It’s been a couple of months since my last post so I figured it’s time for an update on my rehab from the stress reaction in my femor.

Weeks 1-2

For the first 2 weeks I was fully off my left leg to let the bone heal. So hopping around with crutches no weight bearing on left leg. Anyone that’s had to use crutches before would know this, I wasn’t aware but quickly discovered how much of a pain it is!

For one, it’s very tiring on your shoulders and arms so you can’t go very far on them and it’s slow going. And two, it’s hard to carry anything, want a takeaway coffee? Nope. Want to carry your dinner to the table? Good luck.

Weeks 3-4

I originally thought it would only be two weeks on crutches, however after reviewing with the sports doctor he decided I needed to continue using them. This was pretty depressing as I was flying up to the Gold Coast the next day to volunteer at the Commonwealth Games. On the positive side I changed from no weight bearing to partial weight bearing which made it much easier getting around.

Gold Coast was great fun. I stayed in an Airbnb room in someone’s apartment in Surfers Paradise to keep costs down. I was a bit unsure on how this would work out but the couple I stayed with were so welcoming and friendly to chat with, glass of wine on arrival, resort style accommodation, close to the buses and light rail, always offered to use the electric reclining seat. It really made the trip so much better, I even came back to my clothes taken off the line and folded for me one day!

Volunteering at the athletics was a great experience. My role was Field of Play Marshal which involved checking that people had the right security accreditation to come through various access control points. We rotated around different points including athletes seating, media areas on the side of the track, officials lounge, medal ceremony preparation and athlete post event areas.

I got to see some great moments like Kurtis Marschall coming out of post event after winning Gold in Pole Vault and putting his medal around his mum and seeing the South African athletes go crazy with the surprising Gold and Silver defeating Yohan Blake in the Men’s 100m!

Weeks 5-6

Back in Melbourne and back to work after the nice distraction of Gold Coast. I saw the sports doctor again and was given the OK to walk around the office and home without crutches but continue to use them for longer distances. Essentially starting the transition off them.

I could also now start some non-weight bearing hip exercises. I saw Cara at Pure Physio who put together a rehab exercise program for me which also included walking in the pool. I would just walk laps forwards, sideways and backwards in the warm water pool.

Weeks 7-8

Very nice to get off the crutches after having them for 6 weeks. My walking isn’t the best in terms of that my left leg has weakened and lost muscle from not using it for a while. So not walking too far, just daily activity to and from the car, getting lunch, short walk around the block, etc.

My rehab exercises progressed and walking in the pool changed to pool running and light resistance on the spin bike. A nice change since just walking in the pool is pretty boring. Feel like I’m doing something a bit more productive with pool running and small amount of swimming with a flotation belt on so I can mainly just pull myself along with my arms.

No cross country racing for me this year which is pretty sad – it was one of my goals to focus on the XCR season. However it has been good to come along and participate as a course marshal. I still enjoy being involved and cheering everyone else on!

Week 9

As of writing this today I’m in week 9 since the injury diagnosis. I met with Cara again today and I’ll have a revised program which progresses the glute/hip exercises further and continue the spin bike and pool running for the next few weeks. The rehab exercises are still just body weight but putting a bit more weight through the leg with more single leg exercises.

I’m expecting that in 3 weeks time that I’ll begin a walking program. At the moment I’m just walking as daily activity and increasing it little bits and find my walking is improving (I’m not as slow anymore).

Not long after starting the walking program I should move to doing some run/walking which is exciting. It’s looking like I might get to start some run/walking some time in June depending how everything goes.

Longer term plan

The predictions at this point are approximately 3 months to properly complete a run/walk program.

After that I return to Chelsea’s coaching with a slow and progressive return to running. I may not even do any proper training sets until March next year which hurts to think about. I don’t like the thought of that but I’d like it even less if the injury was to reoccur, it makes sense to be cautious coming back.

Next goal XCR 2019?