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 🎖😊
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 🎖😊
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