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It's All Over
Hey Legends!
Sorry to hit you with the dramatic email subject.
But I thought I'd share with you some personal news today.
If you read this weekly founder newsletter on the regular, there's a good chance you know I've battled with a knee injury in recent times that's brought my running to a complete hault.
9 scans. 4 physios. 1 sports doc. 1 surgeon. 1 surgery.
I had surgery around 4 weeks ago to finally get to the source of the problem.
After the surgery the surgeon came past quickly and said to me;
"I'll explain everything in two weeks. For now, do absolutely nothing."
"I'll explain everything in two weeks. For now, do absolutely nothing."
From what was meant to be a 20 minute exploratory procedure, turned into a 2 hour surgery.
I didn't think anything of it.
I did see him two weeks later.
He looked really flat when I hobbled in. And he's never been one to shy away from telling me how it is.
He didn't ease in to it. His first words:
"Look. Robbie. You're probably not ever going to run again."
I felt like I was sinking into the floor.
It wasn't until they went in with a camera did they actually find the extent of the damage. I'd upload a photo here, but you don't want to see that.
It's grim.
Large parts of cartilage floating around, and a crater sized gap in the cartilage where you can see straight into the bone. It's bone on bone basically.
He said to me, 'Have you been in an accident? Because this is the sort of stuff we see in high impact accidents.'
I haven't.
It is highly likely the result of playing football for 20 years. Worn out over time, but in a very dramatic and confronting way.
It's not a great diagnosis for a 31 year old. Or for anyone, really.
Further damage would result in an entire knee replacement, and you just can't be doing that at my age. A metal knee so early on would not be good.
So.
For a couple of days I had a complete identity crisis.
I can't run?
How can I possibly 'run' a running brand if I can't run.
It hit me hard.
But when I dug deep, and did some real thinking I came to this conclusion.
Some of the most important and influential people in my sporting and athletic endeavors were not athletes.
They were coaches. They were support staff. They were managers. They were my parents. They were physios, trainers, timekeepers, supporters and event organisers.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought about how I could use this in a positive way.
To have further impact on the people around me in a positive way. To be the influential figure and supporter to someone else.
To build a community.
I might not be the person anymore crossing the finish line in a 100km race. But I'll be the person cheering them on.
And through Runly, making the running experience better. Making it safer. Keeping runners hydrated. Building a community.
It's a kick in the guts.
But in many ways, this will open up opportunities for me to make even more impact.
NEW PRODUCT IMMINENT
In a much happier change of pace, I can confirm that we are releasing a new product.
The first reveal will be on September 30th.
I've been working on this product for a long time - more than a year. Many of you have been asking for something like this for a while.
I can't reveal anything just yet. But I'm bloody excited about it.
I'm thinking about revealing it first in our Team Runly Strava group. If you're not in there, you can join it here to see it first.
Stay tuned.
