The 27th March 2013 was big decision day in my life in terms of physical fitness. If you have read some of my infrequent blog posts you will know that I had my near fatal accident in 2009 and as a result my neck and top of my back is still broken in 4 places held in by fibrous tissue. It is apparently too much of a risk to try and operate to sort out the problem and besides the vertebrae are too far apart to fuse together. The prognosis? "You will always have pain, you will have problems later in life but to stave that off, you need to stay fit. If you don't stay fit you will be crippled in a few years time."
I am still relatively young (46), have a young family and have always been physically fit so not staying fit, is not an option.
You will have also noticed that I was really excited having managed to gain a place in The Outlaw Ironman distance triathlon just a few weeks ago, and therefore I knew I needed to get cycle fit again. My accident was during a cycling race so emotionally and physically it had taken me time to get back onto the bike but get back onto it I had. I was pretty confident that my running had improved overall strength on the bike. For the first few years after the accident, riding a bike caused me a great deal of pain in my neck and back., even in a short ride. However, in the summer of last year this seemed to have improved. I didn't appear to have any problems (or so it seemed), when I rode my bike for up to 90 minutes.
However, the "Tuesday Ride" just showed that whilst I was able to cope with the effort on the day, the following day was another story. By the time the Wednesday evening arrived I was "Crying" in pain with my back and neck. This wasn't the first time. It had happened on three different occasions when I had completed a longer ride. It was time for me to make a hard decision. Keep persevering and see if I could break through or stop riding? I was in immense pain. I still remember what scale 10 pain was on the scale of 1 - 10 (10 being the worst ever) and for me "crying" pain is at 8 on the scale. I decided not to ride. I am really concerned about the long term damage I'm doing to myself long term and for the experts out there pain is a sign that maybe I am asking my body to do something it just cannot do anymore. Is that correct?
You may not think it that it should've been a hard decision (bearing in mind it was a bike crash that caused the problems in the first place) but the fact is, I have been involved in cycling circles for 25 years. Riding as a competitor with a reasonable amount of amateur success, an event organiser (I've organised three national cycling events) or as a cycling coach. Therefore, to make the decision not to ride or compete again was a hard one. Some have said,
"Why not ride for fun?" and that is a valid question but for me, I have always raced and would find it hard not to have a race goal? Yes, I could do short distance Time Trials on less than 90 minutes training a day and with the use of a turbo trainer, could compete at a reasonably good level but.......the running has caught my imagination again and I love being outdoors in the fantastic countryside that I am blessed to live in. Pounding away on my turbo trainer is so far removed from that, it's time for a change both from a pain and long term preservation point of view as well as for my sanity.
Ultra running has always been in my make up. I used to run in my teens and entered my first marathon as soon as I could at 18. I then went on to run various race distances with the "South Down Way 80 mile race" in the late 1980's and it was something I always figured I would like to return to one day. So, that is what I am going to do. Now is the time. I won't be fast but I will enjoy it and it will keep me fit. I find that off road running is slower and less pounding on my body and assists in my posture.
I will remain in good contact with my cycling friends by continuing to coach and attend races. My son James competes at national level and is a National Age Group Champion and my wife has just returned to cycle sport so with them together and a few other Juniors I also coach, I will still be involved with the sport (albeit not a competitor myself)
My goal from now though is Ultra Running.
I have cancelled my entry into the Marazion and Outlaw Triathlons which will allow others to compete.
I have entered the Endurance Life 44 mile Classic Quarter event on 8th June 2013 and the Mud Crew Plague 62 mile event in August and hoping to get a cancellation place in the Montane Lakeland 50 miler when it opens again on 1st May 2013.
I am also going to try and join the Cornwall based Mud Crew Trail Running Team.
See you out there on the trails and in the main, on the Cornwall Coast path. Decision made.
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