Early days
After my crash, during the Helvellyn Triathlon on the 3rd September, my body was, or at least felt, completely broken. I literally couldn't move for the first 4 days, I was in a morphine and drug cocktail induced haze and the pain was completely indescribable, such was its magnitude.
However, one thing that never, ever entered my mind was "how will I ever recover"? Instead, I was of the thinking that every new day brought me one day closer to recovery. Granted, at the time I had no idea when I would ever be able to get up and move around pain free, let alone train again. But by the following Friday, the physio on the Major Trauma Ward had managed to help me to sit up on the edge of my hospital bed. Through sheer determination, by the following Monday I was able to get out of bed (assisted) and shuffle to the bedside chair and the following day I was able to do it unassisted. I was determined not to be downhearted.
During my stay in hospital my family, close friends and team mates at Invictus Triathlon Club rallied round and were brilliant, helping not only myself but helping Ruth too. Organising lifts for Ruth to the hospital, taking over my Head Coach duties, I had a regular stream of visitors (not to mention all the sweets). My mum also came up from Reading and stayed with Ruth and Hannah to help with Hannah's 13th birthday party.
When I got home my recovery continued to be nursed along, with Ruth and Hannah being amazing in helping my recovery. Whether it was Ruth drying me after a shower, or pulling me up so I could get to the edge of the bed, or Hannah swapping beds with me because I could only sleep sat upright, I felt like I was making improvements every few days.
Tentative steps
Not being one to take things lying down, after a few weeks I took my first tentative steps outside. I decided to set myself the challenge of walking around the block, a whole 400m. Those first few walks took me literally 40 odd minutes and I was having to stop every few metres to rest my body. I was still wracked with pain but I had to do something, anything. One of the things I kept thinking about during this time were my team mates and how, as a coach, I still had an example to set. Although taking a step away from the club in order to convalesc, I still kept one eye on the members and what they were doing and I thought that if I can try and demonstrate a determination to recover, it may give strength and encouragement to some of the members, should they need it.
Gradually, over the coming weeks and months I made small improvements, slowly increasing my walks, albeit they were still a shuffle and still very painful. By the time we reached late November I was feeling a lot better and thinking about a return to work, even if just to get some sense of normality.
Return to training, onwards and upwards
At the beginning of December, 3 months to the day since my crash I returned to work, and with it, decided to try and start rebuilding some fitness again. I also made a slow return to coaching and I think it was being at those first few sessions that really gave me the spark and determination to push my recovery.
I borrowed some dumbells and a kettle bell and started doing some strength work. However, one that really shocked and surprised me was just how weak I had become. I had stopped lifting heavy weights after I started triathlon in 2008, but I'd carried on doing some basic strength work, so when it came to trying to do a press up and finding that I literally couldn't do a single one as a result of the amount of trauma that my body had gone through, I was really surprised. But I've persevered and I'm making slow progress.
I also started doing some very short runs and a few turbo sessions too. I could see how some of our club members were training and pushing themselves and I fed off the buzz that was around the club. My runs gradually increased and I could see very small gains after most of my runs. Throughout this time I did my training away from the club, so I could focus purely on what I was doing, working on my mental strength and making sure I was also keeping the correct technique, but I was looking forward to returning to the club sessions and being part of the vibe again.
We're now at the end of the first week of 2018 and I've just completed my first full week of training. I even managed a swim (of sorts). I'm under no illusions as to how much further I still need to go in order to get back to some sort of full fitness and I know it's going to be a very long road that will no doubt test me physically and mentally to my limit. But I know that being surrounded by so many team mates who are all on their own individual journeys, I know I'll get there. It might not be something that any of us readily think about, but it's hard to explain or emphasise just how important it can be to train in a club where we can all feed off each others enthusiasm. Without my family and team mates I'd still recover, but I think it'd be much, much slower and I'd struggle to get out and do the hard work, but I honestly think my team mates have been and will continue to be an absolutely invaluable part of my recovery.
If anyone's reading this, who isn't already part of a club, get on Google and find one local to you. It's possibly the best thing you'll ever do in your sporting life. If you are already part of a club, get down to as many training sessions as you can. You'll get pushed harder to improve, you'll motivate others and you'll get some coaching that will help you improve. Not to mention the great buzz that you can get from training in a group environment. I guarantee that your results will almost certainly be better than if you train away from the club.
I feel like I've finally been able to start training for the Lakeland 50 ultra marathon and with the help of my coaching knowledge, great team mates and a supportive family I'm confident I'll make it.
If you'd like to speak more about your goals and ambitions and how I can help you on your triathlon journey, click on the link below which will take you to my coaching Facebook page, where I can be contacted through
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