Where did the 1^st 5 months of the year go? How has time flown by so fast when at times its also felt like ground hog day?

Well I guess that time will fly by when massive things are happening in life. Moving house, starting up a new business, my wife taking part in Clipper Round The World Yacht race, sadly losing my wife’s father have all been pretty massive events that have been all consuming at times. They have each created a rollercoaster of emotions that have distracted me from the groundhog day sensations connected to the recurrence of my old Achilles injury that has been lingering around since the end of 2017.

I’m not very good at being injured. Injuries get me down, especially the ones I’ve had before that I know take lots of patience and commitment to heal. Injuries challenge my belief in myself and my ability to achieve the goals that I’m working towards. The recurrence of this old injury has been particularly difficult to deal with mentally and physically so I’m just so grateful that I’ve had these massive things going on that have stopped me from becoming too self focused.

As it was an old injury I thought I knew what I needed to do to sort it out. So whilst it was frustrating to not be able to do any quality run work around Christmas I didn’t think it was a big deal as I’d spotted it early and I could focus on swim and bike improvements instead. However it didn’t respond how I’d imagined it should.

It crept up on me and then before very long was no longer that 5 minute irritant at the start of each day as I got out of bed and struggled to get off my heels until a bit of blood started flowing and the tendons warmed up. A 3/10 pain whilst running slowly became a 7/10 and despite lots of ice, manipulation, rest and strengthening work I couldn’t shake it off. So towards the end of January I decided that a 200 mile round trip for a consultation with my brilliant physio Adam Eustace of Modus Physiotherapy in Crowthorne was required. He gave me reassurance that it shouldn’t derail my season as biomechanically everything was pretty good but I needed to rest it before beginning the rehab road. So that’s what I did. No running for 3 weeks, then aqua jogging, eccentric calf raises and once I could hop for 30 secs pain free I could then begin the return to running. At this point I cancelled my early season duathlon race programme and whilst this was disappointing I was very clear in my mind that this season was all about being in tip top form for the 70.3 World Championships in September, so it was definitely the right thing to do.

The return to running was a real high point of my winter even if it simply meant one minute jog followed by one minute walk, ten times and then building very slowly from there. However, it wasn’t straightforward and after about a month of building slowly I got all the way back to running easily for 40 minutes when it went again. I was now back to square one, total rest followed by the same disciplined approach to rehab. Still no change and by end of April I was starting to panic a bit inside. Was I going to be able to run again? Adam had once told me that an Achilles injury is like a dog: its for life not just for Christmas and that it needs to be constantly looked after. Despite doing everything to keep it strong I was beginning to have real doubts about my body’s ability to bounce back again.

Taking the decision that I wouldn’t be able to compete in one of my favourite events, the European Middle Distance Championships in Denmark was really hard and it did begin to catalyse my doubts about whether I’d even be fit enough to take my place on the start line in South Africa in September. So I got back on the phone to Adam and through a few chats he both reassured me that there was nothing fundamentally wrong and also identified a possible hole in my rehab. The Achilles is supported by both parts of the calf (soleus and gastroc) and I had been focusing predominantly on exercises that would build the gastroc. Perhaps I’d still got a weakness in the soleus which was causing the continued pain? This seemed to make lots of sense and I couldn’t wait to get going. He set me some very specific exercises and every day after swimming I was straight into the gym to carry out these new strength building exercises. Within a week the Achilles was feeling very different with the key difference being that I didn’t notice it anymore. It felt normal for the first time in 5 months and I’d forgotten what normal felt like. No aches, no shooting pains, no stiffness, no tension. No nothing. It was brilliant. I got back to running and whilst this felt very wooden at first it is now beginning to feel natural again. Slow yes, but natural and I’ll take that for now.

Last week I managed to complete a 40 min run alongside my Coach Annie. Once we finished she told me that we’d begun at 8 min mile pace and finished the session with the last two miles at 7 min mile pace. This feedback gave me such a boost. I’ve now got 3 months to build a bit of speed before South Africa, but I’ve rediscovered my confidence as it feels like the Achilles is now healed. Sport like life can change so quickly. Its only a few weeks ago that I was beginning to question if I’d be able to compete at all this season and yet now I’m excited about pulling on my tri suit for the 1^st time this season. This weekend I’ve decided to give it a go at the Blenheim Sprint triathlon. I plan to take it very easy but am so excited to be taking part again and I really want to just go there to enjoy the sensation of being healed, healthy and getting my heart rate racing again. Most importantly I want to savour a well earned Erdinger Alkoholfrei as I cross the finish line. Cheers.