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.
