Here I am sitting gingerly on the edge of my seat seven weeks after the race of my life and training is OFF. Which is frustrating as ironmanUK is now just 264 days away.

See here for the cause of the extra OFF training time.

In the word of Andy Holgate currently –
I Can’t Swim – chlorine stings worse than my anaphylactic  wasp sting in the summer

I Cant Ride – due to Pilonidal Cyst – an infected lump on my coccyx

I Cant Run – the lump, penicillin and painkillers making me woozy

I Can’t Sit – in comfort yet

So all triathlon based activities are OFF the training plan for a second week.

Bizarrely the initial post about my pain in the butt received my second highest visits on my blog ever ! Obviously people are interested in others mishaps & medical matters and I have my quota and more. But on a positive side thanks for all the comments that I have received with suggestions from cabbage leaves to salt & vinegar crisps applied to the abbesses to draw it out !

Well I didn’t need to go to those extremes as luckily I seem to have caught it in time and so glad I got into see the Dr as the pencillin & painkillers are working their medical magic. The lump has all but disappeared and so I just have a red raw sore to keep clean and let heal.  Wash- dry – apply dressing – wash – dry – apply dressing – repeat x50 a day along with Sudocreme & anti bacterial wash which I should add to my Gear & Gadgets page.

So a message to all triathletes – Look after your tailbone / coccyx. One small lump can cause so much disruption  to training its untrue. I am now convinced it was the Rolling Ball move in Pilates that was the instigation of the lump – impact, sweat, soaked in rain next day then infected. Pilates is great for core strength but don’t forget to protect and look after the little bone !

So this weeks training will be gym based,  anything I can do including arms and upper body strength so a few push-ups, planks, squats, pull downs, medicine ball choppers, a bit of band work and free weights. Basically anything that doesn’t involve sitting, running or walking so rower, treadmill & bikes are OFF limits  😉

Hope my membership card still works as its a while since I’ve been there ! but with the rain and storm outside then not a bad week to get back to the gym.