Background

25SEP10

Playing rugby for Ashbourne 3XV versus Kegworth, I turn my left ankle in the first half. I continue playing as I am enjoying taunting the full back who was getting above his station as it was apparently his 18^th birthday. I eventually give in and come off in the second half. No swelling as such, just a little sore.

02OCT10

My ankle seems to have recovered so I find myself playing for Ashbourne 2XV against Bakewell. We score early and Bakewell restart. A team mate gathers the ball and I support him. Unfortunately, the entire Bakewell pack is there next before anyone else from Ashbourne and we both get flattened. Somewhere under the weight of the other 9 men, my left ankle is turned again. After a bit of magic sponge I continue but after going over on my ankle a further three times I become more of a hindrance and am substituted. My ankle soon swells up to a considerable size.

Within two weeks, the pain and swelling has gone but the ankle feels weak so I settle for watching from the sidelines. For now.

JAN11

I’m determined to play again and so embark on a quite intensive training programme to try and get fit again. My ankle feels weak but not painful and I am hoping a bit of training will strengthen it up. There is some improvement initially but not enough to return to playing.

MAY11

Over time, the use of my left ankle gradually deteriorates and I give in and go and see the doctor. I can sense he is annoyed that I’ve have taken so long to get it looked at but he reassures me by saying that he would have probably told me to wait this long anyway to see if it would sort itself out. I get referred to the physio department at Derby hospital. They struggle to find what is wrong (and therefore a solution) so refer me back to the GP after just two sessions.

I eventually get an appointment for an ultrasound scan which shows up nothing so back to the GP.

Another 8 week wait and I get an appointment for a MRI scan.

Another few weeks and I eventually get an appointment to see a consultant who tells me I need ligament reconstruction. He gives the impression that my problem is quite trivial and waffles on with a seemingly rehearsed speech, covering the options and explaining the risks etc. I just want him to cut me open and fix it so I consent to the op and go away to wait for a date.

JAN12

I’ve relocated to Redditch and when I eventually receive an appointment for pre-op I decide to keep the appointment, rather than try and switch it to a hospital more local, as I don’t want to be re-referred and have to go through the whole process again. I am not sure what this appointment is for but the actual op can’t be too long after it. I turn up and, amongst other things, have blood taken and pulse and blood pressure measured and even an MRSA test. Eventually I am sent away with an op date of 18MAR12. I’m annoyed that it is again so long to wait but I’m at least glad that I have a date.

My plan at this stage is to get fixed and then play one more game of rugby. That way, I can feel as though I am giving up on my terms and not because of the injury. The consultant said I could be playing again in six months so it is possible I might make the beginning of the 12/13 season. I decide to join the gym, which is handily just 5 minutes away, to give myself a head start on fitness. Dan, the instructor conducting my induction, was interested in my case as his promising football career was cut short by an ankle injury. He gave me a programme of brisk walking and a weights circuit for the upper body.

18MAR12

An operation on a Sunday? Must be trying to cut the waiting lists. I needed to get the train up to Derby as I obviously will not be able to drive back home afterwards. Unfortunately, I had to report to the ward at 7am and so had to come up the previous night and stay in a hotel. Back in Derby on a Saturday night and I can’t go and have a drink!! Sat in the ward I was feeling quite good. The guy opposite was having a full hip replacement which put my poxy ligaments into perspective. In fact, I was looking forward to the anaesthetic and having a good kip. After the drawn out process to get this far, the hospital staff on the day were superb. I was back in Redditch with my feet up in front of the telly by 4pm. The cast needs to be on for 6 weeks.

25MAR12

Hobbling around the house, I manage to stub the little toe on my right foot, making getting around even harder. I am one clumsy individual.

29MAR12

I catch the train back up to Derby to have the temporary cast removed so they can check the wound and put on a more permanent one. As they take it off I have some irrational fear that my foot is going to fall off. I feel hot, nauseous and almost faint. I recover and have a nice Saintly red cast applied. The consultant is on holiday in four weeks’ time so I have to have this on for 5 weeks, so seven in total. Gits.

07APR12

Easter weekend and I’m back in Southampton. Saints at home to Pompey. A popular game so I have to rely on Wiz to get me a ticket; unfortunately it’s in row NN! Getting to my seat is some workout!!

09APR12

Despite Saturday’s late equaliser, I’m looking forward to the away day at Palace. It’s a cold, drizzly day and, as we emerge from East Croydon station, my left crutch slips on a drain cover. My left leg goes out instinctively to prevent me falling and my immediate fear is that I’ve damaged the cast. I get over the adrenaline rush and continue but then someone points out to me a more pressing issue than the state of my cast. As my foot went out, my big toe got caught first and got bent under, ripping the nail out of its bed, leaving it hanging by just a few millimetres of skin. Someone gets dispatched to a chemist but its Easter Monday and not much is open. I find myself sat outside Starbucks with a gradually increasing pool of claret gathering on the pavement.

Rich has his boy with him. Joe has his Nintendo DS with him. The battery cover is broken so Joe carries a roll of sellotape with him for when he needs to change batteries. I patch myself up with Starbucks napkins and Sam’s sellotape and crack on to Wetherspoons. Strangely, maybe because it’s so cold, I’m not yet feeling too much pain. Several lagers in quick succession certainly help. Eventually, the guy returns from the chemist with bandages and ibuprofen so I take myself off to the toilet to patch myself up properly.

We get a cab to the ground but Selhurst Park is cramped and I spend the whole game stood on one leg. I think we won. Afterwards, there is no chance of a cab so I have to hobble to the station.

10APR12

Back in Redditch, I take myself to A&E at the Alexandra. Any complaints I may have had about Derby hospital are forgotten as this place is shocking!! I was expecting a few hours wait but in the end they kept me waiting for over 30 hours, just to bandage me up. They even lost the toe nail that they were going to use to protect my toe as the new one grew back. I also find out that my toe is broken.

24APR12

I make a ground breaking decision. It would be foolish of me to play rugby again. It would only take me to step in a divot to wreck my ankle again so I decide I need something else to do. I think about golf but it sounds expensive. I need a specific challenge, something to aim for; otherwise I’ll give up the second it gets boring. Thinking about my six month target I start doing some research and come up with the Great South Run. So, £40 later, I’m in.

29APR12

Back in Southampton for the final game of the season. Learning my lesson from the Pompey game, I have a seat in the front row. The Saints win promotion back to the Premier League with a thumping 4-0 win over Coventry. Unfortunately, I remember very little as I slipped on some spilt beer in the concourse just before the game and reopened the wound on my toe, resulting in spending the whole game in total agony.

03MAY12

I return to Derby to have the cast removed and thankfully there is no irrational fear about my foot falling off. My ankle is very stiff though and initially I cannot put any weight on it. I am feeling a lot of relief, however, that I am making progress. I am wearing a brace but by the time I get back to Redditch, I am able to put some weight on my ankle. I have to wear this for 6 weeks; there is no specific physio plan but I can return to the gym and do anything that is in a straight line that won’t risk the ankle ie bicycle, to get the ankle working again. Certainly no running. I notice my left leg has withered away to virtually nothing and I cannot yet get a shoe on, more because of my toe than my ankle.

07MAY12

Back to work and also back to the gym to see Dan. I had popped in occasionally while I was in cast to try and keep things going but it wasn’t easy. Dan keeps things similar to what I was already doing but gets me on the bike to bring some CV work back in.

14JUN12

I reckon I’ve managed to get to the gym maybe twice a week since the cast came off but there has been no real structure to it. Today, I am allowed to go without the brace so it’s a bit of a milestone and I can start to think properly about the GSR. There is a plethora of advice online about training programmes and so on but, looking at the time available, I decide on an 8 week beginner programme, followed by an 8 week intermediate programme and think I could manage to do the race in 7 minutes per mile. Not sure why, just sounds right.

02JUL12

Due to start running today but ankle doesn’t feel ready. It’s still weak and I don’t have much movement in it. I revise my plan to a 12 week programme and 8 minutes per mile.

06AUG12

The ankle is feeling better but still not 100% so I decide not to run just yet. I’m going on holiday anyway so revise my plan again to a 10 week programme.

15AUG12

Whilst in the Highlands I did a bit of hill walking and, with the aid of some decent boots, feel quite confident about the ankle. Its still nowhere near right but workable. Back in Redditch I am forced into jogging across a road by some unforeseen traffic and, despite having to concentrate really hard to pick my left leg up, I felt okay. I therefore decide that I am going to begin training on Monday no matter what. I go back to researching to finalise my training programme. There are a lot of options out there but they generally follow a similar theme. I want to keep it simple so settle on short runs Mon/Wed/Fri to generally build up my CV fitness and a long run on Sunday to gradually build up my endurance. The mid-week runs will initially be 3 miles at one minute slower than my goal pace and the long runs will begin at 4 miles, adding a mile a week, at two minutes slower than goal pace. As I progress I hope to increase the mid-week runs to 4 miles and also include a brisk run at goal pace and then one minute faster than goal pace. I get in touch with an old Army mate, Major Robbie Hicks, for some advice. He’s a sub 3 hour marathon man (he weighs less than my sweat towel so should be) and obviously knows me (well, me from 4 years ago) so should be able to add some human advice to all the online research I’ve done. He reckons 8 minutes per mile is a reasonable target for a fat lump like me.