The whole point of training is to push your body and make it stronger. Occasionally, you will push too hard and some part of your body responds by giving up on you. For me, the miles of flat road training required for the Anglo Celtic plate ruined me and I ended up with plantar fasciitis and a tear in my spring ligament. Being told you can't run for six weeks when you are four weeks away from your A race (the West Highland Way) is a bit of a killer. However, as someone said to me (wish I could remember who it was) "it's only a tragedy if it matters in five years time"!
There are two ways you can deal with injury - be a pain in the arse and harp on about it all the time, or accept it and try and find something else to do. I hope I went for the latter approach. I will admit to one day of pretty impressive public self pity combined with the worst mood ever. Apologies to everyone I work with.....! If you think I was concerned about six weeks with no exercise, my work colleagues were terrified at the prospect.
I discovered that cycling was one of the few things that didn't aggravate my foot. I began commuting to work on a borrowed mountain bike. As a runner - the top of the range shoes really won't make you faster, but as a cyclist, a good bike will. I was getting annoyed at being passed by men who were clearly not as fit as me - 'MAMILs'. The competitor in me was getting tetchy so a road bike was bought and my cycling career began!
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| Emma! |
I didn't realise that road bikes are a lot more difficult to ride than a mountain bike. I may have managed to crash into a bin on Queen Street and there have been several unclipping fails. It has taken me four weeks to transform myself into a semi-competent cyclist and even now there are things I'm not good at - going downhill is one of them.
Emma (also injured) has adopted me and taken me out on two brilliant 55 mile cycle rides around Stirling. I am proud to say that the Duke's Pass was easily conquered.
I'm quite happy battling my way through traffic to get to work now! Eyeballing drivers and taking the 'primary position' are now second nature to me. The majority of drivers are good, the ones who aren't are frightening. If you decide to overtake when there isn't really enough room you are risking my life and that is not your risk to take. Rant over!
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| Pedal House Studio |
Hugh, Seona and Nicky have opened a spinning studio (Pedal House) and I decided to try a session. To be honest, I went to that first spinning class just to show my support - I had no intention of going again. An indoor class to music? Bleurgh!
What happened next was surpring - I absolutely loved it. I pushed myself so hard and tried to just focus on peddling to the beat of the music. For an hour, I didn't think about anything else. The mop up required afterwards was not that attractive though.......!
The Pedal House team have been really welcoming and encouraging. They've given me lots of cycling advice and I feel like I'm a more efficient cyclist because of them. Out of everyone they have probably helped to keep my spirits up the most.
If you get told you have "inactive glutes" you NEED to go to spinning. It is the only time that mine have actually burned. Go visit Pedalhouse.
What happened next was surpring - I absolutely loved it. I pushed myself so hard and tried to just focus on peddling to the beat of the music. For an hour, I didn't think about anything else. The mop up required afterwards was not that attractive though.......!
The Pedal House team have been really welcoming and encouraging. They've given me lots of cycling advice and I feel like I'm a more efficient cyclist because of them. Out of everyone they have probably helped to keep my spirits up the most.
If you get told you have "inactive glutes" you NEED to go to spinning. It is the only time that mine have actually burned. Go visit Pedalhouse.
www.pedalhousedinburgh.com
Next is swimming. Ok, this hasn't really been a massive part of my recovery, but it does deserve a mention. I haven't swum properly (head in the water, breathing to the side, etc) since I was 17. I think trying to re-teach myself was concerning and hilarious for the lifeguards on duty. Just as I was "powering" along I would breathe in at the wrong time and end up choking in the middle of the lane. I can now swim front crawl again, just not for very long.
So, six weeks later and I have learned a few things.
1. It is really hard to keep your training focus when you can't train. My diet has gone completely out of the window. I'm now feeling slightly lardy but getting back on track.
2. Riding a road bike is hard! Being clipped in complicates matters and does make uphill starts at traffic lights a bit of a concern. Yes, I have toppled over at traffic lights and yes, it was humiliating. Don't even get me started on downhills!
3. I understand why cyclists seem angry a lot of the time. Firstly, a lot of car/bus/lorry/van drivers are total idiots and do their best to kill you. Other cyclists and pedestrians also get in on the act.
4. Bike chafing is so much worse than running chafing. I will not complain about running chafing ever again.
5. You DO NOT wear pants under your cycling shorts - see point 4!
6. Weather has more of an impact on a cyclist than a runner - windy days are terrifying on a light bike.
4. Bike chafing is so much worse than running chafing. I will not complain about running chafing ever again.
5. You DO NOT wear pants under your cycling shorts - see point 4!
6. Weather has more of an impact on a cyclist than a runner - windy days are terrifying on a light bike.
7. Apparently it is really uncool to leave the reflectors on your recently purchased road bike. Proper cyclists take them off....! I have also been told that I need to "trend up" my bike. I still don't really know what that means.
8. Spinning is tough and there are no downhills in spinning world - only long flats and heavy ups. "Heavy, heavy, steep steep"seems to be spinning mantra.
9. Swimming is a skill - you do forget it!
10. You really appreciate the running friends who stick by you. It is so easy to get caught up in your own training and forget 'the fallen'. I've been guilty of this in the past, but I won't be guilty of it again.
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| First little run in 6 weeks! |
Almost every cloud does have a silver lining, just sometimes you need to look for it.
Thank you to Andrew Murray at FASIC and George Rendall at the Brougham Foot Clinic for diagnosis and treatment.
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| First biggish run in 8 weeks! |
