BEWARE IN VANCOUVER!

No, it’s not me being over-confident in my competitive expectations. It’s something rather more sinister. BBC News Vancouver reports that a human foot, complete with trainer and sock, has been washed up on the beach there.  And not only that, but it follows (in the footstep of?) three others, found drifting ashore within the last year. Oddly, all were right feet and all had socks and trainers on. Now I’m sure that the ITU will have this all under control by the time the Age Group and Elite races start in two weeks time, but maybe those racing might be a little more circumspect when following the feet of the swimmer in front?!

Unfortunately I won't be toeing the line at the Worlds - I have just had to withdraw due to an injury sustained on my last day in Lanzarote. Dodgy gears on a hired bike led to a slip as I mounted, and the pedal whacking my shin. Usually, this would cause a minor bruise, but I don’t seem to have the usual things happen to me.  Whilst the intense pain left me reeling for a short while, and the strange swelling looked odd, I carried on with the last group cycle of our training week.  The pain in my leg fired me up, and I was going pretty well. I iced the lump as soon as I could, then went for a run a little later. Whilst the pain was strong, I wanted to do a good time on the set loop. Stopping to look at my time and recover, I was about to start off on a second lap when I noticed a whole group of people staring at me oddly. They were Lanzarote Ironman competitors, waiting for taxis from the complex after having registered for the big race. Looking down at my leg, I nearly fell over in surprise – it had an enormous swelling on the shin that looked like I had a second fat knee. By the time I got back to the apartment I was nearly crawling. John took one look and said he was going to get the doctor immediately, and then returned with crutches for me to get there. The doc diagnosed a ruptured vein, gave me an injection into my stomach, pills and compression bandages and told me to rest with my leg elevated. We had fun at the airport when I was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to keep my leg elevated on the flight as I hadn’t booked – to which I responded that you don’t generally book accidents. Despite this, the onboard crew were great and gave me a whole row to myself.

Back home, I visited the GP as advised to request antibiotics, and was told that the longish flight to Vancouver was not advisable due to my compromised vascularity and risk of DVT. Bummer! So, John and my club-mates will be going, whilst I stay at home with the cats and my feet up. But then again, my training has been regularly interrupted – among numerous setbacks, I have had two reactions to everyday drugs, most recently aspirin (which happens to 1 in 20,000), leaving me in bed for a week.

Still, whatever your woes, you are always better off than someone else. Worse things happen at sea, as they say – or maybe if you are in Vancouver!!!! In that vein, I’ll sign off, with my foot up, and attached.