In 2008, I tore my right meniscus, a small ligament on the left side of the knee. I was 56 at the time. I simply over-trained one day and ran too far for the condition I was in and tore it, that injury shut down my running almost completely. I could still manage a half mile now and then but basically my running days were done.
In Jan 2009, I had an orthoscopic knee surgery done to remove the torn meniscus that was basically just hanging in place, not functioning and causing bruising of the nearby bones, so I elected to have it removed. Three weeks after that and getting the ok from my doctor. I braced everything up well and started doing some short jogs. About the same time, I found Danny Dreyer’s book on ChiRunning and started adopting his methods, paying the most attention to keeping my feet just below me on the returns and never in front and knees slightly bent. And as a result of following his pointers and ideas, I am now nearly back to 100% with my weekly mileages and planning on a half marathon in October. As a matter of fact, I’m in a 5 mile race this weekend.
I now feel I could do with out the bracing and elastic, but I continue to make them part of my regular gear just for the added protection. To sum up, I feel that this book is for real and full of good advice, my only wish is I would have found it in 2007!
Thanks Danny
Garry M
