My road back to fitness... you have to stay strong and determined.

The one thing I didn't account for when I started training again was the way my body has changed. Like most people I know we may age in years but mentally we often still think of ourselves as the same as we were in our twenties. Now for many years I seem to have managed to keep this illusion going. Not so much this time. Having always had a lower back issue from playing Rugby as youth, I was expecting that to play up a little. What I wasn't expecting was the litany of aches, pains and small injuries to hamper my progress over, it has to be said, the first 6 months of my training. None have be bad in terms of tearing muscles or rupturing ligaments, they have all been common issues that plague many runners and sports participants. First up was my right knee, I had always had issues with my knees since a keen runner in my youth and twenties, I put it down to having some issue but never sorted it out. At this point I would like to highlight the benefit of finding a good trainer. Rob my bootcamp trainer is always ready to adjust training to accommodate injuries or pains, he also keeps on top of injuries with advice to help out. For me he recommended a Physio named Tobias, it turned out to be the best piece of advice a trainer has ever given me.

Tobias checked out my symptoms and mobility and worked out the issue with my knees related to the muscle running up the inside of my thigh. Some deep massage and exercise regime later and within 3 days the issue was sorted.

Unfortunately for me this is where age and three years of inactivity has started to play it's part. Going back into regular training has only served to highlight how out of shape a lot of my muscle groups had become and what started as a right knee issue moved to my groin, then right hip, over to my left hip and then lower back. It hasn't made things easy and has at times hampered my ability to train at the intensity that I'd like to be. There have, I will confess, been days when I've thoiught 'why am I bothering? I could just take it easy, sit in the pub, eat all the wrong food, crash on the sofa in front of a film and get fat!' On those dark days I invoke the memory of how I feel on those good days after training where I'm walking down the road with a spring in my step 15KG lighter than I was 6 months ago. I also have a great Physio who has given me all the tools I need to get through these problems, and although it can take time, I am getting through. So when you have those tough days, as you most certainly will, remeber what it feels like to be able to run, what it feels like to be able to spring off of the safa (rather than drag yourself), how much more alert your feel and able to cope with whatever life throws at you, and KEEP ON GOING.

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