COVID Interlude - Races to date in 2022 and 2023
A COVID interlude. There is more to come over the coming months to bring you fully up to date on my recovery . I thought I would take this opportunity however, to bring you up to speed on races that I have completed since CXTRI Solo Point Five in 2022 as I progress towards hopefully competing in the full Celtman in 2024
I continued racing in 2022 as I was raising money for The Oxygen Works and Headway Highland. Phenomenally, you generous people donated in excess of £3,200 for the 2 charities that were instrumental in my recovery….and help an incredible amount of people across the region. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I competed in the Loch Ness Marathon in October and completed it in 4hrs 4 minutes. My aim was to go sub-4, but for a couple of reasons I didn’t quite manage it. Training had gone really well, and I was feeling really confident going in. It was my first Marathon however, and on reflection it’s a massive learning curve. I had a pace and time in mind, but despite holding back massively at the start given how fast others were starting, I still went off slightly too quick per k. It’s downhill as well, which makes judging pacing hard. I went through halfway feeling really good, but the watch was telling me too quick. 3rd quarter started to get tough, but I was holding the pace. Then the last quarter!! I read somewhere (after the event helpfully;) That it’s all about your pacing in the first 30k to run a strong last 10k. I went the wrong way. Despite walking Dores hill and Scaniport to conserve energy and body, the back went with 7k to go as I ran down the hill to the Tesco roundabout. I walked, tried to run and then resigned myself to a very slow finish. At the roundabout however, a friend (Thanks Lindsey :)) saw me and just said walk to the next aid station, see you feel and take it from their. As you may have gathered from this blog I am quite determined! So despite being in a lot of pain I ran the run in. Not pretty! But I finished. And yes, I’d entered this year’s race within 24hrs determined to beat 4 hours.
Unfortunately, the damage I caused to my hamstring (as I finally figured out after acupuncture at the Inverness Therapy Clinic , thanks Margaret) meant the rest of the year was a right off, including the Dava Way 50k which was to be my final fundraising event of the year. But out of every situation you can always find positives. Acupuncture, after sorting out my leg, was then turned to my brain injury. And what an amazing impact it has had on that.
The learning from the Marathon lead to me completing 2 excellent performances in the first part of 2023. In the Inverness Half Marathon in March this year a super steady start lead to pace improvements throughout the race and a “comfortable 1.48”. My fastest time since the accident.
And I completed the Etape Loch Ness bicycle race in 3.16 feeling really strong after getting my pacing right and starting off comfortably and not too fast. And although it was my 3rd fastest time, the Northly wind had people estimating it was adding on 10mins to average times. So that puts my time on a par with my fastest. Delighted.
And onto the 3rd race of the year, the Highland Cross. I had completed the race in 2018, one week before my accident. The Cross for those of you that don’t know is a gnarly 19mile trail run from Morvich to Cannich on the West Coast followed by a fast 30-mile bike on tarmac into Beauly on the East Coast. This was quite a big one for me as you might imagine. I ended up in a team with my friend Pete Fenwick, who has previously won it, and Richard Hargrave, another friend who is also a rapid triathlete. No pressure then ;) To be honest I was just so happy to be there given all I had been through. The words of the consultant that said I may never walk again after the accident are never far from my thoughts and certainly doing the Cross brought that home big style. I was going to soak this all up. I have a stupid smile on my face doing any event now, and this was no exception. And the weather was perfect. The UK was experiencing its hottest June on record and the weather in the Northwest of Scotland was no exception.
My TT bike had given up the ghost in the weeks leading up to the race, but I had managed to buy a second hand one off my friend Ewan. After the purchase I had spent some time messing around with saddles to get the right one on the bike (more on that later) but I was set. I picked up Pete and Richard and we headed out to Beauly on race day to deposit the bikes in trucks that would take them to transition in Cannich. We would then have my van at the finish so we could get home. We then hopped on buses to get to Morvich to start the run at 1100hrs.
I’m not going to lie. I wasn’t quite as fit as I’d like to be (when are we!) but I was in reasonable shape. I had my pacing planned and nutrition strategy sorted. So I set off at a very steady pace as I had done in the previous races this year. I was feeling good and started to pass people as we climbed the monster hill after 7k. It was warm so a lot of people were suffering early. I was no exception but due to my steady start felt ok. I was walking the steep bits and running the flats. Then 7k from the end disaster!! As I passed some walkers, who start 2 hours ahead of runners, and we had both passed each other words of encouragement….bang!! I was flat on my face. It is rocky and in the moment of taking my attention off the trail I had caught a rock. The walkers were quickly over to me to see if I was ok. My immediate reaction was a few scrapes…I’m ok…. then I tried to move my right arm. It wouldn’t move. There were many expletives at this point.
What I didn’t divulge earlier, is that Lynne, one of the development workers at Headway Highland was doing a short film on my recovery from the accident as part of some training she was doing. The end of the film was going to be me crossing the line 5 years after the last time and the accident a week later. That was all I could think about. I’m not going to make it:( Incredibly, Anne Ross, one of the walkers (or my fairy godmother/guardian angel as I was quickly referring to her! ) had Ibuprofen in her first aid kit. I took 2 and within 4/5 minutes my arm began to move without too much pain. So after thinking I was going to have to DNF I set off determined to give it a try and made it to transition. I got there in pretty good time. I was amazingly only 15mins slower than the run 5 years earlier! I was in quite a bit of pain changing into my cycling shoes however (well one arm) and still thinking I might have to pull out. I took my time composing myself in transition and in the back of my mind I thought I’ll just try it and see. I really want to finish this!! As long as I can do this safely, I’ll give it a bash. I tired the bike in normal position, and it was agony. Then I thought maybe the Time Trial position. Which means you are not putting as much pressure on the elbows (or the bit that for me was very sore) And amazingly it was manageable. The right arm (injured one) stayed on the bar and the left was controlling steering and braking. I’m a qualified first aider so essentially, I was doing a running risk assessment on myself. I should say the Highland Cross volunteers were amazing at transition, and were amazingly helpful as they offered first aid etc. I was very focused however and determined to finish.
So onto the cycle. I know the route and was just checking off landmarks as I went. I had to stay in the time trial position as I couldn’t put any unnecessary pressure on the right elbow. Anyway, the saddle issue I mentioned earlier. I had been adjusting/changing saddles in the lead up to the race. It would appear that I didn’t tighten the saddle bolt up the last time I changed it. 8k into the bike I heard the noise of something falling off the bike. After a little bit of investigation and my saddle moving (it shouldn’t) I worked out what bolt had fallen off. So on top of everything else I couldn’t take my weight off the saddle. Again positives out of negative situations. Due to the arm issue this meant I wasn’t even tempted to put weight on the right arm. I got home. I crossed the line. Did a quick fist pump for Lynne and the camera, then quickly sought out First Aid…..as my saddle fell off hahaha. The doc checked me out, said suspected radial head damage and if it was still sore in the morning get it X-rayed at Raigmore. Lynne even had me getting interviewed on the radio as I was getting checked over! Pete had to drive us home due to the pain in my elbow.
Incredibly I had crossed the line in 5hrs and 7seconds and my bike split was only 9 minutes slower than 5 years ago. And we discovered the next day that we had been fastest local team…..just as well I got home ;)
Visiting Raigmore the next day after spending many months in there in 2018 was very surreal. Perhaps not quite the full circle story Lynne was looking for but there you go. I was actually delighted to be there fully compos mentis, given in A and E in 2018 I was in a coma and close to death! It’s amazing how experiences in our lives can put a whole new perspective on things.
I got an x-ray, the doc showed me a clean break on my radial head bone but incredibly a bone that was not displaced. I just asked, I have a Half Iron Man in 4 weeks…what do you reckon. All she said was, full recovery is 4-6 weeks and fit people generally recover more quickly. My response…..so you’re not saying no? She just said it’s not impossible, but you need to be careful. With this injury it’s not a cast and you are given a sling for a week. Then begin gently mobilising the arm. 1 week in I was back on my turbo, 1-2 weeks I did a few runs keeping the injured arm still and after 2 weeks I began swimming with the good arm. I won’t do anything stupid, but at this stage I am fully intending to complete the race. I certainly won’t be doing any PBs but just to be there taking part in this kind of stuff in that atmosphere will be enough for me :)
Racing, as always is never straight forward. You are always overcoming challenges and some level of adversity. It rarely goes exactly to plan. Resilience, planning and thinking on your feet are vital tools to develop if you are going to put yourself in these situations. And it’s a cliche, but every day is genuinely a school day. You are always learning things to take into the next race……and ultimately into life.
