As you can see from the above picture I have not recovered and am now walking with a stick. I find it strange because I do not get injuries but when I do they are serious. I volunteered in the Gambia nearly 15 years ago and everyone was getting bites from mosquitoes, I was bitten once but this got infected and ballooned up to the size of a golf ball and I still have a small mark on my leg from this bite.
My only other injury was just before the London 2010 marathon, I was on the running form of my life, the week before the marathon I was working supervising young people building a fence at a city farm in Bristol. We had to walk through a field with 2 randy Rams in it, to get to the field where we were building the fence. The young people thought it was funny winding up the Rams until the Rams started charging at them. I had to stand in between the Rams and young people, this meant that I was being rammed in my thighs by the Rams and it hurt, I strapped up my thighs for the Marathon, I got to 9 miles but I was in pain, so I walked and ran for 17 miles, I still managed 3 hours 23 mins.
My injury this time is very serious, I am trying to stay positive. I do find it ironic, that I have been a pain in the bum to my Mum, and Dad, Teachers, and Managers through the years and now due to my back I have a constant pain in my bum.
I am booked into see a specialist but it is likely that I will need an operation. My next marathon is in Vienna in April, I had already entered it, it is looking unlikely that I will be able to run 26.2 miles by then but it is something to aim for.
I do realise that having a constant pain and not be able to stand straight is not terminal, and that there are people who are dealing with much worse situations, such as my brother dealt with, he unfortunately died 8 years ago last Monday. So I am thinking positive and hopefully I will be able to run Marathons again and finish this challenge, in my Brothers memory while raising funds for a fantastic charity.
