January 17, 2016
I didn’t really want to think about this subject, let alone write about it. However you need to confront your problems in order to conquer them.
If you have been reading my blogs you will be aware that I have been experiencing some back pain. For those of you who haven’t – my lower back is causing me problems at around the 3 hour mark. It’s like a cramping pain that gradually gets worse as time goes on.
I only started cycling in September so I knew there was a good chance I would pick up some problems throughout the process of preparing my body for my ride. However this back pain has got worse to the point where I’m struggling to increase my milage, and therefore unable to progress further on he bike.
Two key points to mention
- It’s not a medical condition having had two professionals check it out.
- It’s not my bike fit having had two people – including one injury specialist at the velodrome – set my bike up
Physically I’m feeling really relatively fit, although I am still a long way off the required levels to ride 120 miles for 28 consecutive days. The problems appears to be with my flexibility and my core strength, both of which are lacking.
Each ride was getting worse and worse so my trainer took the decision to take me off the bike for a while. Throughout that time I will be performing a lot of daily stretching and core exercises to help enable my body to endure longer activity in the saddle. My biggest concern was maintaining my fitness levels and my trainer’s answer to that was swimming! I’m now swimming 4/5 times a week, it’s fantastic and really tough (more on that in my next post)!
Naturally this new training plan had me extremely worried and anxious. However I’m saying really positive and keeping in mind I’ve still over seven months left to train and prepare myself.
I have had my fair share of injuries over the years but this back is by far the most frustrating. My legs – and body in general – feel great when I’m riding, but the lower back ache gets progressively worse to the point where I just have to stop to allow it to subside. I feel really sorry for those people who are experiencing back pain in everyday life, it’s an awful and very frustrating experience.
“It depends how much you want it. But one thing’s for sure it’s going to hurt”
Yesterday I went to see a Chiropractor and towards the end of my session I asked him how does he foresee the rest of my training and the actual ride going? His reply was “It depends how much you want it. But one thing’s for sure it’s going to hurt”.
Most people would feel quite disheartened at that statement, but it has just completely spurred me on to train even harder in order to make it easier. Nothing will stop me completing this ride and I’ve seven months left to sort it……
