Things are happening...

I am absolutely exhausted today. So much has been happening I am still strugging to get my head around it all. I guess it is best if I tell you in bits.

Cycling camp
Annaliisa, Kevin (who is now our manager) and I went to the camp last weekend. It was a good camp that clarified a lot for us about exactly where we are going. The whole Paralympic system is really complex. Basically from what I figured out, Annaliisa and I will earn points by doing races. These points will be a part of the total that all the paralympians get. Then the paralympic comittee decide which athletes they want to send to the games. So I guess it means Annaliisa and I have to do our best in all races so that we will be picked to go to the games. Annaliisa has gone to France for 5 weeks and will be back 3 weeks before the road champs in Switzerland. For this reason we have decided to give them a miss as we won't have time to train well enough. At the camp we met some pretty cool people, both athletes and coaches. We got to work with them on planning of training (Rachel Smith, Brian Gilbert and Steve Rickerby), bike setup (John and Willy Rastrick). and we got info on lots of stuff like nutrition, drug free, sport psych etc. It was a well spent weekend and I feel a lot happier knowing where Annaliisa and I are heading.

School
2 days after the camp I had my last exam of my degree! I will rephrase that as yesterday I found out that I have done 2 too many papers for my degree! Oh well at least it was a good excuse to tell people I was at uni when they asked"So where do you work?" I am stoked and have just got a job with Community and public health at the DHB.

Training
As I have finished exams and am not expecting to start work for a while I have taken this opportunity to increase my volume of training. I have increased my weights program due to some muscle loss with the help of Matthew Ingram and have also increased my time on the bike (or the windtrainer due to the crap weather) with Malcolm Humm. This is why I am very tired. My body is still trying to work out what has happened and what it has done to deserve it. I am only going to keep the present program for a few weeks and am monitoring my recovery and resting heart rate quite closely. My worst fear would be to blow. I am constantly scared of it and due to my brain injury I am more at risk than most people. This is really hard for my parents too. They see me in the fatigued, incapacitated state I'm in and pray like hell no complications will arise. When I first got my virus it was because of a reduced immune system. Fatigue and overtraining will also lead to a reduced immune, hence their worry. I guess it is just a case of me taking it slowly. Letting my body adapt and being fine with taking a step back when needed. Gary Sword has come on board as my coach so no doubt he will also play a process on keeping me within my limits.

Health
Well the last paragraph was on health mostly, but this is different health. This is on my foot. A lot of people hate me running and not just because time running mens time off the bike. No, there is a story. Last year when I was very into my running, one morning I decided to go for a run down Memorial ave. At the corner of Greers rd, I started busting for the loo, but the lights had just changed. I made a split second decision which turned out to be a bad one. I thought I could outrun the cars that were crossing the Greers intersection. I didn't. One car did not see me and did not slow down. He hit me on the foot. After going to hospital and being discarged as fine, I continued my life but could never get running again. In Jan this year I got diagnosed with a large fracture which needed surgery. This surgery put me in cast for approximately 6 weeks in April/May. I lost a huge amount of muscle in my leg and an trying to get it back. It has been about 1 month since getting the cast off and I am still struggling to get full use of my foot back. I have seen so many physios and podiatrists I am worn out. But tonight my podiatrist told me I am getting close to the end. The rehab is nearly over and the corrections to my Gait are nearly finished! This is very good news for me as I have been dealing with this foot for about 11 months.

So that about sums it up.
It is cold, The weather has been below average, Annaliisa has gone, and training never stops, so just do it!

So on yer bike!
Neelu