TWO PROBLEMS

The First problem hit me in my 40s after I had been running for fun for about ten years at Juhu beach. Our impatient milkman rang our doorbell early one morning, as usual. But when I jumped groggily out of bed and hurried to open the door, my right knee hit the corner of the chunky square-sectioned cot leg. The impact was hard and I winced and almost fell. From the next day the pain started and I couldn't even walk. Docs said tendons were damaged and recovery would be slow. For two months I had a buzzing gadget supposedly radiating ultrasonic waves rubbed over my knee.It left me with a warm sensation and didn't do much good. Twinges of pain stayed with me. I despaired and started to learn to live with it. I thought my running days were over. When I ran, the pain always increased.

The Solution came to me when I was lying on bed one afternoon, months later, and my gaze fell on the loft where the old rusting Claud Butler racing cycle lay deserted even since a I grabbed it off a stingy grandma who insisted on Rs 900/- for it though her NRI son had abandoned it long ago. Then I recalled some old words I had read about cycling: It doesn't impact the knee like running, which loads it with many times our bodyweight. It only flexes the leg. It's a good benign exercise - second best only to swimming! And I knew I liked the open road more than any pool of water. That was it! My romance with the Claud Butler was on. I'll skip over the months of scraping and painting the frame, assembling with imported Italian components and begging for original CB stickers from the remnant of the iconic manufacturers in the UK and then test riding it with proper toe clips and cycling togs. The real fun began when I proudly took it out on Mumbai's Western Expressway before dawn. A few kilometers at first, then slowly getting up to 20 then 40, then upping speeds to racing level and 40 kmph average for hours...It was a solid delight all the way, all under the pontifical eye of pal and coach, Ashok Khale. And the ecstasy continued through hundreds of kms of cyclo-touring across Kerala and Rajasthan. And the Knee Trouble? All forgotten and buried. I even got back to running on the beach again. And taking two stairs at a time over railway overbridges. But in spite of magic cycling relief, pounding barefoot over concrete was out. Because the old twinges returned. And I can't afford fancy NIKE or ADIDAS footwear. Oh, but it's a small price to pay, na?

The Second problem happened - I think - because of my carelessness. I had been away at Rajasthan for about a month. The day after I got back I was eager to be hit the beach running. I was too much in a hurry to do any stretches or squats to warm up. And I ran my regulation 10km. As I started off slowly, I remember, I got a twinge deep inside my left knee. (The same knee that had troubled me in the past) I thought it would ease off as I ran and it did!. But after my usual end-of-the-run-50 metre sprint the twinge was back. Not too much of a bother but it stayed! I found I couldn't rest my weight on my right foot. Then It got steadily worse over the next week. I couldn't even walk down any steps. My leg kept buckling under me. Stepping flat footed instead of on my toes, helped a bit . But it was hard going. Panic began to set in. Was my running days finally over? The question kept bugging me while friends told me I had been stupid to run at my age. A visit to an orthopedist at Shushrusha hospital go me nowhere. He was a 'hands-and-finger-man'. A blank on knees. He suggested I see Dr.Anant Joshi a reputed expert on knees. I phoned and fixed an appointment anyway, though I found he was booked up for 45 days! My cycling coach Ashok Khale knew him when he was starting out and was team doctor for the Maharashtra road racing squad, and that was good enough for me...


The Solution. Dr Joshi checked out my legs, heard my plaint, made me flex my knees a few times and smiled. "Don't worry" he said " There's nothing wrong. You can run till you die. Just do these exercises". Oh, they worked, and how! I repeated them religiously thrice a week for five weeks and all was fine again. Man, I can run faster then before. Not a twinge! Not a peep out of my knees. And maybe I'll soon be running a marathon like Abebe Bikila on asphalt - with bare feet! So here they are.......

Exercise No. 1: (Do while lying flat on your back or standing up)
Steps:-
a) Lock your left knee as tightly as you can.
b) Hold it locked and tight for a slow count of 1-2-3-4-5.
c) Release the lock slowly
d) Repeat ten times for ONE set (if 10 feels like too much, start off with 5 reps.)
e) Repeat steps (a) to (d) with right knee
f) Alternate between each knee for THREE sets each

Exercise No. 2: (Do while lying flat on your back with arms resting on each side)
First strap a weight of 1 kg each around each foot between heel and toes. These cloth bands with stitched-in weights can be wrapped tightly and locked into place with their velcro strips. They can be purchased at dealers of fitness equipment.
Steps:-
a) Keep your right leg stretched straight and raise your left foot to 45degrees.
b) Lock your knee hard for a slow count of 1-2-3-4-5.
c) Keep your knee locked and lower slowly till heel touches the floor.
d) Release the locked knee.
e) Repeat ten times for ONE set. (If 10 feels like too much, start off with 5 reps.)
f) Repeat steps (a) to (e) with left leg stretched straight and raising the right leg to 45 degrees
g) Alternate between each leg for THREE sets each.

Exercise No.3: (to be done lying down on your side)
Strap the weight on each foot as for Exercise 2.
Steps:-
a) Lie on your right side with both legs stretched out straight
b) Raise the upper left leg to an angle of 45 degrees
c) Lock the knee hard for slow count of 1-2-3-4-5
d) Keep the knee locked and lower the leg slowly till it is horizontal again
e) Release the locked knee.
f) Repeat ten times for ONE set. (If 10 feels like too much, start off with five reps.)
g) Roll on to your left side and repeat steps (b) to (e) with the right foot
h) Alternate between each leg for three sets each

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