Fitness Update

As you may have read in my earlier blog post, I have been struggling recently with injury. It started with tendonitis in my right knee. I have since learnt that this is quite common in cyclists and is due to the knee-cap not tracking correctly during the pedal stroke. This can be due to issues with bike fitting (I "fitted" my own bike using various techniques that I have read about. On the whole I am happy with it but there is a nagging doubt that a professional might be able to do it "better". Unfortunately, time, geography and budget will probably prevent this from happening before the ride). The good news is that the knee is feeling a lot better. I have been doing the R-I-C-E as often as I can and have stayed off the bike a bit. I would say the knee is now back to around 85% of it's maximum, compared with the 30% of a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the knee has not been my only injury problem of late. I have also been struggling with a groin strain. All joking aside, this has been really pretty painful. Bizarrely, about the only time it didn't really bother me was when I was on the bike. This is because the range of motion is so isolated and in just a straight up and down plane. However, almost any other type of movement (including getting up from sitting, getting in and out of the car, turning or lifting) caused significant discomfort. This was driving me crazy and was making me very grumpy (even more than usual!).

I decided that I needed to do something about it. After already having time off the bike due to the knee problem, I could feel the hard earned fitness leaking away. I was loathed to let it all disappear! I ended up telephoning the Sports Injury Clinic at Hampden Park, Glasgow. For those who don't know this is Scotland's national football stadium. The clinic is available to all, professionals and amateurs alike. I telephoned in the morning and an appointment was arranged for later the same day. The clinic is very swish and modern. It is located right in the bowels of Hampden, below the football museum.

I was seen by a very nice physio called Jim, who listened carefully to my history and went through a diagnostic process. This included examining my posture and getting me to perform some stretch and strength tests. He ruled out that I had a hernia and located the problem as one of the small muscles/ tendons/ ligaments (sorry, I forget which) attached to the main groin muscle. He gave me some deep massage and then stretched out the groin muscle. As he was doing this it gave a click and felt immediately much better! I am pleased to report that it has been infinitely better ever since.

I am hoping that this means my bad luck with injuries is all behind me but we will have to wait and see. If nothing else, it has served as an interesting exercise with regard to monitoring my stress levels. During my enforced inactivity I became acutely aware of the targets I had set myself. I was also aware of the (self imposed) burden of pressure I was under. The sponsorship I have raised so far is awesome and thanks to all who have contributed, but it has obviously (however sub-consciously) come with some weight of expectation. I will need to try and manage this as the ride approaches...

Take care and keep stretching yourself,

Col.