Tendinopathy, muscle tear and 5 weeks of no running

On the Monday morning after the 500km ride, I could not cycle to work and limped around the office. On the Tuesday, I (stupidly) joined in a 5- a side football (soccer) tournament that we had organised through work. Of course, this did not improve the state of my leg. I was icing every day and limping worse and worse. On Sunday, a week after the ride, we took the kids to a water park. My three year old was happily swimming along the lazy river when a group of adults on rubber rings approached quickly from behind him. So that they did not float over the top of my son and drown him, I sprinted, jumped in the water, grabbed him and pushed the rubber rings away with… you guessed it… my left leg. Somewhere during that ‘motherly reaction’  there came a sharp stabbing pain in my calf muscle.

A sports physiotherapist diagnosed a tendinopathy and a torn calf muscle a few days later.

For the rest of the month of October I did not cycle or run. The only training I could do was to swim with a pull-buoy between my legs. So, I did what many triathletes and cyclists do when they can’t train – I spent money on new gear! I bought a beautiful new bike. A Swift Carbon Neurogen, a bit like the one below.

I cycled to work twice, jogged 4km very slowly and could just about swim kick before we left for Taiwan for the Ironman 70.3 race on the 2^nd November