Well the journey has started and so has a niggling injury. The next event in the Cameron Brown Award / IronMaori Legend Series is the start of November, being the IronMaori Quarter Ironman. I have events almost every couple of weeks to complete this journey, so if I am going to pick up an injury now is the time I guess.
Embarrassingly I have damaged the muscle group in my left arm. This is where the bicep joins the shoulder muscle. Coach Ray will know the correct terminology for this muscle group. I say embarrassingly based on how I did it. I simply slipped getting out of bed. If I drank alcohol it would be fair call, but I haven’t drank alcohol for about 4 to 5 years, hence it being rather embarrassing.
So how does it affect training? I simply struggle to lift my left arm above shoulder height. As such I have been swimming with short training fins for stability and using one arm for the 3-4 km’s of swimming the various activities that Coach Ray has allocated. The guy that normally swims in the lane beside me has one leg, so we must look a right pair with him swimming with one leg, and myself swimming using only one arm. Just when I thought it was coming right, it became clear I need more time, as it is now affecting my running due to discomfort. I guess with heading overseas for a holiday for a few weeks now is a good time to rest it. I will find other activities to do though under the guidance of Coach Ray, as doing absolutely nothing is fine for about a week, then I become twitchy and need to burn off some energy.
My other training was going well, just the swimming, and I worked out to stay out of aerobars on the bike to avoid discomfort, so I could still do the cycling. It is just recently that running has been affected and the niggling pain with each step slowed me right down.
Life is a journey, training is a journey, events are a journey. This provides another challenging journey with an injury, but a challenge also for Coach Ray who has dealt with other niggling injuries I have had in the past. If anyone has the skills and expertise to manage my injury it is Coach Ray.
Talking of swimming in this article (albeit not the way I would want to be writing…injury), this brings me to one of my favourite photo’s of the two Ultraman events I have completed. This is of Lily, my safety paddler for the 10 km Swim at Ultraman 2016 and again in 2017. For a 12 or 13 year old when I first met her at the start line of my first Ultraman, it didn’t take long for me to work out that she knew her stuff. She could even gauge the best time to hydrate me to avoid me drifting back with the current in the ocean. I will definitely be asking for Lily again when I return for Ultraman.
I’ll keep you posted team how my injury unfolds whilst I am overseas, and how I manage training on it. Being stubborn Coach Ray knows I’d probably turn up and complete the swim at events using one arm, as I know if push came to shove, Coach Ray will get me there.
Regards John Humphries (aka UltraHumps).
Humps will be writing weekly as he continues his journey raising funds for the Fallen Hero’s Trust
Read Humps’ article from last week here:
UltraHumps – Cameron Brown Award / IronMaori Legend Series Journey
And all his previous articles are stored here:
https://www.coachray.nz/category/client-stories/ultra-humps/