Light in the tunnel

The time had now come to about midsummer and everything started to look bright. I had done everything in my power to get over the injury. It went the right way. I felt virtually no soreness, but continued to take care of myself. Treatments and training programs were followed. I could do my full workout in physiotherapist centers, but refrained from running. On the other hand, I was able to walk briskly on the treadmill. Much was done to get here. What had worked was not known. It can be a combination of several things. The reason for improvements was now also less significant. The most important thing was the result.

Optimism flourished. At the same time, the corona pandemic was subsiding and I was vaccinated at the same time. I had come through the busiest accounting period of the year, and could enjoy the good weather in the Danish midsummer. Karin and I went on a relaxing inn stay, which we combined with a good concert and and in the near future scenic bike rides on mountain bikes, respectively.

At the time of writing, July 7, 2021, everything looks amazing. A few weeks ago I was ready to “sell” the Iceland Volcano Marathon. I had three versions of what could happen:

• Plan A – run the full marathon.
• Plan B – go a half marathon with Karin and enjoy the experience.
• Plan C – be a spectator to the race and have a good holiday.

In return, both Plan A and Plan Z for The Great Wall Marathon have always been to complete the full marathon.

I have just finished my course with the acupuncturist, just as the same has happened with the physiotherapy treatment today. I have also been able to put off home training and ointments. In a week and a half, I have stepped up from nothing to now 15 kilometers of running interval. I do not feel that I have been lying still for almost two months.

I am now in a fairly normal training course and will now stick to Plan A in Iceland in 17 days.

Life is Beautiful. But sometimes it has to be fought for.

Runningshoes

In the process, my wife, Karin, made me aware that I was walking crookedly on my left foot. Quite right, the shoes were immediately replaced with some new ones I had lying around. To be prepared, I had to order new shoes immediately. I have a wide foot and must have a size that is not negotiable in Scandinavia. Sometimes it has been hard to find the right shoes, but this time I found them quickly on the internet. I ordered three pairs that were delivered just three days later.

Shoe inserts

Even with new shoes, Karin was able to point out that I was going awry. I immediately sent an SMS to Jørgen “Pedal” from The Sole Specialist. Jørgen is Denmark’s largest capacity in specially made insoles. I’ve been using him since 2011.

Jørgen called back on Sunday morning and told that he had been booked two months ahead. However, he had an errand at the clinic at 12 o’clock, so if I was ready we could find a quick solution. The day’s planning was immediately changed so I could show up in Ballerup at noon.

A very thorough scan of my feet was done, just as I was filmed while walking. Jørgen was of the clear conviction that the actual injury was related to the inward-growing foot wart I had had surgery to remove. On a model of the skeleton of a foot, he described how things hang the same and affect each other. Jørgen is self-taught and has no major medical education. Still, I find that he was right in his theory. It all sounded very compelling.

Based on the scan, Jørgen started the task. The heel cap was raised compared to before, so the hopefully perfect post was ready in the computer. Three quarters of an hour later I went home with three molded inserts, specially made for my feet. That I bought three inserts is because I wanted to ensure that there were optimal inserts in my most used shoes.

Everything had to be tried

It was not only medical science that was consulted in the effort to get me over the injury. I went to a consultation with my physiotherapist. He also found tendonitis as likely. I was treated and instructed in a rehabilitation program. In the ensuing time, I was with several times to get my foot tied in sports tape.

My Chinese acupuncturist was now contacted again. Here a five week period was agreed where I was to come twice a week.

For a few weeks, I experienced no improvement and gradually became inconsolable. It was a little depressing, but I continued with rehab and treatments.

I called the private hospital to find out if it was possible to perform a scan or X-ray examination to make my diagnosis with certainty. My impression was that he found it unnecessary and he had made a definite diagnosis. However, I could get an ultrasound scan if I would pay for it. Again, he made me understand that I could just let go of a run. I lost the urge to consult him. He had been usable for the operation, but now no more.

A breakththrough

At the physiotherapist’s, I aired my frustration at not having been diagnosed with certainty. He was far more responsive. It was agreed that I should have a consultation both with him and someone else in the clinic. Here they would do an ultrasound scan.

The next day the scan was done and for the first time in the period I got something positive to cluster my hopes up on. Tendonitis was confirmed, but I was given the prospect that it was something I could easily get over. Maybe it would not take that long at all. The training program needed to be intensified. I could now see the light in the dark and went home happy.

Now it was time to act

In the sad situation, I was not sorry that the trip to the Icefjord Midnight Marathon in Greenland was canceled. At the same time, there was a strong fear that I might not be ready for the other two marathons of the year. A good two months to Iceland I saw as problematic, and the four months to China I was not comfortable with either.

I realized I could not sit with my hands in my lap and hope. Action was to be taken immediately. I went online and booked an appointment with my GP. The following Monday I called and booked an appointment at the private hospital with the doctor who had operated on my heel.

The following Friday I was at my own doctor. He thought the problem was that my wound crust had not fallen off. He took care of that. He recommended me to use blister patches over the next time. I subsequently found that this was not the answer to the problem.

Three days later I was in the private hospital. The doctor diagnosed me with tendonitis in the foot. He offered a blockade which I immediately accepted, but reminiscent of good results ten years earlier. The doctor suggested exercises, pain medication, treatment with foot file of the hard skin where I had been operated on, cream and rest. My expressed desire for marathon running during the year, he was not particularly responsive to. He expressed that I could just take a break.

The doctor is not the only one who has suggested I take a break. Well-meaning people think I can just come back to China the following year. They just did not understand what it was all about. For me there will be something called break. If it gets there, it will probably be called a career stop.

A significant status

My status as Mr. Great Wall, which has completed all the marathons on the wall is special and something I cherish. It will not be the same if I get to be the one who has run all The Great Wall Marathon except one. For 22 years I have been working to hold on to my status.

Without The Great Wall Marathon, I would not have doing sports at all and would probably have looked big on my lifestyle and my weight. I have struggled over the years when I have been in injury problems and have twice gone on an effective diet when it has been absolutely demanding.

It all has cost me a lot of time and large financial sums on equipment, treatment and travel for the family and myself. In addition, I have spent a great deal of time that could have been utilized for other purposes. It’s been worth it all. People who in misunderstood care believe that I can “just” skip a year have not been in my brain, in my mind, in my heart.

I am aware that there will be an end, but I would like to postpone it as long as possible. My goal of 25 years with The Great Wall Marahon is in power. I like to take more, but recognize that nothing lasts forever.

The marathons that disappeared

I competed in the Peoples Parken Marathon with a naive hope of completing. It hurt my heel at every step, but I was faster than the year before. A weight loss of 25 kilos could be felt in the positive way. I was actually reasonably confident until I had run 17 kilometers. It gave a rush in the foot and I had to first stop and, then stumble to the starting point. Here I hoped to get ready with some painkillers, water and banana. Then I tried another round.

It became a difficult lap, although I had recovered a little from the sudden pain. As I neared the end of the round I could admit that it did not turn into a marathon on this day. I cut a corner off and ensured with my GPS watch that I was going to stop at the finish line exactly at the half marathon. According to the rules of the race, it was approved. I got a medal and diploma, but that was to be considered a consolation prize.

Peoples Park Marathon 2021 was as big a success as the debut year. Everything went smoothly and the participants were happy. The only “hair in the soup” was my injury. However, I could rejoice that now that I was going to be injured on the third Saturday in May, it was not in a year where I was in China, but on my second home run.

Oh no

Just as everything looked positive, things went wrong. I woke up Sunday morning May 9th and had pain under my left heel. It was the same foot that had been operated on two months earlier, but now it was under the foot and therefore not at the wound.

It really hurt the heel and there were only six days to the Peoples Park Marathon. There was no time to consult science, so I took care of myself, hoping for improvement. However, that did not happen. The pain continued in the ensuing days.

In good training

Five weeks after the operation, I was able to lace up my running shoes again. The first trip was a little hard, perhaps most psychologically. It was therefore only quite short. Already two days later it went forward.

It was great again to get started running and it went fast forward. Before long, the shape was at the same level as before the operation.

Ready to Peoples Park Marathon

I could now focus on the next goal. The Great Wall Marathon was postponed until the autumn, so I had again arranged Peoples Park Marathon to run on 15 May. The number of participants was greater than in 2020. This is partly due to more relaxed assembly rules and partly due to increased interest in the positive experience in the debut year.

My training went well and everything was fine.

Four marathons in sight

2021 was to be the year I had to run no less than four marathons. Just three weeks after Peoples Park I was going to Greenland and Run the Icefjord Midnight Marathon and in July it would be the Iceland Volcano Marathon in Iceland. At the end of the year, it would be the Chinese race in September. However, it should turn out that the Greenland trip was canceled, as the corona pandemic was not completely under control.

From good training to brak

Despite the sore heel, I was in reasonably good running training, just as I was very active in the physiotherapist training center. However, it was useless to believe that the heel was healed by itself. I had to get under the knife.

The operation went well. I was subsequently sewn and was obviously sore. I had to go with sandals as my foot could not be in a shoe. When I went in the shower it was with the foot in a wallpapered plastic bag so the bandage did not get wet. After a week, I started going to the gym again. It was, of course, with limitations, but I did the exercises I could.

After three weeks with the foot bound, it was time to get to the hospital and have the stitches removed. Everything looked fine. However, I had to wait a few more weeks to run.

An inwardly growing foot wart

At the hospital I was told the cause of my bad heel. It was an inwardly growing foot wart. A foot wart occurs when the virus penetrates the body through tiny wounds and tears in the skin and causes hard protein to form on the top layer of skin. While warts on other parts of the body usually grow outward, foot warts usually grow inward as they are pressed into the soles of the feet when walking. With that explanation, five months of flaws made sense.

Back to the heel problem

The soreness in my heel continued for the rest of 2020 and into the ensuing year. A piece the size of a big coin on the side of the heel was hard. Especially in the center of the area it was extra hard.I did not go to the doctor. I was sure to be sent on in the system, and in a time of corona pandemic, I was sure that my little problem would not be prioritized in the public system.

Podiatrist

In late January, I visited a podiatrist. She found that it was a keratinized skin that she was pruning. It should turn out that it was not the diagnosis. When I did not notice any change, I visited her again. She had to admit this time that it was probably not a keratinized skin. She had to admit that she did not know what we were up against.

Private hospital

With the realization from the podiatrist, I went straight home and called a private hospital. It was noon on a Friday. I was offered a prior medical examination Monday morning. It could not go faster. I immediately said yes.

Operation

The doctor could not say for sure what was wrong with my heel. Whatever it was, it could be operated on and one would subsequently be able to analyze oneself until the answer. I immediately said I, and got an appointment 10 days later.

The truth came out

Whether I wanted to or not, I had to go on the bathroom scale. My worst suspicions were surpassed. I weighed 113.4 kg. I made the decision immediately. I was going to lose weight. The date was November 15, 2020.

Christmas month on a diet

It seems almost unnatural to start a diet up to the month of December, when all the sweet things tempt weak souls. That’s what I did. There were temptations, but I could master me. There were some Christmas lunches, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve where I allowed some good food and drink. I just made sure not to overdo it and to stick to food rather than candy. I came through Christmas and New Year with a little weight loss as a result. So it could be done and I felt no loss. In fact, it turned out that all the bad habits I had had for years did not become something I was going to miss. On the contrary, I began to find the past treats too repulsive.

Week by week

It became a sport for me to lose weight. Every kilo became a victory for me. I made sure to eat what I needed and no more. I got a big hang of mineral water with soda and citrus. I drank them many of the following months. There was only quite a bit of wine and only for special occasions. I did not touch beer and stronger spirits at all for more than five months. After that, it was also only quite rare that I let myself be tempted by these drinks.

If you can dream it, you can do it…

I sat down to lose 30 kilos. Setting such a big goal in view was to me like running a marathon. The goal is almost unnatural, but my ability to believe in myself, be focused on the goal and show stubbornness also proved to be viable here. Week by week, I could see my weight steadily going down as I went on the weight Sunday morning.I think it was the same willpower that many years earlier made mine stop being a heavy smoker from one moment to the next.

The goal was reached

The sub-goal was to lose 25 kilos in half a year. That was the date on which The Great Wall Marathon was to be held. I succeeded. So did the ultimate goal of losing 30 kilos before midsummer. On June 17, the weight came down below the magical 83.3 kilos. Now it’s about keeping the style for years to come. Here the future must show whether it is possible.