically I'm better than when I first had the
injury back in February.
The image does not define an injury.
The image does give us a bigger picture of what's going on physiologically within the body.
So what we'll do is we've got this image and we're sending you for an opinion.
But we also have to think about practically how you're doing.
You know, you are getting better to an extent, but will this mean that we can
get you to a point where you are happy and you're doing everything you want to do?
We don't know quite yet.
That's what I would say.
I've got to focus and think I haven't wasted these last six months
because my legs are in a- the strength of my muscles in my legs are in a much better position, definitely.
And the thing about it is you got to think about your recovery.
No matter what you're doing, it's all about wherever you're starting
from, where you're starting line is, you got to think - if your strength is 70% of
what maximum is for you,
when you have a procedure or you may have an injury, you may go back down by 20% or 30%.
So basically, by having that kind of capacity, you're allowing yourself to have a head start.
This is what I'm really aware of
now - don't wait for the rehab.
Do the prehab because the rehab is going to be a lot quicker.
If you do the prehab- exactly.
And a lot of things that we're doing now, you're going to know about those again in that middle to late
stage after a procedure
if you do need a procedure. Dude, I'm psyched for the gym now, I'm psyched. Exactly.
If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be going to the gym three times a week
at six o'clock in the morning, I would say you're having a giraffe.
What we have to understand is to be a better runner,
you can also be a better athlete, and I believe that you've become a better athlete in the time we worked together.
So good work.
Thank you, mate.
So I suppose now I just need to kind of get my head around this a little bit more,
about kind of the mental side of it.
So I think I'm gonna go and have a chat with Anna, who's been getting over some of her own injury
problems of late.
Mate, I'm so sorry.
I just heard the update on your knee.
It sounds awful.
How are you feeling?
Uh, I knew there was something wrong.
Even though I was doing all the physio, it felt like there was still pain when there shouldn't be.
And then going for that scan, it kind of confirmed in some ways my worst fears
about what was going on inside my knee.
And I've got to be completely honest,
it's an absolute blow because I've been building up in my mind and I've said to you so many times, Haven't
I. Parkrun, beginning of next year, 1st of January?
And you know, now that date is just so, well, there is no date now.
Well, no. But also what I just said there is,
"How are you feeling?"
And I don't mean how's your knee feeling,
how are you feeling?
A struggle. Definitely. The last week.
I feel like whenever I'm, whenever I'm on my feet, I feel like everything is 20% below par.
And that's just not me.
We always said my first aim was to get, you know, a quality of life back.
So I was, I was comfortable.
A second aim was to get to maybe get to, uh, as we say, a jog,
uh, and then maybe hopefully get competing again, and it has been a struggle.
Um, I mean, you've had your knocks in the last year.
Well, yeah. I mean, I was training for Berlin Marathon and right at the start of the training block,
I tore my calf and was sidelined for 12 weeks.
And in the grand scheme of things, when you look at how long you've been out now, 12 weeks is nothing.
But to me that three months of not being able to run, it
really, really did hit me because I knew I had a target that I was aiming for.
And I felt like with every day that I wasn't running, you know, I was losing
sight of that target.
But for you, your target is so much bigger than running a Boston qualifying time at a marathon,
it's just to be able to not be in pain and discomfort and to have a quality of life again.
So I think, you know, it is very different.
And we're all different. We all deal with injuries differently.
Just being able to be out and active for me really helped.
So because I was able to cycle with the calf - me too, no pain
whatsoever, yeah, I can cycle,
you know, I could I could do the Tour de France.
Mmmm. No I couldn't. No.
Hey, I'm not want to shatter people's dreams, but
yeah, maybe take it easy.
So, yes, going out on the bike and being able to do that and actually being active
really helped. You know, there will be days where you feel really sad about it. Of course there is.
But I would say, feel all of the feelings about it because, you know, we
celebrate feeling happy, we celebrate feeling proud and stuff.
But when, soon as somebody's sad, people sort of think it's a bad thing to feel
sad. It's okay to feel sad.
It's just another feeling. Anyway, thanks, mate.
You're welcome.
You've picked me up.
I'll pick you up anytime.
Not, probably not physically.
I could try. Well, actually I have put on a few pounds.
I wasn't saying that. If you, if you need a lift, let me know.
Thank you so much for watching,
and for all of your support. I am desperate to be back running again.
But injuries do take their time.
And I'm so grateful to have the support of Manni, the Running Channel team, and you wonderful,
wonderful people, seriously, the Running Channel community just keeping me smiling.
And most importantly, keeping me motivated to get back to pounding those
pavements - or maybe pounding the grass might be better for me.
The goal is set. I need to put some more hard work in, but hopefully we'll get there in the end.
We'll see you next time, here on The Running Channel.