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Monday 31 January 2011

Physio

2 excellent physiotherapists that I highly recommend. Both offer something very different but great sport focus and both know how important it is to get athletes back up and running as soon as possible.
http://www.bodyinmotion.co.uk/home/

http://re-massage.co.uk/

Sunday 30 January 2011

Back on the bike

Ahh, good to be back. Well, not very exciting as I was on the rollers for an hour. Felt crap and no legs! But just happy to get working a little harder and working up a sweat even if it was in a freezing cold garage full of junk! Riding is now back on the agenda. A daily dose of life on two wheels resumes, and January is nearly over!

Friday 28 January 2011

Arms falling off

For the first time since I can remember I took myself off down the gym last night and thought I would try one of the workouts I give to some of my clients for upper body strength endurance training.
Ouch!! I forgot how tough these workouts are if you do them to the right intensity and how much of a buzz you get after doing them. Really good fun. 25 minutes of intense hard effort. Awesome! Today I have no arms.
Here's the set.

3 x 12 reps with 60 secs rest.
Superset Bench Press and Single Arm Row
120 secs rest
Superset Chest Flyes and Bent Over Row
120 secs rest
Superset Tricep Dips and Barbell curls

Rest for 3 minutes.
Drop weight and then repeat as circuit for 1 set, 10 reps for each exercise, no rest between exercises. Basically 60 reps without rest.

This hits just about everything. Next time I would add in 4th superset with a back exercise and overhead press, to work back and shoulders.

It is quite obvious for me that my back is stronger than front, which I am pleased with as it shows I am using the right muscles for swimming freestyle. More arm strength needed, but I am aware that I don't want to bulk up too much as this will add unecessary weight for racing. However, some extra upper body and arm strength would help all round fitness and probably make swiming a little more efficient.
As the foot is still out of action I shall be doing a few more of these type of wokouts as there is nothing better to get your metabolism firing. And really good fun!!

Thursday 27 January 2011

Injury advice

SO the healing is going very well. I would like to share a couple of things that I think are vital to good recovery.
1. mental attitude. Hugely underestimated in its role in recovery. After 7 days and still in a lot of pain I spoke to a physio, and even after that 5 minute conversation I immediately felt 100% better as I knew I had been managing the injury in the correct way. Since then I remain very positive and upbeat, despite the fact I am not back to training. But I just tell myself, every day is one step nearer getting back out there and putting in the hard work. I am really looking forward to racing this year. That keeps me focussed, keeps me upbeat and will obviously help with the recovery.
2. The first 3 days. This is absolutely paramount that anyone with an injury treats it with RICE. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. I was very strict in how I did it, and fortunately I was able to postpone some PT sessions and I stayed off it for those 3 days, iced as much as possible, raised the leg and strapped it as much as I could. After 48 hours I started ever so slightly to move the ankle, but I am talking millimetres! Just to get hings moving in the right direction, literally! I truly believe that if you get it right in the firt 48-72 hours then if you are fit and healthy(and sensible) recovery time will be reduced significantly. 2 weeks on and I am about a week away from light jogging. Normally, according to textbook cases, 4-6 weeks is the recovery period before any exercise can be resumed. I am fortunate that I do heal well, and recover quickly, but I am convinced that is mostly down to treating the injury well, and, above all staying positive.
I hope this advice is found to be useful for anyone who ever finds themselves in that position.
It's not always easy for us mere mortal amateur athletes to get the time to rest as much as we really need to, with full time jobs and families to run around after. But look after your bodies with as much time as can be spared and we will all come back stronger.
Roll on the 2011 season, I'm already feeling stronger and faster, gonna be a good year!

Monday 24 January 2011

Recovery

Healing process well under way, and bruising is still coming out, 2 weeks on from incident. Ankle is moving more freely now I have had som eexcellent physio treatment on it.
Will be having some more this week and hope to be at least capable of light jogging by the end of next week. I have managed to swim today for 30 minutes and have been PTing on my bike!! Riding slowly alongside my runners! Still managing to give them a good workout with loads of exercises, so all going very well.
Still MICE at the moment - movement, ice, compression, elevation and getting better slowly but surely. Much more positive than I was 5 days ago. Happy Days!

Tuesday 18 January 2011

grade 2 ankle sprain

Been looking at websites for info on this injury and the whole recovery process. The good ol' NHS referred me to a physio, but now wait for 4 weeks! Good job I know a bit about injuries and rehab and how to get myself back to fitness, and regain some mobility in the ankle. If I didn't then I would be healing all wrong and by 4 weeks the physio would have a hell of a job trying to get my ankle right.
So I continue to heal, albeit slowly. At leaat I am now mobile without crutches, but still very sore and the ankle is tired after an hour on my feet. So icing inbetween and resting as much as physically possible inbetween PT sessions.
Will get in the pool later today and at least swim for 30 minutes in an attempt to hold on to my fitness and to help with some ankle flexibility in a non-impact envirnment. Water is excellent for recovery from injury, although I think tumble turning and pushing off the wall might be a no-no!

Saturday 15 January 2011

Recovery

Well, I am healing slowly, and have had 3 days now of resting my leg with RICE, rest, ice, compression and elevation. Those compression socks for running have come in really handy and are giving my ankle lots of necessary suport and helping to reduce the swelling.
Check out the below link for information on Orbana sports drinks. Jonny, if you are reading this, I haven't forgotten about ringing, just been busy, and now injured!! :)

http://www.orbana.com/


I've also taken up the guitar, as that was a Christmas present to myself! And have had a few hours now to get my fingers moving, great fun!

Friday 14 January 2011

Injury

Well it had to happen. I've had niggles and minor inujuries that have hampered training and I bust up my face back in 2007 after which I needed minor surgery to pin my jaw. But now I have had my first 'proper' injury that will take some real time to heal and I won't be running for a few weeks.
I was taking a FOrest Fit session in Wareham FOrest, went really well and right at the end, the very last bit of running, on a piece of flat ground I went over on my ankle very heavily, and heard a loud 'crack'! Ouch, it hurt and down I went. First thought was 'is the bone sticking through?'. Thankfully not! But everyone came to my aid and I was fireman carried to the car by Charlie and then kindly taken home by one of our athletes.
A trip to A&E was made and I wasn't there that long, and 2 hours later I was home with crutches and strapping and pain killers and a physio referral letter. I have a grade 2 sprained ankle which has damaged the ligaments. Thankfully no break. But I know something about soft tissue injuries and this one will take at least 4-6 weeks before I can get back to any kind of running. The fact that I am fit and strong will help, and I don't smoke or drink, so the healing process will be quicker than normal. But it is such a nusiance and I have had to cancel training sessions with some of my clients. But everyone has been very supportive and I've had some nice messages from people.
Now sat with leg up and ice on the sofa trying to remember where I put the Lord of the Rings DVDs!

Sunday 9 January 2011

Sunday ride

10am, Mr G and me. Off we went on a brief tour of Bere Regis, Blandford, Wimborne and surrounding hills. Nice steady 3 hour ride, a sociable 50 miles. Although icy and slippy in the first hour, and a punture on a brand new tyre. Not sure that I will continue to use Gatorskins, not at all impressed and have now punctured quite a few over the last two years and they don't seem to last long before they get shredded.
Sun was out though and apart from a chilly breeze, lovely to get out on the bike and that is the longest I have ridden since the Outlaw triathlon last August. Long overdue. And good to know that I have not lost much in the legs, just a stiff back and a few aches and pains from a lack of time in the saddle. Got the bike bug back again! Happy days!

Saturday 8 January 2011

Weekend

2 sessions of Forest Fit circuits on Saturday morning, followed by an hour spin out on the bike and a short easy run. Then 3 hours on the bike Sunday morning with Ironman 70.3 Amateur World Champion James Gilfillan. James is taking on RAAM( Race Across America) next year and is starting to get in the base miles and some regular riding, so the two of us will head off over Wimborne way and spend a couple of hours having a catch up. Will be nice to get out and get the legs going again. And will run for an hour later in the day.
My training starts in earnest this weekend, and i will start planning some races and get an overall plan together. Time to get in the groove!

Monday 3 January 2011

Happy New Year

All the best to everyone for a fit and healthy 2011.

I'm off to a good start having eventually managed to get out and about on the old velo.
Bit lethargic in the old leg department and just feel a little sluggish but underneath I can feel there's some power there. The strength and conditioning I have been doing over the winter seems to be paying off. I was back in the pool today for a 3k swimset, mainly 10 x 200m with easy swimming either side, and regular riding to and from work when I can. Feeling better already. I might be resting a bit from long distance racing this year as I haven't got a large amount of time to dedicate to the cause. Not 4 or 5 hour bike rides followed by 2 hour runs. It's ot the training itself, it's the lack of rest andrecovery time that I can't get and those kind of sessions really take it out of me.
So looking at races for this season and nothing is getting my juices flowing, so it might be a while before I decide what I will do. Challenge Roth is still in the diary but I'm not sure that I will race. I would love to immerse myself in trainig for 6 months and smash out a 9 hour finish but I have to be realistic and accept my limitations. Just want to get out and enjoy racing and training, and in particular get into my time trialing a bit more this year, spend a bit more time representing Poole Wheelers!
Will still updatre the blog as I go along, and will continue to add other stories and articles of interest along the way.
All the best to swimmers, bikers and runners of all ages and here's to a prosperous 2011!!
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