Time for some thanks

I realised today that this weekend marks six months since I had my knee surgery. I went in for a relatively simple repair to my medial meniscal cartilage & ended up in for hours having a lot of my knee taken apart, re-shaped & rebuilt - a much more serious proposition.
I think its fair to say I don't do illness or injury well - there were times when I doubted that I'd ever return to the sort of fitness - or be able to do the things I used to, ever again. For months just walking was difficult - anything else just a dream.

But I'm oh so lucky - I know some fabulous people - people who helped, encouraged, bullied & comforted me - people who'd been through the same & worse - people who just wanted me to be able to continue living the dream. Not all of them do Blip, or even Facebook - but sharing this here seems the best way, today at least, to say thank you.

Cat always knew I'd be good again, Danny saw a chance to be fitter than me for a while, Alison Bloxham told me it would get better - she prodded me till it did, Jules Funnell put a lot of it into perspective. Darren Harris helped with the pain (& the laughs), Aisla taught me to walk again. Matt Hart, Steve B, Dave T - you all made me laugh & despite our years of climbing together made me forget it for a while. So so many people filled a dark time with laughter & joy.

This summer I've returned to work on the Tour du Mont Blanc - I've steadily got back onto the crags - I've hit a lot of hills - & slowly but surely I've begun to get my mojo back.

On Friday I was back in a boat with Elizabeth - able to use my knees to turn, able to look at finally booking my assessment. Saturday saw me mountaineering with Matt Hart - getting my guiding head on again - laughing, monkeying around & falling back in love with the high crags - and then today - after a day of house clearance stuff for family - without really knowing if I even had a plan - I found myself kitted up for a run & out the gate - legs moving & working without thought - running for the sake of it - nothing daft - six gently hilly miles round the lanes & fields - but the very act of what I thought was lost.

I'm a luck boy, with some great friends & even better I know it; I hope they know it too.

Now the next six months...