Some people know the title of this particular blog is my tag line on my videos on the Hashtag Coaching Youtube Channel, but it pretty much sums up the last few weeks as far as my rehab is concerned.
I was determined to get back on the bike – a famous Tommy Simpson phrase as he collapsed on the final ascent of Mount Ventoux back in 1967. Something I have been fairly single-minded about since knowing of the impending operation and my post-surgery rehabilitation.
Almost each day since my last blog over a month ago, I’ve been climbing on the Wattbike in our spare room and turned the pedals. At first I had to wear trainers as I didn’t even have the strength in my right leg to clip in the special pedals. Slowly but surely I’ve been able to wear my “proper” indoor cycling shoes and clip into the pedals. Slowly but surely I’ve turned the pedals, at first barely any power. The Wattbike struggles with controlling resistance under about 70w so the first few rides were a bit fast/slow when it came to pedalling.
But there was a noticeable improvement after a week or so in my ability to pedal smoothly and also to put a little pressure on that right leg without stopping rather abruptly because of the pain.
Let’s be clear that indoor training is the perfect solution for winter training in the UK, but it does come with some side-effects. One issue for someone who cannot stand properly on that right leg (for now) is the discomfort due to not being able to reposition myself whilst riding, so my rides can be a mixture of 10-15minutes of steady riding followed by a 10 second pause and then back into it. To be fair no repositioning helps after about 50 minutes so the last few moments are very uncomfortable.
Another issue is boredom, especially if you’re not doing interval based training and stuck in Zone 1 or Zone 2 for the whole duration of the ride. Netflix and Amazon Prime have played an important part in my rehab – watching the European Cyclo Cross races at the weekends and filling up with suspense thrillers on the TV have definitely helped!
Nonetheless, I have moved on from the pain in just trying to raise my leg over the saddle to mount the bike to now being able to ride fairly pain-free for just over an hour whilst staying in the Zone 2 that I have limited myself to before being given the nod by my consultant.
And then there’s swimming…
It’s true I had fallen out of love with swimming over the spring and summer. There’s two main things that have reinvigorated my swim training… No:1 – In my last race before the Operation and Rutland water, I lost the race purely down to my swim. Although I should celebrate the fact I came second overall, me being the typical “racer” looked at where I lost it…and it was in the swim where I came into T2 over a minute slower than the winner. And reason No.2: It’s low impact and it’s the only real training I can do at the moment. As my old coach said to me a few months after my original crash – “If you were professional, your team around you would be working out what training you could do right now, instead of stressing about what you can’t do”.
That first session in the swimming pool was a battle for Suzy just to get me to go – I wasn’t feeling it at all. I didn’t want to go – I really didn’t. In fact I must’ve put it off for at least a few weeks before I succumbed to Suzy’s eternal persuasion. And then there was the issue of actually getting into the pool without putting too much pressure on my right leg. I had completely forgotten how I did this four years previously so I was stressing about walking on a wet floor and very scared of the possibility of slipping onto my good side and breaking a hip – slightly irrational I know. Suffice to say it was quite straight forwards and that fear was very quickly dismissed.
And then there was swimming itself! I had completely forgotten how to swim – I really had. The first visit was a mere 1000m of mixed distances with me taking on water a lot – and I do mean a lot! My technique had gone to pot and i really felt that if there was a lifeguard poolside they were on the cusp of jumping in and saving me. But over a few weeks or persistence (ignorance perhaps) I have now managed to string a few 3k sets together and my stroke has improved a little and I’m now picking up the pace again. The winter is long and it’s pretty difficult to swim outside and die of hypothermia in the UK so I guess staring at a black line on the bottom of the pool is where I’ll be for the next few months.
In Hashtag Coaching I have rolled out a comprehensive strength & conditioning routine for Triathletes, Cyclists and Runners as well as some Core Specific workouts so I have used my own training routines I created for other athletes for myself and I’m following a set routine for the past couple of weeks.
I’m starting from scratch and although my upper body exercises remain fairly unaffected by the recent operation, the lower body has taken a big hit and I’m literally starting from the easiest weight and I’m trying to progress very slowly in that department.
7-Week Review…
Just over a week ago Suzy and I travelled down to Oxford to see the consultant for him to review my post-op situation and make sure everything was ok. We travelled down there the night before in order not to deal with early morning traffic and therefore had a relaxed morning and breakfast at a local Hilton Hotel. We arrived early for the appointment as we guessed that they would send me to x-ray to get some new images for the consultant to help with his review. Indeed they did although there seemed to be half of Oxford in there for the same thing. After a surprisingly short wait I was in and X-rays were taken and back into the outpatients waiting room to wait until being called.
Again this surprisingly didn’t take long and I was into his office fairly quickly. He asked a few questions, inspected the wound to make sure it had healed (it had) and looked at the X-rays images on his computer…
Verdict: The healing process is definitely under way and the X-ray looked ok for 7 weeks healing time. He said I shouldn’t get too carried way with my training as constant pressure on the leg might move the bones and slow down the healing process when the bones are needed to be left alone to bond with each other.
For someone who went to this appointment to get the “All-Clear” to take things to another level if possible, it’s aafe to say this was a bit of a setback in the way I perceived my rehab journey would go.
Suzy wasn’t happy as she felt that my premature return to exercise might’ve slowed down, even stunted the healing process. Adding to this the angle of the X-ray image showed the break to be all the way across the femur and not partially which the original X-rays suggested. Again she felt that my return to training had increased the break from partial to fully across the bone.
To be completely honest I didn’t know what to say – had I actually broken the bone even further? Had I returned to training too soon? This continual persistence to train – had this been the reason my initial knee injury had failed to bond correctly? So many thoughts on the 3 hour plus car journey on the way home…
I survived the rehab then – I’ll do it again now.
I’m quite a reflective person and although I may respond immediately to criticism and critique initially, it does take a few days for all the information to be absorbed and I am confident that I hadn’t returned to exercise too early. It’s a clear indicator that developing resistance on the indoor bike and in the gym must be a lot slower than I had expected but I remain adamant that exercise is better than nothing.
A few days after this appointment, in a timely manner I had an appointment with my counsellor. Initially after the crash back in 2021 the defendants insurance company had funded these appointments but now that’s all behind us it’s now self-funded so the sessions although continuing they are a few months apart now.
We sat down and discussed everything that had happened in the last few weeks and months. I’m always conscious of the time it takes to just update her on what’s been happening in my life as the session is only just over an hour and these updates can take a lot of time. I wrapped things up pretty quickly and we got to the main part of the session which is Cognitive Behaviour and how I respond to setbacks and bad news and she has, over the years, given me toolkits so-to-speak on how to deal with these.
I openly admitted to her, and in jest I guess, that she “had done a number on me” as I am now so laid back when I’m faced with setbacks and possible trauma. I’m a lot more controlled about my reactions and subconsciously I’m using the toolkits and behaviours she has been giving me over the years. My former-self would be climbing the walls and demanding solutions to fix things like a screaming chimpanzee, whereas now I’m actually overly relaxed about the whole thing!
To be honest I think my now laid back approach makes Suzy a lot more apprehensive about things – perhaps she thinks I’m not aware of the gravity of the situation so doubles up on the stress for both of us – something I need to be aware of perhaps moving forwards…
Nonetheless, we move on and continue the journey…
Before the 7 week review appointment I started to set targets for next year. I already had a training camp in Spain arranged for March and I have been invited to join another camp in February.
I now also have the small issue of Mallorca 312 in late April, also I’ve qualified to represent Great Britain in July at the European Middle Distance Aquabike Champs in Gerona (another reason to sort my swimming out) and I’ve also entered a few Aquabike events in the summer to ensure I get my act together.
After the 7 week review you could look at these decisions to take part in camps and race in a few months’ time a bit premature but I see them as mini goals to have for me to make sure my focus is sharpened. I’ve said it to quite a few of the athletes I coach that having a goal sharpens the mind – it gives you the “Why” when you get up in the morning or when you are deliberating whether to training or not. It provides you with an absolutely valid reason why you’re continually pushing yourself physically and mentally to be better than you were yesterday.
But for now I’m down (a bit) but not out!
Let’s Crack On 🙂