Can you take us back to the origin of your injuries and how they occurred?
I had tendonosis in both of my Achilles, which is a degenerative problem caused by running too much, a common practice in our sport. I fell over in the 1500m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and got a sore calf, which lead to plantar fasciitis. I later ran the Healthy Kidney 10K in New York with plantar fasciitis in my right foot and ruptured my plantar fascia in that race. My doctors think that it all stemmed back from that. They believe that when you have a problem somewhere in your foot it changes the mechanics of the way you run and plant your foot because you're trying to protect it.
That's how I developed the problem in my right Achilles which led me to put more weight on my left side and then I got a problem with my left Achilles. It just snowballed out of control. Come the Olympics in 2008, I was sleeping in two night splints and couldn't walk in the morning. I had to wait until the afternoon to go out on proper runs which was just shattering. After the Olympics, I decided that I wasn't enjoying running with that level of discomfort so I just stopped and took as much time as needed to get them right. It took 18 months.
What was the medical approach to correcting the issues?
I started with massage then shockwave therapy, which sends a pulse through to try and break down the scarring. I had cortisone injections, they blew out the sheath around the tendon to free it all up, then gave me blood injections, none of which did anything. That was the first eight months. Then I went to a specialist in Sweden and he said basically what I did with all the injections and everything was irritate it more and he told me to stop it all, which is basically what I did for the next eight months. It was a bit of a learning experience. Achilles injuries can be stubborn.
How frustrating was that whole process?
It was really tough because I had made a bunch of changes after the Olympics in Beijing, changing coaches and training groups. I wanted to get back into running, and, for me and my group, to show that I wasn't finished. Once you accept the fact that you're going to be out for a little while then you get focused on doing other things. I finished my university degree. I took up swimming and cycling as cross-training, which I had done previously with triathlons, and got to a pretty good level with that and enjoyed it. I gradually started to increase the running and wean back on the others and two years later I'm back on the circuit, so to speak, and running maybe not quite as good as I was, but I'm getting there.
Was there a point where you thought that maybe it was over?
One thing you know with Achilles injuries is that they get better if you give them time and I was willing to give them as long as they needed. The most frustrating thing is that you don't know when it is going to get better. The doctors can't give you a date. It's not like a stress fracture where you know that six weeks out you can run again. With an Achilles it can be six months then another 12.
When did you know that the comeback was taking?
May 2010. I went to Flagstaff and was able to string three weeks of about 120 kilometers, which is about 70 miles per week. That was more than I had done in 18 months, and my Achilles was fine. Plus I was out of my comfort zone, not being in Australia. I took a few risks in terms of the training and had no side effects. That was the first time that I felt like I had a chance.
You're 30 years old now. If this injury happened when say you were 25, would you have had the patience to approach it the way you have now?
Would I have been the same athlete? No, because in 2005 I won a bronze medal at the World Championships . If it would have happened before then it would have been very difficult for me to stay in the sport because I wouldn't have been at the level of sport that I am at now. Adidas has been fantastic. I signed with them in 2009 and I've been damaged goods since I signed the contract and they haven't questioned me once. If that injury would have happened when I wasn't established in the sport, it would have been very difficult because I wouldn't have had the support, both financial and access to physio and the things required to make sure you can overcome those injuries.
Now that you're back to training fulltime again, what is your long-term goal?
London 2012 is a big one. I want to run on the track through the Olympics. This year was about getting back into the sport at a certain level with no expectations, no pressure. The priority for the last four months has been being able to get up to 100 miles per week and then stay consistent at that mileage without having any problems. The base work is done to enable me to train.
On the road to 2012, where does next year's World Championship season fit into your preparation?
It is really important because it will be the first major championship that I run since the Olympics. They're in Daegu, South Korea which is in the same time zone as Australia from a commercial standpoint and TV-wise. It's important for my sponsors who want to see me back competing and myself personally, because I want to run at a high level. Yes, I won a medal in 2005, but I don't think I have run as well as I can. There are certain bits of ammunition that I can get access to that I haven't utilized yet.
Is there a race, a meet, or a point in the next season that you are point to as an indicator of how much progress you have made from a competitive standpoint?
I'll do a few domestic races in Australia in February, March and April. I'd love to go to the Boston Indoor Games and Millrose Games in New York, and then look for a longer race in April or May, whether it's on the road or on the track. That's always a good indicator of your level of fitness. You don't need to go there in your best shape, but you go with a great deal of work done and you get a sense of how things are going. Come May, you've got to have to work done and be ready to go.
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