It’s five months since my life was re-arranged by a Fiat Punto, while it is getting back towards normal, but is still some distance off, but still infinitely better than it might have been.
Life rather feels dominated by rehab work – near weekly trips to the physio and at least an hour a day of strengthening exercises and stretches, there is no alternative though – if I want to regain full fitness and range of movement I have to do them, and slowly, very slowly I am improving.
Running is still hard work, after three months of a relatively sedentary lifestyle my leg muscles had largely forgotten about the faster forms of pedestrianism and they grumble about every run when I start. But the running is progressing – I am coping with ‘faster’ sessions again – this week’s was a mile at just under 8 minute mile pace. At full fitness that would be around 6 to 6:15 pace, but it is real progress.
The distances I run are increasing – my long run is now over 5 miles and will hopefully get up to around 10k this week. Hills are becoming bearable – I toiled up to the top of Crystal Palace on Friday, but it was easier than Greenwich Park 10 days before. The views from the decaying remains of the burnt out Palace were surprisingly clear, the Sphinx on the way down always seems a mixture of slightly surreal and delightfully familiar, a trip to the Park isn’t the same without seeing one of them, and a little further down the hill, but no less surreal are the rotting remains of the 1970s Concert Bowl, once a stage for the likes of the Beach Boys, Lou Reed and Eric Clapton but now dangerous and unable to be used.
And finally ….. ‘grazing’ in the dappled shade, I spotted another Lewisham Natureman stag escaped from its home borough, outside the former entrance to Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke.
Running Past 
I hope the driver was prosecuted… Glad to hear about the progress
Thanks for your concern. The legal process is a slow one, for reasons that I don’t really understand – it seems like an open and shut case to me. My focus is just on getting better.
Your rehab pace is my dream pace in “full fitness.” 🙂
But I guess that’s the Joy/joy of running, we all do it at our own pace and one person’s speed session is another’s recovery run. I am just pleased to be running again, while I want to get faster and back to the speed I had in January, it is going to be a struggle and I have to be patient. If someone had said this is where I would be 5 months down the line when I was lying in the road, I would certainly have taken it. Glad to see that you are running again around your new home – sounds a great place to live.
injuries are a nightmare for most of us, just the denial of prevention from doing and expressing what we enjoy to do on a daily basis
your recovery is, an inspiration for us all who take the daily for granted
Thank you – that’s really kind of you. I guess most of us would be the same in similar situations if we active before, we want to stay that way and not give up. I have tried to stay positive throughout the process and focus on recovery – I think that’s been key to getting where I am now.
Great post – your obvious love of life and lack of bitterness is quite humbling
Thank you. There is no point being bitter about – the driver didn’t mean to do it and the injuries were such that I could always see a way forward. I could always see a that there would be a day when normality would return. Had they been more serious it might have been different.
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