… So against my advice, and just a few weeks after getting relief from the multi-level disc bulges and unstable spondylolisthesis that had been a constant in his life for the previous 4-years, Joe runs the Sydney marathon. On a stinking hot September day he runs the 42km and to my surprise his back pain does not come back!
A few days after the marathon I see Joe in the clinic. “Ok Joe, so you have ticked a marathon off your bucket list. Now lets get serious about a rehab program that keeps you painfree for the long term.”
“No chance!” Says Joe. “I am running 60km in the Blue Mountains this weekend.”
And so it went. From crippling back pain in August to a marathon and a 60km run in September, to an 80km run (Bondi to Manly) in October.
Following the Bondi to Manly run two things happened that gave some insight into Joes psyche.
- On the Bondi to Manly run, with 10km to go and in a world of pain, Joe realised that 80km is just 4km short of a double marathon. So he ran straight through the finish line at Manly and ran another 2kms before turning around and running the 2kms back to the finish line again!
- By the time I saw Joe after his double marathon epic he had already booked himself in for the ‘Kosciuszko 100’. A 100km race up and down the snowy mountains in the middle of summer.
I rapidly realised that trying to talk Joe down was a waste of my breath so my role now became one of pre race preparation and post race damage control.
In spite of this punishing racing and training schedule the most remarkable thing was that Joes unstable spine with multiple levels of disc bulge held together throughout.
Next up the Kosiuszko 100 and the race that nearly broke him …..
