English
We are now in the month of September and I thought it was only fair that I let everyone who have followed my career and watched me race over the years know why I haven’t been racing this season. It’s been a tough time for me with injuries and it took a lot of investigations to finally figure out why over the last 4 years I have struggled with my injuries and have trained and raced on pain that no-one would have seen. I dealt with it well and hide a lot with a smile but sometimes I would turn up to a race a wonder if I would even stand on the start line.
If the travel was long and I was sitting for long periods of time I would get off a bus or plane and be limping with sciatic nerve pain or a numb leg. I would continuously be stretching strengthening and doing everything in my power to get myself to the start. A lot of the time it was a mental battle and my focus was lost in a cloud of worry which was all coming from my back. In 2005 & 2006 I had two really bad episodes of disc bulges which at stages had me crawling to the toilet and not being able to stand up with the pain. I over came this with bed rest and treatment and was determined to bounce back in 2007 as I knew I wasn’t finished yet…
After my first big win of the 2007 season at St-Anthonys I sat down after breaking the course record and running Julie Dibens and Sarah Haskins down from 1 minute 20sec back and cried. I couldn’t believe after all that I had been through I could bounce back like that. I continued to do well that year and placed 2nd & 3rd in world cups, won the silver at the world duathlon and then won The London triathlon. Although I was pleased I knew I couldn’t continue at this rate with problems occurring all the time with my back pain and I felt like I was running on one leg. I always said to myself imagine what I could do if I had full strength in both legs.
You see when your nerve is being compressed by bulging or torn disc and degenerative disc disease you don’t have the full power in the affected muscles so your always running oddly and not pushing off properly. I got away with it and still looked to run well in races because of my strong running background but I felt I could run faster and would have loved to have shown that to myself.
After long investigations I have found recently that I have a torn Disc at L4 level and Not much disc left at L5. This will require a fusion at L5 level and disc replacement at L4. I also found out recently that I have a fracture at L4 which explains the pain I have endured for a long while, as I did try to keep up some sort of running to maintain fitness for a while. However that has now come to a stop and even walking hurts it. So I’m very limited to what I can do for a while. I have my operation this Friday the 19th September and must admit am a little nervous about it but my surgeon is good and has re-assured me that I will come out better once I have healed.
I feel like I’m not finished racing yet, some might say I’m crazy but my mind is still willing. I will just have to wait to see how the re-hab goes before I can make any decisions about my sporting future.
I will keep you up to date with whats happening and hope this helps all you athletes out there how important core work is at a young age. I do think it can run in the family too as I have a family history of back problems so thanks guys. Just kidding!
Best wishes to everyone for the rest of the season and happy training.
Mish
Suffer with exactly the same problem. Which effectively shortened the time and effort I am able to exert on bike and road.
Sorry to hear of your discomfort. I’ve crawled upstairs to the toilet and know how debilitating disc problems are.
Best of luck with your recovery.
michelle sorry to hear about your terrible last couple of years and had wondered why you were not racing around the circuit.you have been badly missed and as one of GB top ladies we all would love to see you back fit and healthy.best wishes for your up and coming operation, hope all goes well and your recovery is speedy.
currently i have been injured with a back injury for 18 months now and have not raced all season and tomorrow 18-9-08 have a MRI scan o my back to hopefully find the problem. as an average age grouper have missed it terribly so can only imagine a class elite athlete like you must have gone through.
as i said before your a world class athlete which the sport has missed and we all await your speedy return to our sport. best wishes , will be thinking of you on friday. take care.
Thanks Brian I appreciate your kind words and will keep everybody updated on how it goes. I hope you are maintaining as much fitness as you possibly can without too much discomfort and wish you all the best for your training and racing. That is if you are still able to do this.
Mish
Paul,
Thank you very much for your message. It really does make me happy to read such nice comments like yours and to know that people still know of me! LOL I feel like its been so long since I raced. I do miss it and hope to come back.
However you mention you have similar problems and im sorry to hear this. I think bad problems are common in what we do with the bike/run combination. I wish you all the best with you MRI which is today and let me know what they find I would be very interested. Its difficult to deal with back injuries so my sympathy goes out to you. Good luck to you too Paul I wish you all the best and hope to hear from you soon.
Mish
thanks mish for your message, yes had scan tonight , little scary in the tunnel and boy does it make a noise. so hopefully some time next week will get to know what the problem is. just completed my third hour swim session in about 2 months, i ache in every position now as roughly the session was around 2500 meters. we are coached at my local gym where i do lts of my training( esporta denton manchester) by jim rogers. jim and his wife sylvia both represented GB in commonwealth and world i think swimming meets back in the late 60`s and 70`s and even in their late 50`s now still swim very well. jim also coached the parolympic (is that spelt right) GB team to sydney in 2000, so we are well looked after, which gives me a little edge when i race.
when you get back racing and if you enter salford if staged again will see the management if you could use the gyms facilities if it suits your preperation. it be nice to watch or even swim or train with you .
back to my back have done a lot last 2 years. completed first ironman in 12 hrs 28. was on for early eleven hrs but the last 13 miles of the marathon was a very long way. that year represented GB in the world long course , where bella won in australia completing the .75 ironman in 9 hours. again got to 12 miles on run and last 6 was a very long way but in 100 deg temp wilted very badly.pleasing aspect was in the top 100 out of the water including the elite.
then last year competed again for GB at the european champs in braschatt and managing again to break 5 hrs for for half ironman after riding 25 miles in agony with my back. then month later did the worlds in lorient where on a tougher course just missed 5 hrs by few minutes and again hampered with my back. so have a taste for wearing the vest and was gutted to miss almere this year.
i think you entered and won liverpool in 2004(ish) i set my pb their of 2.18 but think it was short.
anyway enough boring you, it shows your character and attitude as day before your operation your replying to myself and brian.
i really hope all goes well and your back well and healthy again very soon. take care best wishes for tomorrow. paul.
hi michelle. hope all went well yesterday, my thoughts were with you all day. hope its not too painfull , and in hospital very long. have a speedy recovery, rest and come back even stronger.
look after yourself take it easy and will message you soon after you have had time to rest. xxxxxxxxxxx paul.
hi michelle, i have just read your last blog entry after you had left hospital, wow what scary news of your latest scan and the operation sounded a nightmare. how are you now, i hope you are well and getting well and stronger day by day. have you any idea how long it will take to recover, and wil you be able to compete or do any sport in the future. i and we all hope you can and marvel at watching you fantastic performances again when you are able.
iam not sure and not important if you seen my last comments to you before and during you operation. my scan results have come back, not as bad as yours but have at least 1 slipped disc, my sacriac illiat joint needs attention.i am struggling bad at the moment as my back locked on sunday wjen lifting up the newspaper, something so silly but its so painful.i have to have injections and possibly surgery which i dont really want to have.
on a lighter note, my swim coach thinks he tried to sell you a car number plate a few years back, can you remember. the plate was t121ath . i have that plate and made the first 1 and 2 into a r so reads triath. i have been stopped by the police once as the plate is illegal the letters are to close.
you take care and get well soon. paul.