Skip to main content

Back to the Front!

It had to be there. Marsascala Front. The same front where I tried to run more than 5 weeks ago, but where after 5k the pain in my knee told me that I needed to take a long break.

I did. I had to completely shift my targets, halt my momentum. Missed out the LungBuster, missed out the Duathlon, and next Sunday will miss out the Half-Marathon. Sometimes, when your body says stop, a certain type of pain makes you listen.

After visits to the podologist and another adjustment to my new supporting soles, I felt at ease walking and my knee felt normal. So it was time to hit back to the road. A come-back, as the name implies, is a return to where you previously were. And this return is not only physical, it's deeper than that. So the place where I had to come-back had to be the place where I had left it off.

And today, at 3.30pm, I was back there: at Marsascala. I ran for 3k - I know, it's a short distance, but this time I have to take it slow and build it up again carefully. Anyway, it still felt new, different, energizing. I could enjoy the cold sea-breaze caressing my body, drying the small beads of sweat, while I treaded freely.

Three times in these past weeks I tried to use Hetfield's words and tell my knees "You will do, what I say, when I say", but they always replied with a painful "No". Today, I added "Back to the Front!". And their silent reply was golden. Me was back!

An old adage says "The night is darkest before dawn". Next Sunday, watching athletes run a half-marathon I wished to take part into but I'm unable to, will probably be the darkest part of this saga. But from next Monday, I'm hoping for a new dawn. The alarm is set: next Monday at 6.15am. I want to see the sun rise while I re-unite with an old friend - the runway strip.

Swim, Bike, Run - the tripod can once again be complete!

Comments

  1. Pawlu MizziFebruary 26, 2011 at 2:27 AM

    well done Mark. a slow recovery is better for lasting results!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I am dropping out of the Anti-ACTA protest

Like many avid internet users, I have followed with interest the debate about ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). After reading numerous articles, watched sensational videos, and discussed ad nauseam with friends, I have realized that what I have come across is a campaign hi-jacked by lies, myths and misconceptions as to rival Malta's misinformed divorce referendum campaign. I have to say that the videos on Youtube   got me worried. I quickly signed the petition, joined the Anti-ACTA groups, and prepared myself for a full-blown fight against the big-governments who want to intrude on our privacy and freedom of expression. Like our MEP Edward Scicluna invited us to do in the University debate last Wednesday, I did not try to understand the details of ACTA but rather saw who the players behind it were. But as usual, my logical instincts took over, and his call to not try to understand ACTA actually pushed me to read the text. And here's what I now know: ACTA is ...
19 comments
Read more

Who's the real monster?

I usually hate comparisons, but some very different reactions from the 'great unthinking' rabble do merit some analysis. In May this year, the notorious dog Star was found buried alive . A prima facie , this looked liked the most horrific case of animal cruelty, and is still considered so by some. The perpetrator was described by the sensitive and caring animal-lovers as a villain, a heartless monster, deserving of death, stoning, or even to be 'buried alive in the same manner'. But what did Mr. Vella actually do, according to the testimony heard in Court? Star was sick. It was shedding fur, and quite old already, and its owner did not afford the treatment. In trying to save some money from paying for the dog to be put to sleep and killed properly by vets, she gave it to Mr. Vella to have it killed himself. Nothing much to make people angry till now. Mercy-killing of very sick and suffering animals is widely done and usually a...
17 comments
Read more

The Church and its riches

The above pictures has lately been doing rounds on facebook. Posted comments refer to injustice, hypocrisy, and of the Church not practising what it preaches. It seems it has become a common trend to blame the Church for everything under the sun. Hitting at the Church is the new way of looking cool. But before joining the bandwagon of shares, likes and comments, let me try to analyze the points this photo is trying to make. The first one: the Church is immensely rich. Well, it could be, but what do most of these riches constitute? Most of the Church's "riches" are fixed immovable assets, of which most are important human heritage. They can practically never be sold. Let's just say that the Pope sells all his adornments (provided anyone wants to buy them), maybe even Michelangelo's Pieta, and once we're at it , yes, maybe he should also sell the Sistine Chapel and have it converted to apartments. Then what? Apart from making UNESCO and the rest of human...
10 comments
Read more