Hywel's Progress (last updated
11 June 2002)
16 March 2002
"Not a week after recovering from my injury at tough guy had I
been back training and did the NEC indoor adventure race for a try out
to see if i was fit again and as it did not involve much running.....
hey presto I land off an obstacle no more challenging than a hay bale
and I break my leg. 3 days in hospital and an operation to pin back
my fibula and my ankle to the tibia, the loss of my ultrafit holiday
and 8 weeks in plaster. Perhaps this is not my year but....... i will
be back"
23 March 2002
"Week one is over in the rebuilding of my bionic leg. Not sure
whether the screws in my ankle are flat head or phillips as they seem
like they need tightening up now the swelling has gone down a bit. Started
a plyometric training programme for my left leg this week, just hopping
rather than using crutches. The stairs are a little hairy at the moment
and I must keep practicing. Still very painful when I dream about running
and my leg twitches like the dog in the play station advert but maybe
that is passive training and it will stop my right leg turning into
a chicken leg. Rigged up my mountain bike today by taking some chainrings
off and putting SPD pedals back on.. it is a little scary but brightens
up otherwise mind numbing days."
30 March 2002
"Two weeks ago I could of made a decision to let a team down and
decide not to do some mickey mouse race but you know that is not me.
The fact of the matter is that I did and I had an accident and I have
to cope with it. Getting very difficult now to see the end as every
bit of news or a view I get suggests 6 weeks for the plaster then the
second operation then more stitches then the rehab etc, etc. It goes
on and on and 12 months seems optimistic.
"As week 2 draws to a close and you are all asking how I'm getting
on....yes you can all get bored too, I take strength from people who
tell me of their stories then I realise how bad it could of been and
try to look on the bright side. Adam Haynes sent me Lance Armstrong's
book to read. It is fantastic and can give anyone hope regardless of
injury. But a big thank you to all those who share the suffering with
me... Zig, Adam, Tom etc
"I have some targets in mind to stay motivated and active. Already
done sub 8 mins for 2000 metres on the concept 2 using just one leg,
i wonder if there is a ranking anywhere for that? I am trying a way
to get round the treadmill run for the smilebuster triathlon, and there
has not been a better time to set some sort of pull up record.
"At least no one will take my titles in X zone and Ultrafit for
a while and I may now have to retire unbeaten. But I cannot make any
plans yet, only time will tell.
"During my Ironman in Holland last year I passed a guy on a bike
with just one leg, that meant he must have had a much faster swim than
me. I do still have 2 legs and hopefully they will both work again.
My mountain biking is coming along nicely but it does get a little hairy
when you are going up hill and find you run out of gears then dont have
a leg to put down. Working on that one."
4 April 2002
"End of week 3 and it gets worse.
"I had the pleasure of getting the plaster changed this week and
seeing my calf muscle for the 1st time in 3 weeks. It was shocking,
it looked no bigger than my forearm. The thigh is not much better as
i can now grab handfuls of skin where there was once some very useful
muscle. The term chicken leg no longer applies and i am becoming sparrow
legs. Maybe i am turning into Lee Rankin.
"The Xrays revealsed that i am making sound progress and that
the screws may well end up coming out a little earlier but that all
depends on the NHS getting their act together. The highlight of the
week has to be writing down my training programme for when i recover..
I pledge to do 1000 calf raises a day!!
"Got a copy of the Xtraining Newsletter from Will today. Very
impressive as far as the comments from Mr Rankin and Mr Horder..fighting
talk i see, i will comeback with my interview soon so look out Adam..
i may even laugh!!
"I will try and get along to the one on one event to lend some
support and take the mick out of Lee's red shorts and black vest. It
will be good for me to see a close race at a cross training event for
a change
"More Xrays and more plaster i have to look forward to this week
as they try and get my foot back straight so i dont have problems walking.
I also try and start back work which will be rather amusing being a
PE teacher and all. "
18 April 2002
"It is strange how suddenly life just picks up and the days of
boredom turn into days of anticipation, planning and the thirst for
life again. Yes you should all become teachers and enjoy the rewarding
experiences it can bring. But just to be out of the house interacting
with people was very nice even though I was only attempting to solve
the problems of suicidal 16 year olds under exam pressure.
"Yes i am back in school and trying to do an impossible job of
teaching PE but i am slowly getting there. The good news is that I am
out of the dreaded cast and now wearing an Aircast a la Beckham so that
will bring back the bone density and a little of the muscle mass.
"Visited the Doc this week and it looks like i will have the metal
taken out in two weeks time. All the research has told it will be 10-12
weeks but i will be free in 7. That is good news for me as I am developing
what looks like a fold of skin on my stomach. This can't happen!. I'm
not old enough yet. It is nice to be able to sit in the bath again and
swimming is now looking like a real possibility but I will wait until
the next round of surgery.
"All things considered I may be back in training by as early as
June... probably won't do Tough Guy though as that awesome record set
last year will be too hard to beat.
"There now seems to be light at the end of the tunnel but every
day now creates more motivation to train hard and get back to where
I was. With my new skinny legs I may even be a bit quicker."
25 April 2002
7 days left:
I am now beginning to feel that my bionic leg is finished. Not the
one in plaster but the one i have been standing on and hopping around
on for the last 6 weeks now feels like it has doubled in strength. The
Beckham plaster is working wonders as i can move about, take it off
and even take a shower once a week!
I go under the rusty knife again in 7 days and hopefully they will
not find anything wrong. This time i want to watch the handiwork so
i will just take an asprin before the op to numb the pian. Should be
interesting.
I have invested in some new wheels for my bike as an incentive to get
back on the road, £400 is a bit steep but they do look nice and
i have saved money by selling my car, cancelling car insurance and not
throwing £20 notes at the petrol pumps. Apart from those of you
that live in Canada, you may get a surprise visit as i have a lot of
missed mileage that i have to make up. 6-7 hours on the bike will be
far more interesting than 8 hours of daytime TV and cooking programmes.
Hopefully my next mesage will be about how nice it feels to walk again..
if not i will go insane.
25 April 2002
Short and sweet this one as i now have a lot of catching up to do.
10 weeks ago to the day i was lying under the bright lights of a theatre
with some student hacking away at my leg with a fisher price tool kit.
That may well be but he did do a good job.
Despite the pain, boredom and depression i have made it this far without
doing any further damage by being impatient.
But week 10 has made 3 major breakthroughs.
1: I can now walk normally with no visible limp
2: My foot has changed colour from red to normal no tan pink
3: I can swim and do all my rehab work in the pool
Oh happy day. I can also run, just about, on a treadmill with an incline
but it is very untidy because of my lack of flexiblity and i have been
cycling every day since the second surgery to take the screw out. My
weight training never stopped and i have improved in the gym.
It is still swollen and stiff (the ankle that is) but there is hope
that i will make a full recovery in the next month or so.
Then the hard work starts on becoming superfit again. I'm not retiring
yet, honest
25 April 2002 - the last word
Hindsight is a very powerful thing but hope is much stronger. Since
i have been able to cycle i have been putting the hard miles in on my
crappy old heavy mountain bike and saving the pristine Kona mountain
bike and the Giant road bike for good weather and strong legs. After
many hard and rickety rides and a few mountain sessions in wales with
Aled Rees, it would now seem that my fitness is returning.
I am now in a postition to time trial on the bike and i now know that
i will be less than a minute off my best. I have been doing 2 hours
of weights, mobility and stretching a night in order to get enough movement
to run and it has worked.
I can now run 5km on the treadmill at 6 min mile pace and it is improving
every day, the ankle is no longer the limiting factor but the short
hamstrings from the constant cycling. Every day and a little more progress
but only tiem will now tell if i can get back to running on the road,
on the hills and back to full competition fitness.
