Early start to the day, up and out by 6.30am, going early training? Early coaching? Nope, up to Windsor and the Princess Margret Hospital for an MRI on my lovely (slightly mis-shaped) knee.
An improtant day, well the results in a few days are more important!
Just another "Fun" outing since my freak accident on August 9th. The local newspaper ran an update on my knee this week (must be a slow week for news) and I thought I'd pass on the story and keep you guys updated. Here's a few bits...
Walker fights back from the brink
Dislocated kneecap, torn knee ligaments, season over. Adam Walker's athletics future was looking pretty bleak as he lay in agony on the pole vault runway at Eton.
Foremost in Walker's mind is trying to return his knee to full working order. A full 15 weeks after it happened, he is coming to terms with just how badly the joint is and is finding it as much a mental battle as it is physical.
"I have been having two to three hours a day rehab and now the injured leg is as strong as the other one. My quads are stronger than they were before the accident.
The injury has left Walker's knee severely weakened, and its vulnerability was highlighted last week when he slipped slightly on a wet floor and damaged his anterior cruciate ligament - the front ligament in the knee.
"I'm so gutted," he says. "I have been really careful but it looks like I have now overstretched or partially torn the ACL. It has put me back about three weeks to a month and my limp is back.
"You can't fix it quickly which is frustrating and there's no chance of me having an indoor season now. I'd be more upbeat if I thought I could be jumping by the time of the outdoor season. It's 15 weeks since I did it now. For 11 weeks it was improving so quickly, getting better day by day. But the thought has popped into my head: 'What if I don't get better?'"
Walker is keen to avoid the fate of one of his friends, who suffered a career-ending injury at the same venue eight years ago and still limps.
But he can at least see a silver lining.
"I didn't land on my head so I am happy about that but they thought I had broken my leg, that my tibia had snapped. I was happy to see there was no blood."
It was an unhappy end to what had been Walker's best season, setting a new personal best of 4.65m in Dublin and also becoming the Sussex senior champion. He intends to return to the Irish capital, believing the size of the competition and the crowds helped him reach that PB.
"I would find it a lot easier to retire after five metres," he admits.
"To clear that is a question of technique and belief. I cleared 4.65 in Dublin and thought, 'Brilliant, I must have scraped it'. But my coach said I did it easily, so I had a pop at 4.75 and in three attempts I got lots of height but came down on the bar."
Anyway guys, as I lay inside the MRI tunnel this morning (a cross between a building site and standing next to a music speaker experience) I thought, this is rubbish & wondered why I didn't feel worse? Sure I have bad days & I'm angry about the knee, but mentally I'm positive, working round the problem and focusing on getting it better. Slowly the body is getting the idea and catching up! Have to mention helping "mini-me" sportspeople is a massive help aswell! Hopefully YOU can avoid some of the injuries that I have had and learn from my mistakes. The mind is the most powerful Sports Performance tool...
"BECOME STRONG IN MIND & THE BODY WILL FOLLOW"
Adam Walker
THE SPEED FREAK
PS: IF YOU WANNA CHECK OUT THE FULL STORY ALONG WITH SAD PHOTO'S OF ME! HERE IS THE LINK BELOW (copu & paste it into your browser).
http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/crawley/sport/Walker-fights-brink/article-503354-detail/article.html
LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR DOING IN YOUR SPORTS AND ABOUT ANY INJURY WORRIES??
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