Road to recovery Part 1

Hey folks!

I thought it was about time that I said something! Its been so long that I'm not really sure where to start.

I just had a read of my last extract below and let me tell ya, that was a long time ago. Since then I've broken my hip, recovered, got married, got back on the road and picked up a few more national titles on the track. From reading the last blog I reckon I was 24hrs away from crashing and breaking myself! Little did I know how my season was gonna turn around.

Lets just say I had an experience in Taiwan after breaking my hip, there was a lot of obstacles that I had to figure out. Thanks to a few people in the right places I was able to get the surgery done, flights booked and home as soon as possible. Once home I was so relieved, the flights were a disaster - so uncomfortable, moving the slightest was a challenge. The initial weeks home were all new to me, after worrying about blood clots for a few days it was the basic things that were so hard. If I was a horse I'd be shot for sure! If Grace wasn't there with me I really don't know what I would have done, I'm willing to put money on the fact that I was even more of a pain in the ass to live with. She said nothing though and helped me with everything, and I mean everything!!!
An X-ray from when I got home, still freaks me out!
An X-ray from when I got home, still freaks me out!
With the weeks ticking passed I started to get a bit more mobile but I was becoming lazy! Half of me wanted to be back racing yesterday and the other half was happy to sit, eat and sleep! The 2 most depressing things were seeing a whole road season tick past and watching my left leg shrink! I would have a mini panic every now and then but I soon snapped out of it and got on with it. As soon as I could move my leg I got in the pool. First off I used the rehab suite in the Royal hospital, Belfast. I juggled that with a lot of time in SINI in Jordanstown, I would have been lost without their direction and would probably be months behind in terms of recovery. As I sit here and type this now I'm still not fully fit if I'm honest, walking down stairs is uncomfortable and I find myself doing a fall/run down them,works though!

As I went through the motions of rehab and trekking to SINI and back Grace and myself had a brainwave, what about getting married! Feel free to laugh, we still do. Express weddings are us! There was a few factors going on in our lives that made our decision easy, not to mention being nearly 4 years engaged. It just seemed the right thing to do and for all the right reasons it made perfect sense. All the people we wanted to be there were there and I loved every bit of it.
This is where I have to thank Grainne Brookfield, she never once thought we were a couple of nut jobs; she entertained every idea/u-turn/decision we made. The day itself was awesome, I look back and smile. It went from an idea to done in 3-4 weeks and I wouldn't change a thing. Our ceremony was a simple one in Joe and Breda's garden (Grace's folks). It was perfect, just what we were looking for and we owe them one, a big one! I'd like to thank everyone who turned up and made it the day it was. Grainne and Mike (her loving husband:)) put on a brilliant show that night and Joe showed us how awesome he is on the guitar. In my eyes the whole thing was perfect.
Wedding Bells...Me and my wife Grace
Wedding Bells...Me and my wife Grace
Call back soon and I'll fill you in on how my return to racing goes.

Cheers, 

M

7/11/13

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It just feels right…..

Image
Well, I never actually thought this day would come. All through my cycling career I’ve seen teammates old and new “retire.”   Something that I initially thought could be the worst thing ever to happen to me. As I sit here here now typing this it just feels right. Don’t get me wrong though, this decision I have not taken lightly. Something has just happened to me over the last 1-2 years and I can’t really pin point it. Okay, I’ve had a few crashes that have left metal inside me but I came back from them. I mean, I won a European medal 6 months after breaking my hip! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that its a mental thing. However, its not that simple. I really miss racing, even now when I’ve barely stopped. It just feels like a natural end though. For the last year I’ve been racing and under performing across the board. Frustration has been setting in all year and I’m sick of just turning up to bike races. I set my own bar by winning 7 medals in a row. Worl
Read more

Up to date...finally!

Image
A smart man said he read my blog and thought, "What's this crap, its out of date" So, part 2 of "out of date, up to date" I left you after I had somehow pulled a medal out of my backside and that's exactly how I feel. World Champ medals are hard to come by. I had the minimum amount of track time and a below average build up.  The only thing got me that medal was the desire to have it!  Anyway, America! A word that I have used a lot. This year though the meaning of it has slightly changed, just slightly. I'll come back to that some other time. My road season started off in Taiwan with a stage race and after that I was a blow in, B string crit rider. UHC have an awesome team and it's pretty hard to even get a start with them in the first place.  Honestly I never really got going with the crit guys and I'm not really sure why. I know I have the engine to do the job but mentally I wasn't there. I was willing and able to do what the
Read more
Just to be clear! I felt the need to say something because I feel like the “hard done by” theme is being put out there when it comes to myself. I am really happy! All the stuff you have been reading is true, not a word of a lie but people are jumping on the - lack of, shoulda, woulda coulda stuff. I loved racing bikes. When I got shit at racing bikes, I stopped! I still love the thought of racing but getting paid for it was becoming hard to do. I do feel that things need to change to help young athletes become champions. It’s not cycling that is the problem, it’s not the sports council’s problem, it’s not the sponsors fault, it’s ours! All these organizations meet demand to a degree, there are exceptions though! The sports that get the help in Ireland are the highest supported sports when it comes to bums on seats. There was a Class 1 UCI race held in Ireland last year. It was a track race, I was in it and it was held at Sundrive Velodrome. It was ran perfectly, ever
Read more