Post 157 - Trying to get over injury

My Achilles is injured. I was casually throwing basketballs at hoops, and the action of tiptoeing up to shoot made my calves tight, which then led to an Achilles injury. I risk assess everything I do, and there is a lot I don’t do, so that I stay injury free – no tennis, no golf, no football, not much else. I didn’t think that casually throwing basketball shots would do such damage. Such terrible timing as I’ve the European sprint triathlon championships in Glasgow on 11 August and the world half ironman championships on 2 September. So I’ve been doing everything for my Achilles. I’ve been talking to a few different people and implementing lots of recommendations. Throwing everything at this Achilles. Doing things I normally wouldn’t do.

I now bath often in Epsom salts, eucalyptus oil and lavender. Doing things I normally wouldn’t do. I smell like a granny’s boudoir and so does my flat. I use loads of arnica cream on the injured Achilles and calf. I’ve had loads of physiotherapy. I foam roll lots. I’ve done a lot of rehab, strength work, stretching. I use compression. I use ice – the emergency frozen peas (kept in my freezer for such a scenario) are getting their money’s worth now. I haven’t ran for weeks. I want to give it every chance.

Went to watch/support at a track 5k on a humid night, this was the aftermath

£2 entrance fee for spectators, includes all you can eat - dangerous

I was meant to enter two Olympic distance triathlons in the interim – one a sea swim event at Gullane which I was keen on, and one a freshwater Scottish loch swim in the middle of nowhere in the Borders, again I was keen on this – both would not involve tumble turning and so I had hoped to do well. I bailed out of both. I was gutted. I did a trial run the night before the first one, lasted about a minute, and knew immediately it wasn’t happening.

I was wondering about giving up on Glasgow, but 6 weeks ago I was in great form, I was lean, I was keen, I was excited for the race, and I genuinely thought I could challenge for a European medal. I have no idea if I go to Glasgow and manage to get through it, if I will cripple myself and end up missing out on the bigger trip to South Africa. Should I go for Glasgow, destroy myself to try and get a podium, and risk missing South Africa? I won’t challenge for a podium in South Africa, would I let it go? I’l not qualify for another half world championships again though, and it’s likely I will qualify for shorter world and European championships again. No idea how to play it.

After another week of intense treatment, with Glasgow looming large and me having no idea whether I’d be competing or not, I decided I had to bite the bullet and properly try it out. I needed to know. So, perhaps stupidly, I went out and ran a 5k, fairly hard, at roughly the pace I’d hope to run a 5k in a sprint triathlon. It was sore (very sore) running, but I don’t think it restricted my running, it was just painful. My legs were deconditioned and I’ve missed weeks of running training. I needed to see how it would react and how it would feel 24-48 hours later. No doubt it set my recovery back because it was much sorer afterwards than beforehand, but I wasn’t completely crippled.

So I decided to go for Glasgow, on the basis that if I could run like I ran in the test run, and come off it without being crippled, as was the case after the test run, I’d take it. OK, I’ve missed three weeks of running and that’s not great, but I’ve been training hard on the bike and in the pool. My running was strong anyway. Hopefully I won’t have lost too much. I expect my muscles will be very sore afterwards for a few days due to being deconditioned.

I think I’ve maintained bike fitness quite well, as I’ve now been doing more biking due to not running. It’s a nice time of year in Scotland, when you can get out and explore new roads and new scenery. I recently got a power meter for my road bike, so it has been interesting to watch and analyse my power over a 60-70 mile training ride, and to see what is feasible to be able to hold. All I can say is, no wonder the Edinburgh half ironman went so badly this year.

The Wall of Talla in the distance - still the steepest road I have ever ridden up

Could easily be France

I’ve been doing some really good swim sessions too recently, and would say I’m swimming as well as ever, if not better. I did 2 x 10 x 100m sprints, averaging 1:25 and 1:29 – really positive to average sub-1:30 on the second set. Another set of 20 x 50m sprints averaging around 41 seconds was decent too.

So I will go to Glasgow and see how it goes. I hope it won’t set me back. I know I won’t do as well as I could had I not been injured, but I’ll do what I can. If I’d been as fit and lean as I was going into the Stirling triathlon in June, I’d be really excited. As it is, I just can’t get excited for Glasgow, which is a shame. Same for South Africa. I got my Ireland team triathlon suit and t-shirt in the post, I finally decided on a new aero helmet (a Bell Javelin, with integrated visor, fits great, feels great), and yet I can’t help but feel my season is over and I peaked in June. Oh well. Let’s see what happens.

New aero helmet, different positions

Had to try it on

Training was as follows:

Mon 23 July: Rest
Tue 24 July: 1:05 turbo (3 x 10 mins, 5 min rec: 304W/160bpm, 304W/168bpm, 303W/172bpm)
Wed 25 July: Swim 2.6k
Thu 26 July: Bike 10 hill intervals: 2:37, 39, 37, 44, 41, 36, 34, 32, 37, 31
Fri 27 July: 35 min turbo (single leg drills)
Sat 28 July: Swim 1.5k (20 x 50m: 40-42 seconds, rec to 1 min), 2 hour turbo
Sun 29 July: 1:30 turbo (1 hour: 244W/149bpm)

Totals: Swim 4.1km, Bike 135 miles, Run 0 miles (not often this happens)

Mon 30 July: Rest
Tue 31 July: Bike 6 Arthur’s Seat hills: 3:22, 27, 32, 35, 32, 34
Wed 1 Aug: Swim 2.6km
Thu 2 Aug: Rest
Fri 3 Aug: 35 min turbo (single leg drills)
Sat 4 Aug: Swim 2k, 1 hour bike, 5k run (17:52)
Sun 5 Aug: 2:45 bike (Talla loop, 51.1 miles, 138bpm, 236W, 2370ft)

Totals: Swim 4.6km, Bike 95 miles, Run 3 miles