Anne Keothavong's Blog by Anne_Keothavong

Hello! The US Open feels like it was ages ago now and I’ve had some time to recover and regroup after a very, very long summer. Two months on the road felt like an eternity! The result wasn’t what I wanted but it’s gone now and I’ve put it to the back of my mind. Since then, I’ve had some time at home - well two weeks actually and that felt like a luxury. During that time, I had a verruca frozen off on my foot and had another scan on my left knee, in between training sessions. Verrucas are common amongst people of all ages, especially if you’ve walked about in changing rooms at sports centres, but it’s not something anyone likes to talk about funnily enough! My verruca had been there for ages and I’d been told not to do anything about it because it wasn’t painful. But since I decided to not use my orthotics anymore, it became increasingly sore as there was less padding in my shoes.

Getting it frozen off wasn’t as painful as I thought it was going to be and I had a bit of a hole in my foot and a lovely blood blister as a result. Nice! Orthotics. To wear or not to wear? I only started using orthotics in my shoes two and a half years ago to help with the plantar fascia pain I was getting. It helped, but the orthotics would only last for two months at a time. I tried lots of different ones too, trust me! Also, because of the material of my tennis shoes, they would sometimes slip about too much which I found even more annoying. So, since the US Open, I decided enough was enough and I got rid of them. My knee and hip problems are there whether I wear orthotics or not and since I’m always sore, it doesn’t matter now if my feet are too. I’ve just got to suck it up and get on with it!

Now time for my knee. I think most active people have had some form of pain in their knees and I feel like I could be a specialist in diagnosing problems after all the issues I’ve had with my knees. Although I feel my knees and legs are stronger after ACL surgery because of all the rehab I did, the mechanics will never be the same. My left leg is my landing leg on my serve and there’s a lot of repetition involved in tennis, so my whole left side has taken a bit of a pounding over the years. Since coming back last year, my knee still flares up and I have problems with the fat pad.

I went for a scan to make sure there wasn’t anything else wrong and there wasn’t, so it’s just the same process. Rest, physio and more strengthening exercises. After a few days of this, I’m always better enough to get back out on the court, but it is frustrating. An injection to the knee could help but it won’t make the problem go away. Despite all the aches and pains though, I’m still prepared to put my body through it all and push myself further. It’s a challenge but nothing is ever straightforward, is it?