Recovery.....

So, one week after Celtman. I still have my race number and split print out blue tacked to the wall and am still wearing my blue t-shirt, the result of the last 8 months hard work! I defiantly feel a sense of pride and achievement now, but have to admit the last week has been a bit of a struggle in other ways.

I am finding it quite hard to let go of Celtman. I keep checking the website still, looking over all the photos and thinking about the beach at Sheildaig, the water in the loch, the descents and climbs on the bike, the Coulin pass and the summit of Ruadh-stac-Mor. A bit of a grieving process of sorts I suppose. One thing for sure is that the race has left its mark in many ways.

Still have a tweak in leg but this seems to be improving daily. Ice and elevation for first three days took the swelling down. Some very light easy stretching after a bath seems to be helping relive the tightness. Should be getting some treatment next week to help it on its way. A deep tissue massage, although painful seems to work wonders for this sort of thing. After the swelling has gone and movement without pain is possible, an injury needs stimulation to promote and speed up healing. Easy does it though.

The good thing about triathlon though is you have three sports to choose from in which to train, which is ideal for me as I quite frankly am a moody so and so if I cannot exercise in some way! Motivation returned the last few days so I spent thirty mins in the pool today, running through some drills and stretching out. Felt that excitement on the way to the session which is always a good sign. Just relaxed and did what I felt like, no rigid plans, sets or stop watches. Plan to try a real easy cycle tomorrow if I feel like it but no pressure. The main thing is the psyche and motivation is there, I know the base I have built up is not going to disappear over night. Without recovery all the training is useless as the body and mind will just break down.

Have thought about and set some goals for the future. Have a few races lined up,more on this in a future post. Hopefully this will help ease the sense of loss now Celtman is done. But in the short term, its is rehab the leg and pick up the swimming. The rest will follow.

The morning  swim, Loch Sheildaig

A few useful links: http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Bouncing_back_from_Ironman.htm
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Recovery-Tips-for-Ironman-Triathletes.htm
http://www.trainstravels.co.uk/2011/09/02/rules-for-ironman-recovery/