I know it’s not over yet but looking back at 2020 there’s been plenty to be thankful for. We were married in Las Vegas, by Elvis in March, days before the worldwide lockdown. Then when Boris let us have our lives back a little and created some “air-bridges” we escaped to our 2nd home – Majorca for a week in July coming back literally hours before it all got locked down again. Then earlier this month we eventually had our honeymoon on the beautiful island of St Lucia.
The resort was amazing, albeit a fair distance from the airport literally on the opposite side of the island. The taxi drivers there & back made for an interesting conversation during the 2hr journey, one talking about his family and the other discussing god of all things – very spiritual I must say.
As soon as we arrived they knew us by name, no standing around to check-in, taking us straight to our room, no stress whatsoever. A quick emptying of the suitcases and it was off to try their cuisine and drinks. Every day was simply relax as much as you like, eat & drink as much as you like and exercise as much as you like = my kind of heaven to be fair! The food, no matter which restaurant you chose for breakfast, lunch or dinner was to die for and I couldn’t help but think how much I’d have to pay for similar at home – quite a lot I should imagine. Even sitting on the beach we were waited on hand & foot – and endless supply of drinks and snacks. Fitness classes were an hourly thing every day, from spinning, to stretch, from archery to waterskiing, it was all there. And just when you feel like you’ve had enough there was at least one massage every day booked in for you.
Added to our week in heaven was a guest sports coach – during our stay it was Jazz Carlin – double silver medallist in the 400 & 800m swimming events at the Rio Olympics. Suzy had picked this week as we both needed a few tips on our swimming technique and who better than an olympian. Coming away from this week we have both gained so much knowledge from her group sessions and 1-2-1’s with video anlaysis that we’re (almost) completely different swimmers – all we’ve got to do is wait until the swimming pools to open up again to try out all her drills.
Whilst we were out there the resort had their annual 1-mile swimming event so we duly obliged and entered it – after all why break a habit of racing whenever we go on holiday! Jazz was naturally heading the event and although the field was quite depleted because of Covid there was still an air of competitiveness amongst the starters. The start was delayed for just over 45 minutes as the sea was quite rough – I was a little worried as I tend to get seasick pretty quickly in these kind of conditions. Nonetheless we started and I was one of the first to get into the water. I’m not a quick starter so gladly followed Suzy’s feet until I started to warm up a bit then started to get into my “new” swimming style Jazz had avised me to do. Coming out onto the beach at half-way – like an “Australian Exit” event I caught eye on someone ahead of me but only about 10 metres or so – do or die I tried to push on but the rough sea was enough to put me in my place and I had to adjust to just getting to the finish without being sick. I came out of the water to take 2nd place and Suzy was less than a minute behind to take 2nd female.
At the presentation it appeared I was beaten by the owner of the resort and as he swims there all the time his result didn’t count so I actually won the event! For our efforts I won 2 nights’ stay at the resort and Suzy won one…..so I think we might be coming back 🙂
Towards the end of the holiday I was feeling a little under the weather, I had put it down to the sea swims I had been doing but it was a little more than that. Adding to this I had been getting massages every day so whatever it was had been well & truly moved around my body. We were on our way home and I wasn’t feeling right, lethargic and achy, flu-like but no coughing or sneezing. “I’ll get it checked out when I get back” I thought and left it at that. The same day we got back home it had worsened and so much so that I called 111 and was told to get to the local hospital as soon as possible. A few hours passed and I finally got to see a nurse, then a doctor for blood tests as it was a suspected Dengue Fever – a desease passed around by Mosquitos and their bites. In fairness I had been bitten about 20 times so it’s fair to say I was going to feel the after effects of that too so was told to bed rest and take paracetamol to ease the headaches and it would soon pass.
I had a couple of days off work and then returned only to pull a muscle in my lower back within a few hours – that stopped any hope of returning to a training regime of any sort. If it wasn’t one thing it was another…… and then there was another……
A couple of days later I felt a little pain in my tooth and thought I’d book an appointment just to be safe – “we’ll get you in in a fortnight” said my dentist. Not left with a choice I agreed and hoped it wouldn’t get worse – within 12 hours I was in agony. Anyone with earache or toothache will agree there is no pain like it – it overrides anything and is debillitating. Suzy told me to get in with her dentist, we also have private cover so could get the treatment for free (eventually) so I booked in that afternoon and had to have a fairly sizeable tooth extracted. Since then I’ve been on a fairly healthy (or unhealthy) supply of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen alongside some antibiotics for good measure. It was only after 7 days did I manage to have a full 7hrs sleep before being woken up with the dull ache. To complicate things I’ve had “Dry Socket” where the tooth doesn’t heal properly – probably down to my immune system being given a right kicking recently. So now i’m putting Clove Oil in the socket whenever it gets too much just to give me some pain-free time.
So……training (kind of) resumed last week. A few bike rides and a couple of runs just to see if the system works…..and it does. Although my Heart Rate is up by about 20 beats and my body feels like I’m starting this sport for the first time ever.
God only knows how i’m going to hit my target events in 2021. Panicking already but my coach tells me it’s all in-hand and we’ve got plenty of time. We’ll see….
As always Suzy takes this in her stride and has been a complete rock for me. There’s been several times (because of the pain) that I’ve had a few “episodes” and she’s been ultra comforting and understanding. Anyone reading this will appreciate any time spent injured or tapering is not great for your partner! lol
