2015- The Year of the Leg Break for Liam

Liam's 2015 Over Before it Started?

I was on course in my training for my first Marathon. The CTS (Coastal Trail Series) Anglesey on January 17th. I'd got up to running 3.5 hours despite the snow we faced over Christmas and the cold conditions and was beginning to enjoy heading out for those long, sapping runs, even if the warmth was being created thanks to the use of windproof winter cycling jackets and thicker roubaix-lycra tights.

Then on Sunday January 4th disaster happened. My ankle literally gave way on me and the sole of my shoe ended up facing me and I knew there was a serious problem. I'd turned my ankle before but nothing like this.

An initial trip to Accident and Emergency showed that I have a fracture at my heel and I needed to return the following day to fracture clinic for assessment. It started to dawn on me slowly that I had broken my leg

The swelling on my ankle when the initial plaster cast was removed

The next day at fracture clinic unearthed a little more as the Doctor began looking a little deeper he established that ideal fractured the top of my Fibula, base of my Tibia and I would subsequently need a operation to pin the ankle back into place as the gap between the bones had widened. The only reason they advised I wouldn't be staying in hospital was a lack of beds. I'd be back by the end of the week for my operation.

The two pins in my ankle to push the Tibia and Fibula back together

6 weeks later my ankle is still in a cast and I'm contemplating just what I may be able to achieve this season. I've seen reports of people with similar issues not running for 4-6 months. Fortunately the good people at Ratrace.com have allowed me to start my year long season ticket when I'm ready to get back into racing but I wasn't so lucky with the people at Endurancelife who run the CTS series as it was less than 2 weeks from the race when I let them know of the issue so they couldn't transfer my entry which is an annoyance but I'll hopefully be back to Anglesey in future.

I was hoping to be racing the Mighty Deerstalker in early March. Maybe I'll be able to head up there and spectate (Jemma will be racing anyways).

2015 for me was due to be all about long distance endurance events. I had a number of adventure races planned. My first Ultramarathon and a number of long distance cycling events. For now they're all off the menu.

After some reflection on my circumstances it looks like I'll be able to still get involved with many events as a marshall/ helper. At present I'm hoping to be able to help at the Dash of the Titan event at Clumber Park and Ratrace's Dirty Weekend in May. I'll also be able to get the camera out at some events too. 2015 isn't over for me but it's taken some time to adjust to new horizons.

If you see me at an event feel free to say hello as I continue my recovery from a broken leg.

Liam

Liam's 2014- Road Cycling Boredom and a Love of Redbull

Redbull, Spartans and Road Cycling Frustration

My 2014 started in the way of previous years. Lots of road cycling. Concentrating on doing the necessary to get up to race fitness and to finally nail that elusive 2nd Cat License. The mileage built up prior to a March training week on the island of Lanzarote. Having previously been out to Majorca for training I was really looking forward to a different environment for training.

I found Lanzarote fantastic for training. The Island is big enough and challenging enough for a week of riding although the strength of the wind can make rides a little sole destroying at times when you're on your own. There are some great climbs on the island to really test a rider and some beautiful scenery, particularly riding through Timanfaya park and the vineyards of La Geria.

I hired a bike (A Cinelli Xperience with an Alloy frame and 105 groupset) from Tommy's Bikes Costa Teguise for a reasonable price and of decent quality although it did need a replacement bottom bracket from the off. I wasn't too worried about an ultra-lightweight carbon bike having come from my heavy winter bike at home and used to lugging some weight up the climbs.

Teguise Market, March 2014 Lanzarote Training Camp with my Tommy's Bikes Costa Teguise Cinelli Xperience

In the space of 6 days of riding I averaged around 5 hours of riding a day and believe I must have hit at least 450 miles, maybe closer to 500 miles with a mixture of climbing days, intervals and just generally enjoying riding on the island. I'll definitely be back in future for some more training and possibly even the Lanzarote Ironman,