Felt amazing to have flown through Phase 1 : Non-weight bearing without any hiccups or any detrimental effects to the healing process. My immediate post-surgery goal was always to get through to Mon 21st Sept unscathed… and unscathed I managed. Fracture healing “perfectly”, mobility and flexibility are all progressing great and mentally feeling energised.

The visit to the fracture clinic at Addenbrooke was amazing… based on previous visits to Whipps Cross my expectations were that I would be at the hospital for an extended period. I had turned up 20mins early, which was not a problem, they sent me through to the x-ray team straight away. Seen within 15mins and then back to the Fracture Clinic 1 and again seen within 10mins. In total did not take longer than 1 hour and totally unexpected. Efficient and on point these guys…

What does Phase 2 encapsulate…?

Well, I can finally start putting weight through my leg. Funnily when I attempted to put weight through, albeit restricted, the muscle memory was definitely missing. My leg was not having any of it, instead deciding to collapse… luckily as I was on the crutches and caught the weight under my arm.

Outside of starting to introduce weight bearing through the leg in a controlled and consistent manner, meaning  deliberate, slow and restricted movements. No bounding downstairs, sharp twisting or turning nor attempting any running, but I can now start to recapture the muscle atrophy, flexibility and mobility lost to 6 weeks of inactivity. Compex sessions have helped but there is nothing quite like being able to walk, albeit aided, and start to balance yourself. It also allows me to ditch one of the crutches because any prolonged walking my right hand / arm was reacting adversely, the sooner I got onto two feet the better. Am under no illusion that after 8 weeks I am good to go.

He asked if I had been spinning on the bike and I said that I have avoided spinning as the temptation would probably have been too great and waiting 6 weeks would not be an issue if the consequences of pushing too hard to soon are either further surgery or longer periods of not walking.

Mental Approach…

Two-fold as I come to the end of the first couple of weeks in Phase 2. On reflection of Phase 1 I have learnt more about myself during those days, being able to control & accept patience which then helps to manage frustrations. There comes a point in your life, whether through age or through experience or a combination of both, that you see things in a greater context as opposed to your own immediate bubble. I came off a bike, fractured my pelvis and now, in the short-term, I cannot ride a bike and losing my fitness… acceptance of the whole situation leads me to one thought… big deal…! With COVID and all those linked dynamics and the understanding that this does not mean I cannot continue to reach my goals… I just have to be more patient and extend the timelines. It is nothing more than that… well, sure I have had a bit of pain and also imposed on a few close loved ones but that is my journey in life and as Lola always says ‘it wouldn’t be you Dad’ if I did not test the boundaries. So, on reflection I leave Phase 1 of this Acetabular Fracture on a positive note and move forward with those same thoughts through to Phase 2

Phase 2 for me is not about frustration at all… I have this calm acceptance that this journey and this injury is a long-term affair. I am constantly reminded by the professionals that these types of injuries can typically take 12-18 months before full rehabilitation… not days or weeks but months. Now typically I have the mindset to challenge that and to proactively do whatever is necessary to progress safely forward utilising all those knowledgeable people around like my coach, Dave LeGrys and Ben Wright. I also have a wealth of practical knowledge myself, so that dependency on others to instruct me is not a mandatory thing that I need. I will learn and enhance as we go but the fundamentals are all there… rest, nutrition, exercise, bike, recovery.

… and the biggest thing that helps create a balanced outlook, without doubt for me, is the ability to be allowed to exercise. Fitness and wellbeing are massively linked and without that connection I would be lost, I have to admit that here and now. The moment that surgeon said you can start to exercise with restricted weight bearing, that was the starting gun going off for a marathon event. Training and planning helping focus and the feeling of positivity, no frustration instead replaced by purpose, commitment and discipline.

Back on the bike… Not outside…!!!! Indoors, on the turbo and on Zwift for a little piece of normality. Ok the 300+w FTP is probably a third of the that now, but that does not bother me in any shape or form. I am loving the opportunity to train, to start all over again and I am totally confident that I will come back fitter, stronger and ready to challenge the British Nationals on the track.

For the here and now I am restricting myself to 20km per day only… staying in the 36-15/17t range and keeping the cadence around the 80rpm levels. My first couple of rides were very tentative, not because of restrictions in the mobility of the hip joint, I was trying to understand how the leg would react to the repetitive pedal stroke and whether I avoided the pushing down through the pedal stroke and did a little extra by focusing on the pull (via hamstrings) and over the top. It is an extremely focused 20km, listening to my body, riding with feel. If it does not feel right, then I stop immediately… at the moment all good and comfortable. I say comfortable, that is probably a little stretch of the truth. My backside, my arms and hands are all feeling like they have never ridden a bike before, it takes a good couple of rides to dial everything back in. So far so good, my motto ‘20km a day keeps the doctor away’…

Dave has been great and looked to have me back into the fold with his team… albeit under strict instructions not to push things. I will get back into the Sat morning Legro Zoom session with the team. I will stick to the same gearing and just work the cadence to simulate intervals. It was great seeing everyone on zoom and doing something different. Inclusion is much better than exclusion and Dave is a canny coach, it just keeps me focused and interested.

Resistance training… When I say I will be in better shape going forward, I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had a realisation that my upper body and core needed to be a higher level of fitness. It is great working the legs and having saddle time but instead of focusing on being an all-round cyclist my aim is track 2km & 4km specific. For that I need my whole body on point. I have resistance bands, mats, Swiss ball, dumbbells and weight vest so I have the option to execute a wide range of exercises in my front room. To supplement the restricted movements I am allowed I needed to attend a gym… David Lloyd is too expensive and not my scene to be honest so I looked at the Loughton Leisure Centre and bang, fees good value, equipment is what I need during this phase and they are controlling allocated sessions to be in line of COVID management. I focus on leg extensions and leg curls only, 100 reps isolated per each leg on both apps. That generally takes 25mins and then the other 35mins are spent on the cable machine working the upper body and core / trunk. Back in the day I owned a gym when I was playing down at Hastings, so I have a decent idea of exercises and techniques.

My weight was going to be an interesting point… I anticipated that I would get out to the 92kgs levels, which seem to be my naturally settled figure. I was 88.2kgs when I crashed. I surprised myself with a 89.4kgs reading… with a balanced outlook I have to assume muscle atrophy verses increase in BMI levels so a net gain of 1.2kgs is not a bad return considering where I was at. Another positive, sub 90kgs.

Loughton Leisure Centre : Cable machine

So, back to the structure of a routine… boring for some, not me, I love it at the moment… I am doing alternate days with the gym & home training and then doing 20km every day. Add the Compex and Theragun sessions and I am into the 3 hours a day focusing on my rehabilitation… great for my mind, great for the body. It does not feel like I am doing too much… I am not getting pain. I definitely have discomfort and I do know that I have an injured hip, but I feel progression. Fingers crossed…!!!

Other news…

ENVE Racing 2020… As some of you will know, I am a member of the ENVE Racing 2020 team, which is a privilege and something I have enjoyed reading and viewing the global team activities and also the partnerships that are aligned to the team, one of which is AMP Human. The team have not been able to represent ENVE Racing in events because of the pandemic restrictions and therefore the management team have determined that we will be representing ENVE Racing team 2021… Happy Days…!!! A great honour and something I will look forward too, hoping that restrictions are released, and we manage COVID to a point that allows athletes to perform

With all this practical positivity my mind is back to being creative and discussions with Legro and Ben just encourages that mindset. We are looking to work on a few ideas so we will see how this all develops…

Slowly, slowly… but enjoying and loving the tiny steps forward, creating scalability.