Road to recovery

Well, this is my first post in almost a year. Purely because there has been nothing to post about in that time! I have been injured. Last year was a tough one on the cycling front due to a series of issues that arose from the one big injury in late 2010 which was breaking my leg. I started 2011 off well with some good form leading into the European season with the BikeNZ U23 track squad and thought everything was well on track, not only with my form but with my injury. I thought I was past it all. I wasn't! I learned the hard way, very soon after getting to Europe that not completing the whole rehab program prescribed to me was idiotic. I did what I was sure I wasn't going to do...I got excited and rushed back into training far too fast and far too hard. My knee flared up within the first month. I was home after 6 weeks. It was pretty tough but  my knee was obviously not ready! I struggled for the rest of 2011 to get things sorted. I was constantly uncomfortable on the bike and no matter what I did off the bike I couldn't seem to get rid of my knee pain. I had patches here and there with no pain and a little bit of form which was refreshing but nothing like what I had before my accident. It was bloody frustrating!

Towards the end of the year it seemed to be getting better and better so I was training harder and harder over the summer for races like the NZ Cycle Classic and Track Nationals. I was having to cut training rides short at least once a week because of my knee so I knew in the back of my head things were nowhere near perfect, but I kept on training hard anyway. Everything came to a peak at NZ Cycle Classic. On the third stage it got to a point where I couldn't ride anymore. I was gutted. And it was the people who had put the support behind me for the year and for this race that I was gutted for, not myself. This was also turning point from bad to good however! Luckily Chappy (Anthony Chapman) was racing as well and he had a look at me after the stage and straight away found some pretty serious issues with my body that were all contributing to my knee pain.

Literally straight away, thanks to Chappy, things started to improve. My bike set up was far from desirable so we worked hard to get that perfect and went straight to work with getting my body back to normal! This was 4 weeks ago and since then every week I have been taking huge leaps forward in rehab and pain has been getting less and less to the point now where it is almost gone.

I have just begun to start racing again as well which is a breath of fresh air. Good to be able to focus on hurting myself while racing as opposed to blocking out knee pain! Great success!! This time I am making sure I am doing everything right, down to the smallest detail and the hard work seems to be paying off.

I am not going overseas to race for the season this year as I am determined to have my body 100% fixed before I dive back into the big kids racing. But I will get there and I am motivated to get there in bloody good shape.

Next up is Oceania Road Champs in Queenstown this week where I will race the 40km Time Trial and 150km Road Race. Obviously I am entering the race to get the best result and best performance I can on the day but I know I won't have devastatingly good form by any means so will try and focus on getting through the racing with good technique on the bike and no knee pain!

Thanks to everyone that has helped over the last year with trying to get me sorted! Especially Anthony Chapman, Hamish Ferguson, Mark Hollands and of course Mum and Dad! Chappy's website is http://www.bikefitter.co.nz/ Check him out if you have any niggles or need a scientifically backed bike fit. Also a big thanks to Mark Morrison who has been very generous and provided me with both a disc and a set of race wheels as well as many other things!

Here is a picture of me racing this past weekend in the Tour of Canterbury. Managed to finish up second on GC behind a FLYING Sam Horgan. Was really happy with how I got through the racing with no pain and with very limited training. Onwards and upwards!

Cheers Cathy Adair for the shot!

Cheers for reading!

W