This is a letter I wrote seven weeks ago after my six month follow up appointment with the surgeon who operated on my left hip last year. I was hoping I would be tearing up that letter and putting it in the bin, not typing it up and sending it out to friend, family and sponsors.
I am about to commence my fourth year of cycling and have been lucky enough to qualify for the WEMBO World Championship 24 hour solo race to be held in May, in Italy. This will be my fourth 24 hour solo race. My love for this sport began in April 2009 when I first rode a mountain bike on single track, after been advised to take a break from running due to ongoing knee injuries throughout my four year triathlon career. After watching Gordo smash himself and the field in the 24WSC on DVD I had a burning desire to go and race one. Come November I rocked up to the start line in Forrest determined to see if I could make it. My race plan was to ride until I felt like stopping and hope I could last the full 24 hours. However, when I was told in the wee hours of the night that I was in 2nd place I buried myself to try to get to first position. That didn’t happen but I walked (hobbled) away wondering how far I could go in this sport as I knew I had much to learn. Unfortunately my body took months to recover and six months later I had knee surgery.
My efforts at Forrest had qualified me to compete in the 24 hours of Adrenaline World Championships held in Canberra in early October. After a hampered six months with little training I put together an eight week program to get ready for the race. A great experience, I walked away from that race vowing never to enter a 24 when I wasn’t ready and there to win, I felt empty knowing I had much more to give. Thankfully that opportunity came in October 2011. Winning the Scott 24 hour was the highlight of what had been a pretty tough year. In February 2011 I was told to take six weeks off exercising as I had tendonitis in my hip. I did as instructed but the problem only got worse. Over the next five months I spent countless days away in Melbourne getting tests to try to figure out why I couldn’t lift my left leg more than 3cm’s off the ground. Unable to walk more than 50m I was prevented from fulfilling my job as a PE teacher and unable to do any physical exercise for most of this time. Physically, mentally and socially the injury took its toll. In July I had surgery on my hip which thankfully rectified the problem. Back on the bike a week after the surgery I made winning the Scott 24 hour my goal and with 12 weeks training that’s what happened.
It is now February 2012 and I am once again off the bike and on crutches. I am in my sixth week of rest and still unsure of when I will be back riding. The amount of training I did in those 12 weeks leading up to the Scott, racing the Scott, then continuing to race afterwards without the right amount of recovery has lead to hip tendonitis. I have been receiving Plasma Rich Platelet Injections to try to speed up the healing process in order to get ready for Italy.
I am 25 years old and cycling is a massive part of my life, I am a cyclist, it’s what I do, live and breathe. I still want to be riding when I am 75 years old but if I continue down this path of overtraining for endurance races then I won’t be riding when I am 35! After a great deal of thought and talking to close friends and family, and consulting with other trusted health professionals, I know it is the right thing for me to take a break from 24 hour racing. I cannot physically prepare for Italy in this short space of time, and I cannot mentally deal with another injury that would most likely arise from undertaking such a task. I am learning from my past mistakes and I need to wait for my body to heal properly this time.
Mentally I believe I am capable of winning more races I just need to wait for my body to catch up!! In order for me to achieve great things in this sport, which I believe I can do, I need to get my body right and be patient. Some people have said “why don’t you just go over and do a couple of laps and have a holiday” My response is any 24 hour race I enter from now on I am there to win, I am not there for the ‘experience’, I owe the sport more respect than and I am looking forward to.
A massive thanks to CORC for offering the return tickets to Italy, to HSR Seeds for offering to pay for Al’s airfare, to Ay-Up, Giant and Pure-Sport Nutrition for all their support over the past year or so. A massive thank you!
So for now I will focus on recovering and I honestly feel I am not too far away from that happening. Then I will begin cross training through swimming, running, riding and kayaking with the aim of competing in an ironman distance event or an adventure race at the end of the year. Throughout the year I aim to be competing in shorter distance mountain bike races, triathlons and multisport off-road races.
Thanks for reading!!
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