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This is not the log of each workout I do, but rather a higher level summary of what's happening with my training overall. For a detailed log, I use [[SportTracks]] and publish to [[Dailymile]] at http://www.dailymile.com/people/JonathanS.
==June 2016==
My June mileage was extremely low at only 117 miles, but is that gloomy number hides some optimistic indications. When I last updated this blog I was due to see a surgeon, with the hope that they would be able to fix my meniscus and I'd return to normal. After chatting to the surgeon, I decided to continue with a conservative approach which seems to be working quite well. Having had a protracted period of very low mileage, I feel that my knee is gradually improving. During the last couple of weeks of June I've been gradually increasing my distance, running three times a week, with a week of 11 mile runs, and then 13 mile runs. I've started to use a [[Treadmill Desk]] as my knee seems to do much better with movement than it does when I'm sedentary, and I'm walking more to get ready for my trip to the Kungsleden in September. For those interested in the details, there were several reasons why I declined surgery.
# The surgeon did not indicate that there would be a small part of the meniscus that would be removed, or that the surgery would probably result in a full recovery. If I'm likely to have impaired function either way, then the conservative approach seems more appropriate.
# The MRI suggests that the tear is worse on the counterpart of the meniscus but extends through to the inner edge. The proposed surgery is to remove only the inner part of the meniscus, and I'm concerned that this will lead to an increased stress in the remaining damaged outer edge.
# While I clearly have a torn meniscus, I'm not completely convinced that this is the source of my problem. Many people have a torn meniscus that is asymptomatic. During the manipulation tests, the doctors are able to elicit a distinct pain response from the damaged meniscus, but this is in a quite different area of my knee to my ongoing pain. The meniscus tear is in the posterior (rear) part of the meniscus, but my pain is further forward. The MRI did it detect some unexplained edema (fluid) in the patella (kneecap).
# My knee problems have been going on for a long time, but the problem is lessening very gradually. It is not inconceivable that the meniscus will heal itself over time. Even the meniscus that has no blood flow can heal through the synovial fluid.
# While the risk of needing intubation is relatively small, the consequences are quite a dramatic and could be life-threatening.
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