<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>400m - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest articles submitted by 400m on Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: End of the road?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8810.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[It has been a long time coming, but Vince Golding has finally completed a triathlon over fours years after his &#039;cyclist versus van&#039; crash in April 2007. Since shortly after that time, Vince has been updating with his progress, and sometimes lack of progress, in his regular column. Congratulations Vince! 

End of the road?
On  Saturday 9th July I at last did a triathlon, just over four years  after I should have been completing another Ironman race in Austria. Instead I  found myself becoming a &#039;BananaMan&#039; when I completed one of Human Race&#039;s  well-organised events at Eton College&#039;s Dorney Lake.
I finished well down the field of competitors who completed the 800m swim (two  laps), 30km bike (six laps) and 7.5km run (three laps). I certainly didn&#039;t race  the event or push myself to the limit, but even if I had, I wouldn&#039;t have gone  much quicker, even allowing for my very pedestrian first transition!
This was my first triathlon since September 2006, and the longest duration  event I had completed since shoulder surgery in December 2009. Having completed  a triathlon I can now &#039;retire&#039; from the sport and not have the decision made  for me by a careless motorist.
Swimming was never my strongest triathlon discipline, but  now that my right shoulder lacks strength and mobility* it&#039;s certainly not  a &#039;must do&#039; event! I have to pay tribute to the help I received from my  triathlon club, East Grinstead TC, with special thanks to Julie Rigg who is a  swimming teacher and a key member of the Saturday morning swim coaching team.
After pulling on a borrowed wetsuit, which my wife zipped up  for me, it was with some trepidation that I entered the lake not having tried  any open water swimming this year, nor even used the wetsuit in a pool. It took  a while for me to adjust to the cool water temperature and be able to put my  face into the water. Starting near the back of the field, after the klaxon  sounded I started off towards the first buoy. Other than one or two &#039;brief  encounters&#039;, the size of the wave and the expanse of the lake meant that I was  able to slowly navigate around the two laps without much danger of collision.
Upon exiting the water I made my way through the transition  area to my bike. With a clear objective of just completing I didn&#039;t exactly  hurry. I took my time to remove the wetsuit, dry my feet, put on socks, bike  shoes, cycling jacket and sunglasses before heading to &#039;bike out&#039;.
I had hoped to borrow a bike, but as I hadn&#039;t organised one  I had to make do with my &#039;spider-bike&#039;,&amp;nbsp;so called because it gathers cobwebs in my garage. All my bike mileage  is gained using another bike attached to my CompuTrainer; that bike has  aero-bars and allows me to get a riding position where I can put out a  relatively high wattage for a prolonged period of time. However, the  &#039;spider-bike&#039; is just a standard road bike and as I couldn&#039;t get into the  efficient riding position I&#039;m used to, the cycle leg proved to be another  exercise in moving relatively slowly &amp;ndash; but at least this time I had raised the  saddle from its last use at Goodwood.
What I hadn&#039;t remembered to do was adjust the bike helmet,  it was far too tight. On the fourth lap I&amp;nbsp;  had to stop, take the helmet off and adjust the tightness of the  internal band.
Demonstrating my performance decline since the accident, I  was lapped or overtaken by other competitors in my wave and later-on by those  starting in later waves, some flying past. I did pass one or two, although they  were probably &#039;first-timers&#039; riding mountain bikes, but there was some slight  satisfaction in overtaking someone else on a racing bike! What was a bit disheartening  was noticing that my Garmin, after stopping to adjust my bike helmet, showed  one of my miles took more than four minutes to complete!
My ever-supportive wife was near the transition area and I  waved to her at the start of each lap. Eventually I completed the six laps and  transitioned to the run leg. Maybe my bike shoes were a bit tight, because my  toes had lost all feeling when I started the run, which was just as another  competitor was already finishing.
Maintaining my goal of completing, I ran at an easy pace  which did see me overtake a few other competitors and only one person overtook  me &amp;ndash; although that was the leading lady from the next wave! My toes eventually  recovered and I was pleased to start the last lap and then cross the finish  line. I had conservatively estimated that the event should take me two hours, so  my time of two hours, eight minutes and 53 seconds was a bit slower than I had anticipated.
My initial feeling upon finishing was realising how tired I  was, there were no emotions other than a sense of relief at finally completing  a triathlon &amp;ndash; &#039;box ticked, no need to do that again&#039;, was probably what was  uppermost in my mind.
...but  it didn&#039;t take too long to find myself thinking &#039;I can do much better than  that&#039;.
The  road to recovery has been far longer than I ever would have imagined and it&#039;s a  never ending road. Although I&#039;m not back to anything like the level of fitness  I previously had, having at last completed a triathlon I feel I can now &#039;quit&#039;,  or at least put my participation on hold. The brain injury means I still get  mentally fatigued and frustrated. Those closest to me are likely to suffer my  temper or lack of consideration.
Although  I&#039;ve put triathlon on hold, I will still stay involved with East Grinstead  Triathlon Club, helping with coaching and join in with some swim sessions.  There are far too many great people there to stop being involved.
Finding  the time to participate myself is a lot harder with my son and daughter both  getting older and becoming more active in their own hobbies. With my son being  a talented runner,&amp;nbsp; this year I&#039;ve been  managing the under-15 boys track and field team at Crawley AC and undertaking  the next level in athletics coaching qualification.
Train  safe.
(**  When I went through the window of the van, my neck suffered a deep laceration  that resulted in a severe loss of blood and nerve damage. The nerve damage has  lead to muscle atrophy leaving my right shoulder with a permanent disability).
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: four years on.]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8444.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Four years ago, April 2007 and triathlete Vince Golding was out cycling when his &#039;cyclist versus van&#039; moment happened. It was a bad crash - a very bad crash - and for four years now Vince has been, and continues, on his raod to recovery, which he has been sharing with Tri247 readers through his regular column on the site. 
While at times progress is &#039;one step back&#039;, Vince is happy report, despite all of the obstacles that continue to be in his way, that it is also two steps forward. Here is his latest update. 

December &amp;ndash; March; One step forward...
...and a few more back. If I was a sprinter, (not one of  those fine upstanding sprint triathletes amongst my club mates at East  Grinstead TC), I&#039;d have been disqualified long ago, for far too many false  starts. 
This time I blame the snow and its icy aftermath. Getting  carried away with some fitness, I took part in an Advent Run Challenge that had  been posted on TriTalk, this had the objective of running every day during  Advent. I managed that just fine, and in common with a few others, I decided to  carry  on running throughout the whole of  December. Where I had been running with a different, more cautious style, to  avoid slipping over when running on icy ground, my left knee had developed a  &amp;ldquo;niggle&amp;rdquo;.
Being the person I am, I decided, foolishly, to run through  the discomfort. New Year&#039;s Day is when Crawley AC (where I&#039;ve been a member a  long, long time) has its Cross Country Championships. Having persuaded my son  to take part I felt obliged to set  a  good example and run it as well. During the race the niggle became a pain which  got more pronounced, forcing me to stop on two or three occasions. I made it to  the finish but knew I had gone over the limit.
For some reason I tried to run the next day, but having trouble  just walking and only being able to use the stairs by having both feet on the  same step meant I wasn&#039;t going to get anywhere. So I made another physio  appointment, this time for something other than monitoring my shoulder  rehabilitation. The swelling was a visual clue that there was a problem, so  treatment and ibuprofen were the order of the day, as well as no running.
In the end I had a month of no running, so it was back to  using the elliptical (cross) trainer and the turbo was also allowed.
The complete lack of running meant I had to pull out of the  Brighton Marathon. Because I had been forced to do the same for the previous  year, the organisers wouldn&#039;t let me defer my entry again to next year &amp;ndash; even  though you still have to pay for a deferred entry.  Sympathetic understanding must be in short  supply in certain parts of Sussex!
Shoulder rehabilitation continues with at least four  sessions a week, two gym based and two pool based. Under the physio&#039;s guidance,  my exercise routine has progressed and at one stage included longer sets, some  of them until I can&#039;t do any more reps - which is the moment my right arm can&#039;t  continue pressing a light dumb-bell. I&#039;ve now been advised to add in heavier  sets &amp;ndash; using machines &amp;ndash; so that the stronger left arm assists the weaker right  side.
At least I am now running again and that gives me a boost  psychologically. Another runner, also   recovering from injury, is keeping me company for a weekly long run.  There&#039;s not much that beats  just having  a pleasant conversation on a Sunday morning!
With the progress I am making with the shoulder rehab,  albeit very tedious, I will, other unforeseen injuries allowing, compete in a  triathlon this summer. At the moment I am tempted to enter one of the Human Race  events held at Eton Dorney. It&#039;s just a matter of finding an event that isn&#039;t  the same weekend as one of the athletics meetings where my son gets the  &amp;ldquo;benefit&amp;rdquo; of my advice (and a lift to the race).
Incidentally I met Tri247 contributor, Mike Trees at Reading  recently. We were both there supporting our sons, competing for different  counties, in the same cross-country race.
Once again I find myself at a cross-roads, at least in  setting a physical goal. Undoubtedly I&#039;ve made a lot of progress since the  accident, as I&#039;d expect in the nearly four years that have passed, but what  now?  Writing my Tri247 column articles  gives me incentive not to &amp;ldquo;give up&amp;rdquo;, but there are times, such as when I go to  the gym, for a shoulder rehab session, that I think to myself &amp;ldquo;not this again&amp;rdquo;.
At the moment my goal is to compete at shorter events; run  faster rather than &#039;plod&#039; longer!
Reporting from the cognitive side, I still find myself not  able to do some higher level tasks, and get stuck up a blind alley. My word  finding isn&#039;t so much of a problem because I don&#039;t find myself searching for  the correct word &amp;ndash; I often use the wrong word instead! My wife is now used to  me calling the microwave the dishwasher or the tumble dryer the oven, it might  be the wrong word, but it&#039;s nearly in the correct location (at least in our  home)!
Dysphasia is a more  irritating complaint when trying to have a conversation where I know what I&#039;m  trying to say but can&#039;t think of the right word, at least people (that know me  well) make allowances. Its a weird experience but sometimes, when trying to be  spontaneous, I do try to say something but use the wrong words.
Continued... April onwards
Having decided that hobbling around a marathon wasn&#039;t what I  wanted to do - that same date (April 10th) is the excellent Portsmouth  Triathletes Spring Duathlon at Goodwood (which isn&#039;t the same as the event  known as the Goodwood Duathlon). Having done this event in the past I decided  it was definitely worth doing instead. Having made yet another return to  running, I was confident my limited run fitness would get me around two 4km  loops.
Not being an outdoor cyclist, my cycling is almost  exclusively restricted to indoors only &amp;ndash; using my trusted CompuTrainer (mention  my name if you buy one!) mainly using the ergo mode and varying the load (or  resistance). My cycling, as such, is a mix of mainly following one of the three  different c. 30 minute Spinervals &#039;23 Time Saver&#039; DVD sessions, with an  occasional 10 mile time trial using a mixture of the different circuits  available for the Computrainer. So, I was more than confident of being able to  complete a relatively flat 24km.
The  Duathlon  at Goodwood in 2009 was the first and only multi-sport event I&#039;ve done  since my accident in 2007 (In fact the 2007 event was my last multi before the  accident). Following the December 2009 osteotomy to my shoulder, the 2011 event  was my first &#039;multi&#039; since surgery.
Unlike the cold, windy weather of two years ago, this time  it was sunny and a pleasant temperature. I did one lap of the circuit on my  bike &amp;ndash; its first outing in months &amp;ndash; and while enjoying riding my bike outside I  thought I need to put the saddle up a bit. I got back to the pits (used as  transition) and promptly forgot to adjust the saddle. So after a sedate, first  run lap of the race I did a not too speedy transition, got on my bike and rode  an uncomfortable 6 laps without being able to apply much power. T2 was another  slow affair where I lost a few places and with my legs aching from the  unaccustomed riding position it took a few hundred metres until I got into my  running.
While writing this article I&#039;ve read my account from two  years ago and although the race result was just as disappointing I can note  some definite improvements. I no longer get some of the fatigue symptoms I  wrote about and there are far less angry outbursts. Concrete thinking vs. abstract reasoning still  is a problem and switching from one topic to another can sometimes leave me  asking what&#039;s being talked about.
The biggest improvement overall has been having the  osteotomy to correct the distorted shoulder. Although I am still attempting to  rehabilitate the shoulder, with my body back in better balance, lower back problems  have all but disappeared. Now the most noticeable deficit, in that quadrant of  my body, is that my neck permanently aches where the muscles still need to  redevelop, as well from residue scar tissue where my jugular vein was  lacerated.
Anyway I enjoyed taking part enough not to be put off and  I&#039;ll be attempting a triathlon later on this summer.
Lessons learned...
This article more or less marks the fourth anniversary of my  accident, the biggest lesson is that recovery is a very slow, but still ongoing  process. Four years on and I&#039;m still making an improvement, so to anyone in the  early stages of recovery, from a serious accident, please be patient (I never  was and still am not). You do need a whole team of people supporting you,  preferably with experience in your needs, not just general &#039;brain injury&#039;, at  times for me that hasn&#039;t been the case.
Albeit at my own level, I was, and still strive to be, a  competitive athlete, so I&#039;ll be honest and say I have been aggrieved to see the  support that other more celebrated, injured athletes on TV programs have  received, no waiting months trying to find the right people. It was over two  years before I found someone to sort out my shoulder, that had been the  underlying reason for my lack of making much sporting progress.
However the &#039;bottom line&#039; in many ways is happiness. There  are so many aspects of my life that are positive &amp;ndash; you need to ask yourself  &#039;what is good about this?&#039; rather than trying to find faults with things. Set  achievable goals, while still aiming for the stars, helps to avoid  disappointment, but disappointment will happen and that&#039;s when you need people  around you to keep things in perspective.
I&#039;m very thankful for the love and support from my family,  as well as from my friends and club mates &amp;ndash; thank you everyone in getting me  this far.
So to sum up, one step back and two steps forward. Train  safe.

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: It's darkest before dawn....]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_7811.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[By the time I finish writing this article, and it appears  online, it will be nearly a year since I underwent corrective surgery on my  right shoulder. 
Shoulder rehab has moved on with the introduction of extra  dry-land exercises and a return to using gym equipment. In the pool I&#039;m still  following the hydrotherapy routine prescribed by the rehabilitation  physiotherapist, a mix of exercises with &amp;ldquo;aquarobics&amp;rdquo; dumbbells as well as some  punching/jabbing in the water. 
I&#039;m now beginning to notice the benefits, being more able to  raise and reach overhead with my right arm. Putting crockery away in higher  kitchen cupboards is a lot easier, certainly way beyond the hopeless  recommendation I was previously given, to only use lower cupboards! That advice  might have been based on the &amp;ldquo;nothing can be done&amp;rdquo; opinion I had from the first  orthopaedic surgeon I saw. My advice is don&#039;t accept first opinions and always  see someone else. It&#039;s a long struggle, but the future holds more than it otherwise  would have.
But I&#039;m not there yet and I&#039;m still doing quite extensive  rehab sessions at my local health club four times a week, twice in the pool  (hydrotherapy) and twice in the gym, plus other less intensive work at home. As  one of the main goals is to get my scapula working again, a lot of the  exercises involve laying on my back and pushing my arms down. Away from the gym  a key exercise is the bridge position while trying to push my hips up as much  as possible. Similarly in the bridge position I &amp;ldquo;walk&amp;rdquo; my feet as far away as  possible and then come back again, all the time pushing down with the arms. 
I can&#039;t emphasise enough how much my recovery has been  enhanced due to the guidance and advice of the team at Allen Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation.  I&#039;m convinced my recovery would be further along had I been to see John Allen a  lot earlier.
As I regain muscle strength and my shoulder stability has  improved, I&#039;ve been able to add in some swimming reps to the hydrotherapy  sessions. It&#039;s a struggle to get the balance between effort and technique. Just  thrashing around in the water is easy, but better technique really helps reduce  the effort needed. 
Recently at East Grinstead Tri  Club we&#039;ve done a lot of between-season work on swimming technique. Part of  the session was one-to-one coaching, where I, as honorary tech-wizard, videoed  a member doing front-crawl. As we have a waterproof camcorder it enables us to  get action from below, as well as above, water to review. Martin, our head  coach, then dissects the swim stroke with the member while they replay the  video poolside. The member then puts into practice any corrective action, which  is also videoed and reviewed. In reality this is a lot more interesting than it  sounds, and one of the membership benefits of our club! Watching other club  members&#039; swim techniques was certainly useful and it&#039;s satisfying helping other  people improve even if you can&#039;t yet swim properly yourself.
I&#039;m confident that next year &amp;ndash; 2011 - will see me able swim  well enough to enter a triathlon.
Biking is still restricted to doing interval workouts and  &amp;ldquo;rides&amp;rdquo; using my Computrainer in the garage. However, I do now have my very old  MTB refurbished (thanks to Rich in the tri club) and might start riding the  trails &amp;ndash; not too technical as I don&#039;t want to risk the surgeons handy-work by  falling off or hitting a tree!
Just as I hoped to start getting back into the swing of some  structured run training I managed to get yet another injury, this time a  bruised heel that prevented me running comfortably. I picked up the injury  through over-striding downhill during a road race. Ironically as I was lacking  fitness I was content to run slower than usual. But with the race having some  undulations I got a bit fed-up with being passed by other runners going  downhill - especially after I had passed them fairly comfortably going up the  hill. 
I tried to take advantage of gravity and run faster down the  hills. Instead of increasing my cadence, as an ex-track runner, (I hesitate to  say sprinter as it was so many years ago), I have a tendency to use a longer  stride. Running with a long stride length doesn&#039;t work if you&#039;re not running  fast enough, it results in severe heel-striking and not being able to run for a  few weeks afterwards. 
So another lesson learned &amp;ndash; increase your cadence and not  stride length when attempting to run faster downhill. Extra turbo and  elliptical sessions allowed me to maintain some sanity, but as I&#039;ve written  before, not running really lowers my morale.
In the overall scheme of things I should be thankful that I  was prevented from running as this allowed me to focus on shoulder rehab. I now  almost feel comfortable again when I&#039;m running, with no discomfort when moving  my arms at a faster pace.
However, now I have started running again my run fitness is  very low. My return to running coincided with the start of the cross-country  season, and after two gentle, short runs, I took part in the first fixture of  the Sussex Cross Country League at Goodwood. This is a significant venue for me  as it was where I took part in my first race post-accident. I can report that  this time I completed the course 14 seconds faster! I did contemplate dropping  out after the first of the two hilly laps, but then thought it would set a poor  example to my son, (let alone anyone reading this stuff &amp;ndash; apparently it&#039;s not  just me).
I followed up the cross-country with a relay, this time I  completely ran out of energy, a combination of starting too quickly &amp;ndash; undue  optimism &amp;ndash; and tiredness from the first week of consistent hard (for me)  training, a mixture of intervals and fartlek. I was over three minutes slower  then my previous worst time over a short course.
Today I went for an easy run in the pouring rain, strong  winds were blowing and it was cold, but I loved it. There is a real  psychological boost from being able to do what you enjoy. If a Chilean miner  can run the NY Marathon, a little bit of rain won&#039;t stop me. With a steady  build-up, my goal is that in January I&#039;ll once again be able to train with the  Crawley AC long distance group.
&amp;ldquo;What of the cognitive recovery?&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; I hear you&amp;nbsp; ask - like physical recovery, it&#039;s a long  process. I still mix-up some words and when severely fatigued can badly lose my  temper. Mental concentration over long periods of time leaves me tired and  frequently yawning. I have to accept that tasks take me longer to do than they  did previously. But, as with the physical deficits, I still keep trying to improve.  I &amp;ldquo;play games&amp;rdquo; on my Nintendo DS every day, keeping a task list helps with  organisation, as does a diary (albeit an electronic version on my Mac/iPhone).
The bottom line is that although triathlon and running are  only hobbies, they are an important element in psychological rehabilitation as  well as providing concrete physical achievement targets. 
Train safe.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: fry-ups and rehab...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_7397.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Vince Golding is still on his long road to recovery, even if at times it feels like two steps forward, one back. Here is his latest update, which includes a return to the scene of his accident...for a fry-up! 

Three Years On
April 21st  marked  another year having passed since my life-changing event and  this time I didn&#039;t mark the anniversary by taking part in a sporting event.  I&#039;ve been unable to take part in sport due to an unforeseen, (at least by me),  catalogue of injuries. These injuries are a spin-off from the accident-related shoulder  surgery I had in December. If the balance of your body changes, there are  potentially a cascade of other problems to contend with, including lower back  pain, hamstring and calf injuries.
Although lacking in race fitness, one thing I did do, was  have lunch with the guys who saved my life. We had a delicious fry-up at the  roadside cafe where the accident happened. (If you&#039;re ever in the Cowfold area  I recommend the all-day breakfast at the Chalet Cafe!)

Crossing point

With osteopathy now also in the treatment mix, I&#039;ve been  making progress with the lower back pain and started running again. I took part  in one of Crawley AC&#039;s monthly 5km runs and although it was hard work at least  a benchmark was established. However, my 13-year-old son beat me! At least I  took some consolation in that he ran in the English Schools Cross Country  Championships this winter, so at least he has some &amp;ldquo;distance&amp;rdquo; pedigree, (which  he must have inherited from his mother). Somewhere during the last few months  we must have reached the crossing point and I can no longer keep up with him.  So, I now have even more reason to attempt to get back to my previous standard  of running, if only for the enjoyment of a social run together.
&amp;ldquo;No pain, no gain?&amp;rdquo;
Following a previous follow-up the  orthopaedic surgeon had written to say:
&amp;quot;....Mr Golding can raise the arm above shoulder  level...providing there is no discomfort&amp;quot;
  &amp;quot;All activity should effectively be limited by the  discomfort provoked during the activity i.e. be pain should be a guide, not a  challenge&amp;quot;
With that advice in mind I attempted to re-establish a fitness routine at my  health club, but I wasn&#039;t making much progress. With my right shoulder being  the source of various muscular problems, my Dad advised me to seek guidance  from John Allen, the sports injury physiotherapist who had treated me years ago  when I was a competitive track runner. Mr Allen is  the England Athletics Team physio for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. He  recommended hydro-therapy and I had an initial session with a rehab physio to  establish a routine that I am able to follow in my local swimming pool. 
Although a swimming pool is a lot  cooler than a hydro-therapy pool, after a couple of lengths swimming to warm-up  it&#039;s usable. I&#039;m in the pool doing four or five rehab sessions a week, plus the  physiotherapist has given me some other exercises to do at home. Mr Allen  warned me that what I do in the next few months will determine the level of  shoulder mobility I have for the rest of my life. I have to put the work in now  - but I&#039;m motivated.
Having followed the hydro-therapy  routine for a few weeks, I am noticing an improvement in my shoulder mobility.  Other users of the pool are getting used to me doing my exercises. I&#039;ve become  acquainted with one or two older ladies who use the pool to exercise after  having hip replacements!
I had further encouragement at my  last orthopaedic review. According to the surgeon the latest x-ray demonstrated  &amp;ldquo;clear evidence for union in the clavicle&amp;rdquo;. So that means no need for &amp;ldquo;plan  B&amp;rdquo;  (further surgical intervention). I  can now undertake &amp;ldquo;unlimited exercise&amp;rdquo;.
My motivations are a lot different  now than previously in my life. Whereas I used to train to see how much I could  improve my performance, I now find myself exercising to recover what I would  have previously considered &amp;ldquo;ordinary&amp;rdquo;. I&#039;m continually having to reset my goals  and targets, following a continuous stop-start, one-step forward, two-steps  backwards pathway.
I suppose it goes without saying  the road to recovery is frustrating. Mental fatigue still persists and  when I am mentally fatigued, I can become  irritable and at risk of an unfortunate loss of temper. I lost control when in  my local shopping centre and had an altercation with a cab driver who stopped, where  I was crossing the road, to pick up his fare. My wife, who was with me, was  upset by my outburst and rightly so, there&#039;s never any excuse for shouting and  exchanging profanities. I need to make sure I follow the anger management  routine given to me by the treating neuro-psychologist. This time it was only  an exchange of profanities but I can&#039;t risk something worse in future.
Small world
While I am writing this update, I  have read of the injury recently suffered by James Cracknell. From reports I  have read, including an article written by his wife in the Telegraph, James too has suffered a brain injury. While you can, in  time, recover from physical injuries, recovery from brain injury is a lot  longer journey. Best wishes to his wife and family. My wife commented that if  he has any of the exaggerated behaviour traits, common amongst those who have  had frontal lobe injuries (myself included), his wife will have a lot to put up  with.
Train safe.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[What they don't tell you when you have shoulder surgery! ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6786.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Like London buses, so the phrase would have us believe, you  wait a long time for one article to turn up and then there&#039;s a second not long after the first. So  here is another chapter in my ongoing 
  struggle to return to normality. 
Previously I mentioned I had another follow-up scheduled  with the orthopaedic surgeon who 
  performed the osteotomy. The appointment happened the other  day. As well as the stainless steel 
  plate, the x-ray unfortunately showed that although there is  some grafting of the clavicle, it hasn&#039;t 
  happened at the rate the surgeon would have expected. He is  still hopeful that progress will be made 
  and I&#039;ll find out in another three months time when there  will be another follow-up x-ray. 
I&#039;m told that 9 times out of 10 progress will be visible by  then, but if not there is a &amp;ldquo;Plan B&amp;rdquo;. 
  &amp;quot;Plan B&amp;quot; which would involve inserting either bone  chips from the hip or injecting bone marrow 
  into the graft area. Hopefully it won&#039;t become necessary to  do that. 
What they don&#039;t tell you when you have shoulder  surgery!  
(I&#039;d better add first that this only applies only to those  that have a badly smashed clavicle leaving 
  them with a shorter shoulder girth) 
I suppose I should have realized that my body would react to  the clavicle being back in the correct 
  position, (even if it&#039;s not grafted together). In the months  after the accident, with my body out of 
  balance, I had suffered from lower back aches and strains  and had had a physio treat the symptoms 
  on a regular basis. When I started running again,  post-accident, my general very low fitness, meant 
  that I wasn&#039;t able to challenge myself enough to risk other  injuries. 
Post-surgery, more treatment focus had been on the shoulder  complex itself and the back wasn&#039;t 
  treated as much as it had been. But, the back gradually  became more of a source of discomfort than 
  the shoulder. I noticed that I couldn&#039;t sit up comfortably,  when I sneezed it hurt my back and if I 
  started to run there was a definite lower back ache. It was  a problem that was giving me yet more 
  cause for concern. 
Since the clavicle operation, I have tried to train sensibly  and had even worked my way back to 
  running a very steady 10-mile Club Handicap road race.   But not long afterwards I came unstuck. I 
  decided to join some of my training partners on a long,  easy, Sunday morning run. Unfortunately a 
  route was chosen that involved crossing some very rutted  ground. As I gingerly picked my way 
  across the terrain, conscious of not falling and  jeopardising my shoulder further, it must have put 
  too much strain on my back. The next thing I knew my  hamstring seized up. To make matters worse 
  I was a few miles from home. Fortunately, one of my  clubmates had a mobile phone and I was able 
  to call for a lift home. 
After two and a half years of imbalance my body had adjusted  to its new structure and it is now 
  protesting at being the right shape again! What did I say  previously about not doing trail runs? 
  Admittedly that was to avoid shoulder damage, but beware of  trying to do anything that takes you 
  off-balance, it has a high probability of exacerbating back  problems and in this case hamstring 
  injury. 
At the surgeon&#039;s suggestion I am going to see an osteopath  in an attempt to get the back problem 
  sorted out. 
So at the moment I can&#039;t even go for a social run, let alone  think about being a competitive age-group athlete again. Not even being able to run is, to me,  the lowest I can be. Although the physio 
  can treat it, yet more patience is required on my  part. 
I&#039;ll be back. Not if, but when?
Train safe.
PS I am still just about able to ride indoors using the  Computrainer. Having read and re-read the 
  manual I now know how to use the included test protocols. So  for any other bewildered users out 
  there, use the manual ergo and select Start &amp;gt; Charts (not  exactly intuitive for us literal thinkers!)]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: The long and winding road continues...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6686.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Long and Winding Road
This is the latest chapter in the story of my rehabilitation  after very nearly meeting my maker. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a  single step, or to quote Lance Armstrong; &amp;ldquo;Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts  forever.&amp;rdquo; 
Apologies, but as I have been thinking events through, I  realised that I&#039;m actually getting very fed up. Positive thinking can get you  so far, but following surgery, it&#039;s as if I&#039;ve travelled back in time. Apart  from when I&#039;ve been away on holiday, there isn&#039;t a week that passes by without  some sort of appointment, maybe several. Rehabilitation can be an exhausting  process!
At least I have resumed running after an enforced,  seven-week break due to shoulder surgery. Although I had regularly used an  elliptical trainer to try and maintain some cardio-fitness, my heart rate was  much higher than usual, with the average, approaching maximum levels usually  seen when running hard track sessions.

Post-surgery average heart rate: 161 max 187

Pre-surgery average heart rate: 140 max 159
The seven week break was the longest I&#039;ve had since the  accident. I&#039;ve written before about the reality of recovery time not being like  on TV drama shows &amp;ndash; so it should have been no surprise to me to be reminded of  that again. Real life recovery is not a &quot;five minute job&quot;. This time I&#039;m not  going to try and attempt any over ambitious training, a more cautious approach  will hopefully see me regaining, and hopefully exceeding, the level of fitness  I had pre-surgery.
Fractures to my right clavicle had healed with it mostly  tilted forward at 45 degrees. For over two and a half years my body had  developed some muscular &quot;tricks&quot; to enable my right arm to move beyond its very  limited range of movement. Suddenly those &quot;tricks&quot; have gone away. Once again  it&#039;s a struggle to lift a kettle, even more so when there&#039;s actually some water  in it!
I&#039;m actually suffering more shoulder discomfort now than I  was at any time since my accident. The discomfort is due to muscles and tendons  now having to cope with the clavicle being properly aligned. I&#039;m a lot less  lopsided than I was, but a few months rehab work, in the gym and at home, needs  to be undergone to rebuild the muscles that have atrophied (or as the surgeon  wrote &quot;emphasise the empowerment of the lower trapezius and serratus anterior  muscles for scapular control to improve posture which will be challenged by the  presence of previous scapular fractures&quot;). Although the left side of my back  has a lot of muscle definition, the right side doesn&#039;t. The surgeon says that  improving the range of scapular postural movement will help the clavicle  function. The clavicle itself isn&#039;t a source of discomfort, but I do get a  sharp pain when I try to wear my rucksack over the right shoulder, because the  strap digs in to my new metal plate. I was advised that the metal work might be  taken out after 18 months, especially if it becomes irritating. Rolling over  onto my right side, when I&#039;m in bed, is a source of discomfort and will wake me  up.

As well as the scar on my neck, made by me entering the  closed window of the van, I&#039;m now the possessor of a scar where the surgeon  opened me up along the clavicle to insert the metal work. Scars do fade,  especially with the use of Bio-Oil.
Six weeks after the operation I saw the surgeon again, the  follow-up x-ray shows the bone is &amp;quot;softening&amp;quot; which indicates it is  joining together. My next follow-up appointment is after another two months.  Although I can now go without the sling and can start driving again, I was told  to avoid &amp;ldquo;long lever&amp;rdquo; weight bearing&amp;nbsp;  exercises (i.e. using a straight arm) and no swimming yet either. I was  given the go ahead to start using a stationary bike (i.e. turbo) and running.  I&#039;m following a routine that&#039;s a combination of exercises suggested by my PT  (David Jones) and my physio. The frustrating aspect is that I&#039;ve been advised  to stop an exercise if I start getting tired, that&#039;s when secondary muscles  start to take over and it doesn&#039;t really help those that I&#039;m targeting. Telling  an athlete to stop when they start getting tired just goes against the grain! 
At least for a few days when I was out of action, heavy  snowfall stopped much of the population from doing much regular exercise  outside too. At least I got to meet most of my fairly new neighbours, when most  of our street cleared snow from the road. Even I got involved and developed an  effective one-handed shovelling technique based on a lunge, so my previous gym  work paid dividends. Being a &amp;ldquo;competitive athlete&amp;rdquo; meant that, even one-handed,  I cleared the snow at a much higher rate then most of the neighbours, until one  of them turned up with a home-made snow shovel (broomstick and a sheet of  steel) and made relatively light work of the task. It goes without saying that  my, now teenage, son was not very helpful, and in common with the rest of the  youngsters in the street, was more interested in having fun. They all made a  huge snowman.
As I mentioned earlier, thanks to having an  elliptical-trainer in the garage, which my wife uses for her exercise, I at  least tried to maintain some cardio-fitness. I don&#039;t mind training in the  garage, it&#039;s where my turbo lives. At least when I&#039;m on the bike I usually have  the ergo view generated by the Computrainer while following a Spinervals DVD, I  don&#039;t use the 3D courses that much. The elliptical-trainer lacks any such  distraction, so I managed to catch-up with old episodes of IMTalk, including an  interview with Hawaii Ironman legend Dave Scott. I was amused to hear that him  say it was a myth that he used to stare at a dot on a piece of paper while  doing hours on the turbo &amp;ndash; how much time had I previously wasted?!
Why can&#039;t gadgets be compatible? My wife&#039;s elliptical  trainer is made by Tunturi and it doesn&#039;t pick up a signal from my Garmin heart  rate monitor. Then again my Computrainer has a lead to pick up Polar HRM  signals but not the type of Polar HRM that I have!
Thankfully, the tedium of using the elliptical trainer is at  an end now that I am allowed to start running again, but the surgeon did warn  against falling over, due to ice or mud, in case it jeopardises the repair. So  I won&#039;t be running any cross-country races for the rest of this season. I&#039;ll  also have to make sure any long runs avoid trail routes, some of which have  seen me slip over. It&#039;s probably obvious to many that, with my background,  running is my favourite sport. I usually visualise going a for a run to get to  sleep at night!
I&#039;ve started using the short &amp;ldquo;Time Saver&amp;rdquo; Spinervals  sessions on the turbo and find that it&#039;s really quite painful on my shoulder,  especially when getting up from the aero bars that I have on my training bike.  Shoulder rehabilitation can&#039;t come soon enough!
The last two years has seen me enter an athletic event near  the anniversary date of the collision. I&#039;ve used it as some sort of measurement  to see how far I&#039;ve progressed. I struggled around the London Marathon the  first year and then the Spring Duathlon at Goodwood last year. This year I&#039;m tempted  to go back to Goodwood again, this time for the shorter race, and then review  race options for later on in the year. Hopefully, before long, I won&#039;t be  racing with &amp;ldquo;one arm tied behind my back&amp;rdquo;. Lack of fitness does mean I won&#039;t be  running the Brighton Marathon that I had entered last year.
Recovery drags on, April 21 will mark the third anniversary  of my near oblivion. Physically I&#039;m still significantly, and measurably, below  the level I was at. Cognitively I&#039;m not back doing the type of work I was doing.  I&#039;ve had to re-learn how to do a lot of things that were previously a matter of  routine. Fortunately, the internet is a readily accessible information  resource. 
Problem solving and creative thinking are the skills that  seem to have deserted me, something that was formerly second-nature. I&#039;m still  using my DS, daily, for puzzle solving games.
To me mental fatigue is still the most debilitating problem  I suffer from. For an endurance athlete, taking rest breaks when you haven&#039;t  done any physical exercise feels like cheating. But when I&amp;nbsp; tire mentally, a switch can flip and I get  very irritable, especially with those nearest to me. I guess explosive angry  outbursts are the worst deficit to my family. I can still get stuck on what  people tell me if they aren&#039;t explicit enough. I&#039;m sure anyone reading my  articles will have a sense of disbelief that there are any problems, but  sitting down and writing is a lot less demanding than personal interaction,  because I take my time and make corrections. This article has taken weeks to  write and many, many re-writes in collaboration with my wife.
My wife, as the person who is around me the most, also  suffers the most, how she still supports me is a testament to her and her  tolerance of my irritability.
Although triathlon is only a hobby, not my livelihood, in my  quest for rehabilitation, sport is what brings me a sense of achievement and  fulfillment. It also has the advantage of being measurable, both in training and  racing. 
I look forward to the day when I&#039;m writing a triathlon race  report and not the latest installment on the road to recovery. 
Onwards! 

Train safe.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: shoulder surgery]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6328.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[When I got hit by a van my collar bone was broken and due to  other more urgent injuries it wasn&#039;t treated. As a result the fracture healed  with a large part of the bone in the wrong position, causing&amp;nbsp; my overall shoulder girth to shorten and  droop forward. 
Over the following months, my body adapted to its new shape  and I worked out in the gym to try to overcome what deficiencies I could. At  first I couldn&#039;t even raise my arm out of the water to swim front crawl. I  eventually reached the stage where I could manage crawl but with hardly any  power in the stroke. Although my cycling has been largely restricted to the  turbo, when I did venture out on a road bike, my right knee would hit my  shoulder when on the drop handlebars. I could run, but was always in discomfort.  So, although all three sports were possible, I haven&#039;t been able to perform any  of them very well. Even running, my strongest event, has been a long way short  of my previous standard.
I&#039;m not sure how much the imbalance has contributed to my  sub-standard performances but it certainly hasn&#039;t helped. With initial concerns  that I had possible nerve damage I wasn&#039;t offered any prospect of surgery.  Eventually, after many unsatisfactory NHS appointments, a route I was  channelled into by my previous case manager, never seeing the consultant named  on the letter, I took the private medicine route and saw an experienced surgeon  who I was supposed to see at the RNOH. Simon Lambert, examined me and his  opinion was that surgery was possible. After learning that news I must have  stopped sub-consciously blocking out the symptoms of the injury and I began to  suffer a lot more discomfort.
I was actually looking forward to surgery, hopeful that I&#039;d  be able to start doing the every day things I could no longer do. Then again  post brain-injury I don&#039;t actually find anything &amp;ldquo;bothers&amp;rdquo; me that much! On a  Saturday morning my dad drove me to the Spire Hospital Bushey where Mr Lambert  performs surgery on private patients.
After checking in I was visited by Mr Chandra, the anaesthetist,  and then Mr Lambert. [Mr Lambert drew an arrow on my right arm to make sure he  performed surgery on the correct arm!] I was eventually taken down to the  operating theatre where a cannula was inserted in to my left wrist. Mr Chandra  started injecting the anaesthetic, I remember a theatre nurse asking me why I  was having surgery and telling him that my family wouldn&#039;t like me to ride a  bike anymore.....the next thing I knew I was staring at a hospital ceiling and  asking &amp;ldquo;where am I?&amp;rdquo; For a while it was eerily reminiscent of when I &amp;ldquo;awoke&amp;rdquo;  after being in a coma. Thankfully it didn&#039;t take long for a nurse to say  &amp;ldquo;Bushey&amp;rdquo; and me to realise where I was and what must have happened. I was taken  back to my room and gradually became more lucid. With my iPhone at the ready it  didn&#039;t take me long to call my wife, send some text messages and get my dad to  take a photo or two.
Surgery actually involved making an incision, breaking the  clavicle with a drill, chiselling off some&amp;nbsp;  of the damaged growth to use as bone graft, rotating the bone and using  a stainless steel plate and screws to join together the two halves. It was all  closed up and a water-proof dressing used.
When I saw Mr Lambert the next day he was with happy with  the success of the procedure. He said there was good blood flow in the bone and  that he had managed to protect the nerve, all key to a good prognosis. His  guidance included telling me to make sure that I don&#039;t move my arm too far in  any direction, especially overhead or behind my back. I&#039;ve been given a set of  very simple exercises to do by the hospital physio; probably too easy for me  not to start over-doing it and compromising the repair! I had an x-ray taken  which showed the plate and screws as well as the gap between the two halves of the  clavicle. Hopefully the two halves will have started to join by the next x-ray,  six weeks after surgery, when I go back for consultant follow-up.
So now its six weeks in a sling but no exercise that puts  any impact stress on the body. As well as a standard poly-sling I also have a  Cryo/Cuff. This is a cold-compression sling, these have  been shown to lessen swelling and pain after surgery, thus improving the  recovery time. Both the poly-sling and the Cryo/Cuff use Velcro to enable the  sling to be used for different sized people. However Velcro seems to want to  attach itself the wrong way around or to anything that comes close when you&#039;re  attempting to put the sling on!

I&#039;m taking the prescribed painkillers, as I&#039;m told its  better to keep (orthopaedic) pain away rather than try to get rid of it  afterwards. I don&#039;t feel any pain where the incision is and rather like the  accident itself I think, did it really happen? Do I really have to wear a  sling? Why can&#039;t I pick heavy things up? But, if I do move in a certain  direction, or breath deeply, there is a definite surge. 
I had my first physiotherapy session with the physio who has  been keeping my back spasms at bay. It was evident that I had real difficulty  trying to move my arm in certain directions where the muscles hadn&#039;t been used  properly for the last couple of years or so.
I have to be realistic. Don&#039;t let physical pain be a guide,  follow medical advice, even if you don&#039;t think you believe in it.
Being one-handed is a source of frustration in that I&#039;m not  able to drive or do a lot of day-to-day tasks. Its somewhat like the early days  after my initial discharge from hospital, following the collision, but this  time I have more vitality and am not content just to lay around watching TV.
I&#039;m typing this account one handed. Usually, as a proficient  IT geek, I type with both hands. Its a bit tricky not being able to use the  normal, to me, combinations of keyboard shortcuts that rely on using both  hands. If I&#039;m not shackled to the Cryo/Cuff, then balancing my laptop on my  lap, rather than on a desk [must be why its called a laptop!], I can manage  some two-handed typing. 
Sleep, or the lack of, is the biggest obstacle following the  op. At the moment I&#039;m using loads of pillows to try and sleep propped up, with  another under my right arm. I&#039;ll try another configuration this evening in the  hope that I can get a good night&#039;s sleep. It can be hard enough trying to cope  with the tiredness of mental fatigue without starting the day tired before I&#039;ve  done a thing.
A comment I&#039;ve had via the wonderfully supportive, on-line  TriTalk forum is; &amp;ldquo;It astounds me you&#039;re still having to go through procedures  to correct your injuries. Get well soon.&amp;ldquo;
Welcome to the world of insurance companies and the  so-called independent case management companies that rely on their patronage to  remain in business. I&#039;d sum it up as &amp;ldquo;here&#039;s a chair and desk, get back to  work&amp;rdquo;; without any real regard for the quality of life issues which  rehabilitation should be all about. Thankfully my new case manager is more  sympathetic, then again he doesn&#039;t get his business from insurance companies.  I&#039;d be satisfied if nobody else has to put up with the poor service I&#039;ve had to  endure, although I have my doubts. Surviving the trauma of a catastrophic accident  is enough to contend with without people unnecessarily putting extra barriers  in the way.
&amp;ldquo;Still amazes me how determined you are and how far you&#039;ve  come.&amp;ldquo; No thanks to companies more interested in their bottom line. I&#039;m not  sure where I&#039;d be now without all the support I continue to get.
Friendship, love, empathy, call it what you will, something  that you can&#039;t put a price on, gives me additional drive to keep going. Thanks,  again, to everyone who has supported me.
Train safe.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: Fuse blown]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6216.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Thanks  to Tri247.com for letting me be the token running columnist. Once again I am  writing about running races on a triathlon web site. I haven&#039;t been able to have taken part in a triathlon for over  three years. The nearest I got was entering a relay. I was going to do the run leg but during the race my  team-mate  got knocked off his bike and fractured his pelvis. Any volunteers to go near a  bike when I&#039;m around? 

  
    
    The  Abingdon Marathon was my goal for the season. My target was 3:30, which would mean regular 8 minute miles, it also represented a pace it was easy to  calculate - just multiply the distance shown on the markers by 8; at least I no  longer need to count my fingers as I had post-collision. 
      Although I had done quite a bit of running recently I was aware that I hadn&#039;t done any runs longer than about 17 miles, most training plans suggest getting over 20 miles which running Abingdon Marathon would have meant some 3 hour runs.
      I think the training lacked focus after my good friend  Mark, whose idea it was to enter,  injured his achilles a few months prior to the race and  he had to pull out. With the rest of my Crawley AC training partners not  running in Autumn marathons, the long Sunday  runs never got long enough to give me enough time on my feet. Although Mark  wasn&#039;t able to compete, he did take the trouble to come and collect me at 6  o&#039;clock Sunday morning, drive me to Abingdon and then supported me on the course [he rode his MTB  around], he then drove me home. 
    
  

The  start at Abingdon is on an athletics track, although I had never competed there  in the dim and distant past when only one lap was my racing distance. I chose  to put myself with what I hoped would be 3:30 runners, although it&#039;s always  guess work. 
I&#039;m not sure why, because although I had tapered, my legs  were aching after only 3 or 4 miles. But nonetheless I was knocking out 8-min  miles consistently for 16 or 17 miles, it certainly got tougher after that but  I still maintained the pace until just over the 20 mile mark. I think at around  the 21 mile mark was a feed station and I thought I&#039;d have a piece of orange, remembering how well that had worked for me when I competed in  Ironman Austria, I also had some jelly babies. I stopped to eat the orange  segment and after that found it hard to get going at the  same pace again. 
I had  to grind out the last few miles, with the last mile seeming to take an age to  appear. The right side of my neck and right shoulder were getting quite painful by now.  Eventually I arrived back at the track where the route followed the &amp;ldquo;wrong way&amp;rdquo;  around to the finish. 
  My  time was 3:36+ [I didn&#039;t stop my watch because Ant was prompting me to make  sure I finished under the timing clock for him to take some snaps. This being a  small world, Ant of SussexSportPhotography is an ex high hurdler for Crawley AC. Great photos they  may be, but I seem &amp;ldquo;not there&amp;rdquo; in a lot of them, I don&#039;t really recognise myself compared to pre-collision pics]. 
  
    
      3:36:44 was a PB of sorts, certainly faster [about 25  minutes] than when I ran London last year, but only a bit faster than I ran in IMA. As I was running, I did think to myself, have I really managed to do  a  marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and riding a bike for 112? I know the answer is yes and it just goes to show me  [again] how long the road to recovery is. 
        There&#039;s no way I would have made anything like the recovery I have without the  help and moral support of my training  partners at both Crawley AC and East Grinstead Tri Club and some of the kind  words of encouragement from some of the on-line community at TriTalk. It was certainly helpful to run with Peter Cobb when his work brought him to my local  area. 
        After the marathon it was off to Florida for a family holiday, I had a few easy runs in the Orlando and Sarasota areas, nothing longer than a slow 7 miles. Since returning I ran the Brighton 10km and have a Sussex  Cross Country League fixture before surgery.
      The  10km race was frustrating, I just couldn&#039;t establish  a comfortable pace. What disappoints me is that I&#039;m now  running 10km at a slower pace than I had been running 21km half-marathons. As a  matter of record, only three weeks before the collision, I had raced a much  quicker 10km directly after a 3 1/2 hour bike ride to the venue. 
      
    
  
  Physical  exercise, or more accurately at the moment only running, presents a difficult  balancing act - should I be content that I&#039;m still  here, or should I be striving to re-capture the level of performance I  previously had? There is not much in the literature, hence my original motivation with writing these articles. I don&#039;t think I&#039;ll ever be  content with just being able to take part in ordinary, everyday activities, although I&#039;m grateful that mostly I can. 
  
    
      
      My  motivation now is to take part in a triathlon that challenges me sufficiently  to get the frustration out of the system. Don&#039;t know what, or where, but it will have to  be at least a middle distance event, so I&#039;m not  looking forward to my wife reading this! [So when I make my  mind up it&#039;ll be an  event overseas.] 
        I&#039;ll have to  make the assertion that next year I will write a report about completing a  triathlon. At the moment its 2 steps forward and - hopefully - not too many steps backwards, as  early  next month I am having surgery to correct the comminuted fracture of my clavicle. 
        Naively  in my first article I wrote that &amp;ldquo;I also had a broken right clavicle, quite a  common cyclist&#039;s injury&amp;rdquo; in fact my clavicle was shattered by the impact  of the van rather than it breaking as a result of  me falling on it. 
      Surgery  means enforced rest and yet more physio and physical rehab. I am a bit  resentful that I&#039;m only now getting around to having this surgery, some  earlier advice didn&#039;t go beyond a suggestion to only use lower cupboards.  Post-surgery, and when my body rebalances, I  hope to be able to follow some structured training plans. 
    
  
  At least with physical exercise I can measure where I am  compared with pre-collision, with  the cognitive side it&#039;s not so easy, although I know there are still some &amp;ldquo;black-holes&amp;rdquo;  [thankfully not including writing] as well as ongoing mental fatigue.  Interestingly, a recent medical consultation revealed that due to damage to my  inner ear, I am more reliant on my eyes for balance, this could also contribute  to my increased levels of fatigue. 
  What do any of us actually know? As a Donald Rumsfield  once said there are:
    &amp;ldquo;unknown  unknowns - things we don&#039;t know we don&#039;t know&amp;rdquo; and to me this sums up the frustrating side of my brain injury. 

At  home a bedside light wasn&#039;t working. I changed the light bulb, but it still was not  working. I was certain the light must be broken, maybe a wire had fallen off  inside. 
My  wife asked me to let my dad have a look at it when my parents were visiting. I  reluctantly agreed as I was sure it was broken and that it couldn&#039;t easily be taken to pieces, otherwise I would have done so. 
After  telling my dad that I had changed the lightbulb he asked me if I had checked  the fuse? It was [no pun intended] like a light bulb had been switched on in my  head. It just hadn&#039;t occurred to me to check the fuse, a [formerly to me]  basic fault finding procedure. It just didn&#039;t occur to  me that electrical items, with a plug, have a fuse fitted. 
No  amount of starting again or coming back to the problem [as I have been advised  by a neuro-psychologist] would have helped me. Like many &amp;ldquo;geeks&amp;rdquo; I used to take  electronic items to pieces just to put them back together again, I had even  serviced equipment as part of working in medical  electronics. 
Some  stuff just seems to be missing from my consciousness. I&#039;m going to be having some tutoring soon, covering some of the database programming skills I was using  in  my employment practice. I hope that it helps to dislodge some of the &amp;ldquo;hidden&amp;rdquo;  knowledge. 
So,  well over two years after having a brain injury, there are still  straight-forward tasks that baffle me. After initial frustration, I&#039;m left feeling disappointed and think, what else is there  I might have misunderstood? And although  I have a positive, glass half full, mental attitude events like that leave my  morale and self-confidence badly dented. 
My  next article will be post-surgery. As I&#039;ve said  before I&#039;m not giving up yet! Train safe. 
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vince Golding: The long and winding road.]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_5916.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[No song lyrics this time, just a statement.
The wheels of justice, and rehabilitation, move slowly, but my new  legal representatives are moving things along, and although progressing the  case is not as fast as I&#039;d like, they do seem to be very thorough and  exhaustive in their pursuit of my case. I certainly wasn&#039;t satisfied with how  the previous legal firm didn&#039;t appear to be as pro-active, so I&#039;d be wary of an  article in a recent edition of the BTF&#039;s TriNews.
Due to the new firm&#039;s efforts, we&#039;ve just moved to a new home we&#039;re  renting that gives us more space, now the kids can play [or be noisy] without  getting under my feet and Daddy shouldn&#039;t lose his temper so much. It also  gives me the chance to start again in a different place without the reminder of  the past. After the move we were without a phone line and access to the  internet for a few days, it&#039;s a bit inconvenient but I managed to live without  it.
I recently listed some of my injuries: fractured skull, severe brain  injury, broken ribs, punctured lung, lacerated jugular requiring blood  transfusion, damage to hearing, loss of feeling to side of head, broken  clavicle, broken scapula [&amp;quot;shoulder&amp;quot;], ongoing back pain where my  body compensates for shoulder not working, problem maintaining concentration,  concrete thinking, getting distracted, irritability, tinnitus, unable to cope  with loud noise...
Over two years on and I&#039;m still on the road to recovery, although  apparently the driver&#039;s insurance company thinks I&#039;m fine. Maybe I shouldn&#039;t  have a positive mental attitude and spend more time complaining about all the  things I just listed. I&#039;ve said before to me the glass is half full;  rehabilitation is a challenge to be faced, not a list of problems to complain  about, [this paragraph excepted]. Certainly my wife and parents are under a lot  of unnecessary stress.
Enough of the &amp;ldquo;boring&amp;rdquo; stuff. I recently saw another Consultant  Orthopaedic Surgeon, he&#039;s a top shoulder specialist and unlike those who I had  seen previously, says he can repair my right shoulder. He thinks that the nerve  damage isn&#039;t too bad and is confident of a much improved range of movement. It  demonstrates that you can&#039;t necessarily take the word of the first doctor you  see.
It took a lot longer to see him than I believe it should have,  because my previous case management firm seemed to be more concerned with their  insurance industry paymasters and minimizing any financial layout in my  rehabilitation. I was compelled to take the NHS route with it&#039;s months of waiting  lists, and to be honest, in some cases dilapidated hospitals where I wouldn&#039;t  want to undergo surgery. Almost without fail, every time I had an appointment,  I never saw the consultant but instead &amp;ldquo;one of the team&amp;rdquo;.
To be honest being able to swim properly again isn&#039;t top of my list  of priorities, it&#039;s every day things I once took for granted; being able to put  things in a cupboard, sit properly at the dinner table, change a light bulb;  that I look forward to being able to do again, without putting a massive strain  on my back.
Having the operation done privately, at a date of my choosing, means  that I can wait until I run the Abingdon marathon and have had a family  holiday. So, roll on December 5th.
The osteotomy will mean an enforced period of doing nothing. At  least surgery will be planned and completely different to last time.  Rehabilitation should be a lot more straight forward, concerned only with  getting the back and shoulder working properly again. In preparation for the  marathon I&#039;ve built up a good aerobic base. I count my blessings that I am able  to be fixed. Onwards!
With Abingdon as a target I&#039;m mostly enjoying my running, as I  mentioned I intended to do last time. Regular physio treatment of my upper back  to treat the muscle spasms helps to keep me going. The aches and pains in my  back are where my body compensates for the lack of shoulder mobility and  imbalance where the right shoulder is now mal-aligned. Running often results in  some sort of, as yet undiagnosed, &amp;ldquo;blockage&amp;rdquo; to my left inner ear. I lose  hearing and my own voice reverberates in my head. But the running high -  endorphins - and gradual improvement in performance compensates. My body seems  to recover much more quickly after a long run now than it used to.
Recently running has included a couple of times a week with Peter  Cobb, while he has been in this area working. Peter has recently competed in the Norseman event,  running with him has given my training extra impetus. I linked up with Peter  following a thread he started on TriTalk about training in the local area. The TriTalk forum can  be a useful resource, offering a lot of interesting information.
No doubt when I regain full shoulder mobility I&#039;ll be able to start  swimming front crawl correctly again. At the moment the prone body position  means that although I appear to be swimming properly, in reality after lifting  my right arm out of the water, gravity is what pulls it back down and I then  lack upper body strength to pull a proper stroke.
Over two years after being hit by a van, I have a lot of  frustrations with the after-effects of the brain injury and from time-to-time  feel angry at some of the deficits I am aware of. Mental tiredness and  &amp;ldquo;concrete thinking&amp;rdquo; being uppermost. But I&#039;m aware how much better off I am  than some of the other people I saw in hospital and others who have had serious  accidents. 
At least with physical pursuits, mainly my running, I can measure  any improvement. I haven&#039;t ridden on my turbo for a few months and my swimming  wont improve until after the shoulder reconstruction. It&#039;s a lot harder to  quantify mental ability, other than to keep using my Nintendo DS and see if I  can improve my scores at &amp;ldquo;Big Brain Academy&amp;rdquo;. Other aspects of mental ability  are harder to assess, but I do sense that I&#039;m not as creative as I used to be.  My imagination has gone missing!
I have at last got round to reading Richard Hammond&#039;s book about his  jet car accident. From my selfish perspective it doesn&#039;t mention about his  rehab [I expect he didn&#039;t have to worry about finding the finance for it], or  any of the behavioural deficits he might have suffered. He seemed to have had much  better after care than I did and seemed to know a lot more of the possible  consequences of brain injury, that was something really lacking where I was a  patient.
Thankfully he &amp;ldquo;only&amp;rdquo; had a brain injury to contend with. I have to  admit I was jealous when I read about him going for a run through a forest in  Scotland in the early days of his recovery. Reading back to my first post on  here, all I could do was to struggle, one very slow mile. Then again I have  made a lot of progress in the intervening time but the road ahead is still a  long one.
Train safe.


Last time I wrote, tongue firmly in cheek, that &amp;ldquo;maybe youngsters  don&#039;t need to warm up?&amp;rdquo; My 12-year-old  son didn&#039;t listen to my advice to do a warm up and as a result got his first  sports injury! ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Appetite for Destruction?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_5336.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;And I don&#039;t worry about nothin&#039; no &lsquo;Cause worryin&#039;s a waste of my time...&rdquo; **

It seems Tri247 items quoting song lyrics are en vogue at the moment. Bob&rsquo;s are a bit boring, but then again I did steal his hat in a race once, so he&#039;s forgiven (the UK 70.3 at Longleat only gave caps out to the first half[?] to finish regardless of category or start wave).

As I&rsquo;m not quite as old as Bob, I&rsquo;m using some lyrics from an &lsquo;80s Gun&rsquo;n&rsquo;Roses song that I still enjoy &ldquo;tapping my feet&rdquo; to. It&rsquo;s also nearly, but not quite, the answer I gave when I was asked by a neuro-psychologist, a few months ago; &ldquo;what are the three things that worry you the most?&rdquo; I think I actually said; &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t think of anything&rdquo; (I wasn&rsquo;t trying to write a song).

Probably not the answer to give when you&rsquo;re no longer able to sustain a level of work that you previously did and have a wife and family, with a mortgage and bills to pay.

Further along the road to recovery it&rsquo;s the attitude I am taking to sport. In a way it&rsquo;s pragmatic, I still get caught out by mental fatigue. I&rsquo;ve got a few ongoing medical consultations to contend with concerning my hearing [in my left ear] and my right shoulder. On top of that there are some cognitive assessments/appointments too. Testing is tiring, I fell asleep after being tested a few days ago and was awoken by the professor entering the room accompanied by my wife.

It all leaves me a bit lacking in spark. So, with my postponing a triathlon comeback, I&rsquo;ve decided to avoid being too concerned by how hard I&rsquo;m training and just enjoy myself. How many reps and how fast I do them, are not a priority at the moment. Being overly concerned about how well training is going is an appetite for self-destruction. There are no prizes for trying to compete in events as soon as is possible.

With a switch in solicitor and case manager, it has taken, and is still taking, some getting used to a higher level of support and assistance. People are now actually pro-actively helping me, versus us, as a family, just being largely left to get on with it alone.

Getting back to day-to-day sporting issues. With some fine, sunny days that we&rsquo;ve had here recently, I&rsquo;ve missed the pleasure of riding a bike along country roads. A club mate has just completed his first Ironman [in Lanzarote], he loved it. It all leaves me a bit frustrated. But I&rsquo;m not prepared to risk riding on the open road again.

My new &ldquo;athletic&rdquo; goal is the Abingdon Marathon in October, using 10k road races for predicting how I&rsquo;m progressing. I&rsquo;ve started wearing Nike Free running shoes, an oxymoron because they&rsquo;re not free, but then again they don&rsquo;t cost that much either (compared to other running shoes). 

Not being too self-indulgent over my own competitions, I also have the opportunity to support my 12-year-old son in his athletic events - giving him the &ldquo;benefit&rdquo; of my years of sporting experience. Or maybe youngsters don&rsquo;t need to warm up?

Train safe!



** Mr Brownstone, Gun&rsquo;n&rsquo;Roses, Appetite for Destruction]]></description></item></channel></rss>
