Turnhout Epilogue - the Day After

 

After a good trip back from Belgium I've had time to look back over the weekend's achievements.  Apart from finding it difficult to walk or carry anything, and having a glowing face from two days outdoors in roasting heat, I seem to be in one piece, and one silver medal the richer.

I began in March with the aim of getting a good double decathlon PB with the benefit of scoring in a new age group.  But after a much slower recovery from my ankle op than anticipated, and then a hamstring tear three weeks before the event, it seemed unlikely that I would finish, and fitness levels were far too low to consider a good score even if I did.  So by matching my PB from 4 years ago, when I was pretty fit, I think that means that I am ahead of the age graders.

All this can only mean one thing.  The Road to Helsinki and the World Indoor Tetradecathlon Championships begins here!

D-day + 1

Day 2 - Non-stop Action and Exhaustion

The events came thick and fast today.  No time to be writing updates during the day unfortunately.

110m Hurdles 22.66
Discus 20.82
200m 28.46 season's best, despite barely being able to walk to the start area to warm up
Pole Vault 2.20
3000m 13'52 even hotter than yesterday's 5000
400m hurdles 80.2
Javelin 27.85
1500m 6'05
Triple jump 8.66
10000m a very painful 56'53

At the end of the competition, a Silver medal with total points 8929.  EXACTLY the same as my M50 score 4 years ago in Yeovil.

D-day part 2

The lack of fitness is starting to tell but day one is over.
800m shocking 2'55
High jump 1.35
400m 67.0
Hammer 20.65 PB!
Steeplechase 16'16
Points at the end of day 1: 4614
Sore but mobile.

D-day part 1

First five events done and dusted. Hamstring still intact so far.
100m 13.71
Long jump 4.18
200 hurdles disaster 37.44
Shot 7.54
5000 very hot 24.28
2344 points so far.

D-1 Almost on the starting blocks

8.30 am start. 12.15 ferry. Everything went smoothly until the 2 hour traffic jam at Antwerp. We missed the flag parade but made it to the registration and food. One night to go.

D-2 Nutrition

Well that's food sorted for the weekend.

D-4 Revising Targets

Let's Get Real

Sadly this is not going to be the explosive young M-55 performance that was in my dreams.  I had vaguely entertained hopes of a 10,000+ score if everything went well.  Then I thought at least I'd want to beat my M50 PB of 8929.  But with sprints - my best events - needing to be run very conservatively, and my fitness level being so low, it's time to be more realistic.  If I finish, it's looking like 7600 is possible :-(

D-7 Tiptoeing Gently

In a week's time I will step on the Track to start the 100m.  I hope.

So after 2 weeks of almost complete rest, during a weekend trip to Plymouth, I started a succession of laps with 10s effort, 10s easy at the Brickfields track.  Beginning with jog/walk, I finally concluded with a 95s lap at around 400m/5k pace.

Still in one piece.

D-14 An Unwelcome Upgrade

Osteopath 1

I managed to get to see Simon, the osteopath, on Tuesday, 5 days after the injury.  I'd been gently exercising on a gym bike and focusing on my upper body to avoid banging my head against a solid object.  He pushed and prodded, I yelped and nodded, and he concluded it was probably a grade 1 hamstring tear.  Some very welcome massage was accompanied by advice to keep on gently cycling and doing some stretches.

Osteopath 2

The next session with Simon was just 3 days later.  Unfortunately the news was not good.  The massage had, unbeknown to me, brought out some bruising below the injury.  After another vigorous massage, the bruising had moved to just behind my knee and spread.

Upgraded

The presence of blood under the skin 8 days after the injury means it was going to be upgraded to a Grade 2 tear.  21 days to heal.

It's OK.  It's 22 days from the injury to the start of the competition.

At least I get several of the hamstringy things over with in the first three events - 100m, Long Jump, and 200m Hurdles.  What could possibly go wrong?

D-22 Injury!

I set out to do 6x150 with Basingstoke sprinters Ray, Rob and Sean today.  Ray and I being a bit (a lot) older took a 10m head start.  The first two 140m reps took 21 and 20s - pretty rapid, but the 5-6 minute recovery was plenty.  On the third - another 20s, we turned around to find Rob pulled up with a hamstring problem.  Then on the fourth rep, exactly the same happened to me.

I'm now sitting with strapping and ice, and will have to see whether any bruising comes out.  It's painful, but probably only a grade 1 strain (fingers crossed), so every chance of a recovery in the 3 weeks that remain.

I've heard that this is the time to sample a good single malt.

D-26 The Training Intensifies

Track Progress

At last I've managed to start stringing some sessions together, sometimes even managing three or four in a week.  That's not to say that the results are very encouraging yet.

At the beginning of the month I attempted 6x100 off 1 minute, 4x200 off 2, and 3x300 off 3.  As I was trying to do this while a live competition was underway, I struggled to get good markers for the 200 while keeping out of everyone's way.  That didn't stop me collapsing after just one 300.Fast forward to two days ago, and I managed to complete 10x100, 5x200, and 3x300 on similar if slow timings.  I guess that's progress.

I attempted a 3k on a treadmill last week at 4:30 pace, but the little voice kept telling me to turn off the machine, and I gave up at 2k. Tonight, I told the little voice where to go, and battled through to a 13:30 3k.  Not really much to be proud of.

Field Revolution

Before the track work I've tried to work on the throws with limited success.  However, when no one was looking I attempted a spin for the hammer and on the second attempt gained an extra couple of metres.  Five more goes and all in the sector give me hope that I may actually be able to improve on something.

I haven't dared attempt LJ or PV yet, and I won't try TJ until event 19.  However, tomorrow the aim is to set up the 200 hurdles, the closest I get to an enjoyable jump race.

A Podium in Sight?

A couple of weeks ago, the number of competitors in my age group fell to 3 - a podium finish would be possible as long as I finished.  Then my training partner John Dickinson decided to enter, and we were back to 4. But in the blink of an eye, another competitor has dropped out, so it will be two Brits versus a very fast Yukio Sasano from Japan.

D-57 Start of Winter Training

After an infuriating few weeks of trying to think myself fit, and instead eating myself fat, the training has resumed.  The steroid injection didn't seem to make much difference until I resumed training, and then magically the pain seemed to ease.  Counterintuitive, but pleasing.

Little by little, I've started to build up some kind of winter training regime, with some cycling, weights work in the gym, and tentative steps on the track.  But since it's summer, the lure of competition is irresistible.

On 12 June, I turned up at a Vets match and after carefully ensuring that I could take off without impact to the dodgy foot, I competed in the high jump.  With a season's best equalling 1.40, I managed 2nd in the M50, and left with a big smile.

On 17 June the entire Fleet & Crookham AC athletics contingent turned up for a Southern Athletics League match.  That is, all three of us, all with some kind of injury, and needing to officiate two events and compete in around 16 of them.  It was a roasting Sunday, and after arriving at the Winchester track we carefully placed our bags under a shady tree and began our travails.  For me, it went something like this:

• High Jump (1.35)
• Hammer (16.41)
• Shot (6.something)
• Officiate women's javelin
• Javelin (24.58)
• Officiate women's triple jump
• 1500m (6:38.7 - thankfully recorded under someone else's name, which will teach him not to get injured)
• Discus (18.46)
• And then return to the shady tree, 4 hours after we'd put the bags there.

I now have a Fleet & Crookham vest permanently etched onto my back, despite the application of sun cream.  Not much reward for 6 mediocre performances.

Back on the training track again this week, the long slog to regain fitness begins.  At least there's some encouragement from my session last night: 3 sets of 3x300.  2 minutes between each rep, 5 minutes between each set.  I managed to complete the session, averaging around 62-63 s.  Ideally they'd all be below 60, but at least I have a starting point to work from.

D-82 - Steroids!

Hell's Bells

It's been a bit up and down since the first session back on track a month ago.  I followed up a few days later with 2k on a treadmill, and then 2 days after that a 30 minute cardio session on a bike.  And then came the pain.  A sharp impingement pain that had me dragging my ankle and grunting like Quasimodo.

Not to be deterred, I got back on the treadmill a few days later after the pain had subsided and happily knocked out 3k.  The following day I hit the track again with another set of 5x 400, this time upping the pace a bit.  Two days later, the pain was back, and I decided it was time to revisit the consultant.

In the meantime, I managed to compete in an SAL match.  5 personal worsts is better than none, with point scoring in the standing high jump, shot, discus, javelin and hammer.  Looks like some upper body work is also needed.

Consultant: Synovitis is the tentative diagnosis - inflammation of the tissues in the joint, rather than any further bone problems.  Another scan was booked for yesterday.  In the meantime, I wanted to make sure there was something to see on the scan, so on Saturday I had another little 5x400 off 1 minute track session to punish my joint a bit more.  I can see there's a long way to go...

1:30 - oops too fast for starters
1:38 - about right
1:38 - about right
1:43 - getting tired
1:45 - lost it!

When I can do 10 at 1:30, I'll feel reasonably prepared for the middle distance part of the icosathlon.  Then it'll just be the sprints to sort out.  And the jumps.  And throws.  Ummm... hurdles.

So yesterday I had my ultrasound scan, and some inflammation was detected, so they've pumped my ankle full of steroids.  Now it's time to rest.  Again grrrr.

D-114 - Back on Track

A first mile(and a bit)stone

"You can start running on a stable surface 6 weeks after the op", he said.  So 6 weeks to the day, I headed to the Basingstoke track with some trepidation.  Not least because after 3 weeks, the improvement to my right foot had halted, and I was starting to get twinges again.

Lap 1 - very gentle, 2:30
Lap 2 - felt OK, 2:15
Lap 3 - feeling more confident, 2:00
Lap 4 - time to take off the trackie, 1:55
Lap 5 - is that a twinge? 1:50

Not a bad start.

PS
No ill effects on Friday, but after a heavy gym session on Saturday morning and an hour of standing at the local off licence wine tasting in the afternoon, I could barely walk home with bags of wine in tow.  What have I done wrong? Is it the track, the gym, or the wine?

D-149 - Impatient Outpatient

Forwards several steps, backwards a few?

I was walking fine after the op, but I did what I was told and used the crutches to keep weight of the foot.

24 hours later and still nothing hurt and no painkillers.  Surely the anaesthetic had worn off by now.  But I behaved.

48 hours later, and there was, admittedly a bit of a twinge, but I got a lift to the gym and worked my upper body.

Yesterday, I decided I could do an emergency stop, so drove to the gym.  Upper body had forgotten what workouts were, and was complaining.  I also managed some one legged rowing at a fair pace.

This morning was time to change the dressings and uncover the horror.  I'm hideously bruised, but unlike after my last hurried recovery from a shoulder arthroscopy, there was no gore.  Until I changed the dressing, and the flood gates threatened to open on one of the wounds.

I quickly covered it up and pretended not to see anything.

Back to work tomorrow - I can't malinga any longa.

D-155 - The Journey Starts Here

The Destination

In a little over 5 months, the World Icosathlon Championships begins in Turnhout, Belgium.  I last competed in the 2013 championships in Yeovil, England, and much to my surprise, won my M50 age group category scoring a very modest 8929 points.  I was unable to defend the title in 2015 due to injury, but in May I turn 55, so a new challenge awaits.

After a nondescript 2016, winter training was starting to improve and I entered the British Indoor Pentathlon Championships.  Then just 10 days before the event, my left ankle flared up after some speed training leaving me unable to walk for two days.  I took part nevertheless, and started with a near-to-PB performance in the hurdles (that's not saying much, BTW) before the pain returned, and I had to quit.

Joint Mice

My feet have been a pain for several years so I bit the bullet, saw a consultant and had some MRI scans.  Worryingly, there wasn't much wrong with the left foot, but the right had significant damage, and there was a suspicion of loose bodies, or 'joint mice' as they're affectionately known.

 

Yesterday was the day of reckoning. Two hours out cold while my left ankle was pumped with steroids to shut it up, and from my right ankle the joint mice were evicted - a pair as it turns out.  Some judicious hacking away of superfluous bone finished the job, and now I'm all glued back together again, thankfully without the need for the terrifyingly-titled microfractures.  That's supposed to mean recovery will be quicker.

The New Feet

 

It's funny how the consultant says one thing, and you hear another.  I'm sure I was expecting to be driving by tomorrow and back on the track in a few weeks time.  However, I got a very stern look when I suggested I'd drive to my follow up appointment in a fortnight.  I fear this may be a long and winding road to Turnhout...