I've sat down to write a blog a few times over the past few months but never actually managed to write anything down, it's much more difficult when things aren't so positive. I haven't been able to race as I've been struggling with an injury for a long time now (15 months) and it's been the most testing and frustrating time for me as an athlete. I'm generally a very patient and positive person but this has been quite hard especially on the bad days but I have to keep the faith that I'll manage to get through this injury.

The injury is a high hamstring tendonopathy (https://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/high-hamstring-tendinopathy-injuries-a-pain-in-the-butt/) in my case it was caused by a hit to the pelvis which unknowing knocked things out of place and gradually caused a problem with the tendon high in hamstring.

I've had various treatments and therapies all of which have taken a huge tole on my bank account and most of which didn't work at all. Things didn't really start to improve until quite recently when I saw the right people to diagnose the root of the problem and straighten out the issues with the back and pelvis. The fact that it's a damaged tendon makes it very frustrating as it stopped me from both biking and running and there is no set time line for the recovery. It's not a simple case of rest and heal, there's no set protocol that works for fixing it, especially for mine which doesn't seem to follow the normal rules of a tendonopathy.

I've had many ups and down, good days and bad days (and weeks) and a lot of not knowing if I'll ever be able to train or race again. I'm now starting to do some training which is great. After so much time out of a normal training routine it's going to be a slow, careful build back to normal training. I'm picking up various niggles as I ease back in to training which is slowing the process down little but hopefully these will settle down soon. I still have some issues with the hamstring tendon and the odd very bad day where I'm on the verge of giving up altogether but on the whole things are improving. I'm very lucky to have had some great people around me during this time including my team Alameda ON, my Base2Race training group and my coach Eanna McGrath who is being very patient (and many others who have offered support and advice on how to deal with the injury). So for now I'm focusing on healing and recovering rather than fitness and performance and I'm aiming to be racing again by the end of the year.

On a more positive note Ritchie and I got married at home in Portstewart in March. My mum and my aunt Susan organised the whole thing. They put in a lot of work, it all went perfectly and we had a brilliant day/week with friends and family.

Now that the Olympics are on in Rio I'm looking forward to supporting 3 of my Alameda ON team mates at the Olympic Games in Rio, Gillian Sanders (South Africa) Lawrence Fanous (Jordan) and Mohammed Lahna (Morocco). I can't wait to watch them race 🎖😊

I have to say that I was happy to see the back of 2016. There were some good points from last year like getting married at home in Portstewart, living in Ireland for the first time in a long time, training with coach Eanna McGrath and the Base2Race group and meeting some amazing people but with regards to triathlon and injuries I'm definitely glad to be moving forward in to the new year. I could write many pages about my injury, the physical and mental impact and ups and downs that come with such a long injury but I'll save that for another time when its a distant memory and I'm fit and racing again.


Towards the end of last year things did start to get a little better. My injury began to slowly improve and an amazing opportunity came up for Ritchie and I to train at Thanyapura, a world class sports resort in Phuket, Thailand. We were so excited at the prospect of training in with the Thanyapura Pro Team and racing in Asia in 2017 and jumped at the chance to be a part of the team.
The opportunity came at a great time and I am so grateful to be here with such a great group of people, coaches and truly world class facilities. We are now in a great rhythm of training here, joining many of the bike and run sessions with guests and other pro athletes and also swimming with Coach Miguel and his swim squad.


After a very long time off any training at all It's been a slow process to get back in to it since early December. Having not done any real consistent training since April 2015 and barely any bike and run training at all in 2016 the process has been/is slow but but it can be quite rewarding and I'm now getting back to some more 'normal' training. I feel some fitness and strength coming back on the bike which feels better and better with each ride.
I'm also running again which is brilliant but it's taking a long time to get going. After such a long time without running there are many issues that are popping up along the way especially with the lower legs which don't know what's hit them after so long. I'm managing to be fairly positive and patient with addressing each niggle as it comes. It's slowly coming together and I'm happy to be making some progress.


I am very grateful have the continued support of Team Alameda and On running in 2017. After a tough year or more with injury it's brilliant to have some loyal sponsors who still believe in me.


At the minute I have no solid plans but I'm hoping to start racing some smaller races in a couple of months time and to build from there.