The last couple of months haven’t exactly gone to plan triathlon wise. I picked up a shoulder injury a week or so before my first race of the season in Tadcaster. At the time I thought it was just a little niggle so carried on pretty much as normal, just monitoring it to see if it got any worse, which unfortunately it did. It got to the point where I could only swim 400m in some discomfort before it became really painful.
As I said in my last blog, I took the decision to not race the nationals in Strathclyde, but hoped to be back for Blenheim and Windsor at the beginning of June. However, injuries generally don’t get better as quickly as you’d like, and there aren’t any short cuts to proper rehabilitation. After seeing the physio a couple of times we realised that both Blenheim and Windsor were not on the cards and the London Triathlon on August 8th would be my next main aim.
There had been concerns that I’d torn a muscle in my shoulder but thankfully this isn’t the case, as it reacted well to acupuncture. Without getting all scientific, I’d basically been using my left shoulder more than I should have been when swimming. As my lower left sided lats are quite weak, I had been compensating by using my upper shoulder more, causing tightness and severe discomfort. It’s now a case of slowly building up my lats and training them to work when I’m swimming, and letting my shoulder muscles relax, which is not easy!
Things have been pretty slow going, but there is definite progress, so things are moving in the right direction. There’s never a good time to get an injury, but right at the start of the season is probably the worst time possible! Still, at least my season isn’t over and there are more race days to look forward to in 2010! And once all the correct muscles are firing, I’ll be back faster and stronger than ever which is always good!
Sometimes what initially seems like a couple of steps backwards can actually turn out to be a big step forward given time. Hindsight truly is a beautiful thing, when you can look back and see what patience and time can bring.
Hope you are all enjoying the warmth and have a great summer whatever your plans.
Hocks.