March 2012

Training has continued to progress very slowly – we have gradually increased the amount of running I’m doing. I’m now up to doing alternate strides on the track and grass.
We couldn’t find anyone on the island to do the required work on my ankles so I flew back to England for 2 weeks to see an ankle and foot specialist. After a couple of consultations he and his team decided that I need another set of MRI scans of a better quality and using dye so scar tissue will show as he thinks the scar tissue is the problem. If the scans show what he expects then I will have to fly back again for them to perform key hole surgery on both of my ankles – but they will do both at the same time! Initially I took the news badly as I am running out of patience and just want to get back into full training. It gets more frustrating as the season approaches. However, after a few days for it to sink in and talking to everyone in my support team I feel a lot better – we have an action plan of what is going to be done. In the meantime while waiting for the scan date I can increase training as I can’t do any more considerable damage: so I’m looking forward to that!
My trip back to England was very well timed as it was also my Nan’s 90th birthday so we had a big family meal for her. I was a total surprise for her as she thought I was in Malta she kept asking everybody if they knew I was coming (including my parents!). It was a lovely evening and great to see all the family together. It was also one of my best friend’s 21st party whilst I was back too: another bonus! Whilst I was back my friends that were around did a great job of cheering me up and getting me refocused.
I finally received my exam results at the end of the month. I’m happy to say I did very well so I can knuckle down and focus on the next ones!
This month was of course also marked by a good party time for St Paddies day! It was especially good as 2 of my uni mates are Irish – so we celebrated in traditional style!

February 2012

I started the month with my last few uni exams. Which I’m happy to say seem to have gone well – now I just wait for the results!
Training has continued in the same manor: circuits with a bit of jogging, pool and bike. My gym work is improving and I’m starting to get back the strength I had before I stopped. However, the sessions are very repetitive and it takes a lot of hard work to stay motivated through – Mario and the group are key to this! The group has started to work with a reflexologist – very interesting I must say.
I made friends with a guy this month that fly’s birds of prey. I drove up to the coast one afternoon and I stopped as I saw lots of birds of prey on the ground. I got talking to them (the people that is - not the birds!) they were very interesting. It turns out that there is a group of them that each have their own bird and they meet once a week to fly them. I made particular friends with one of them and he said he will teach me more about the birds and how to fly them – so keep your eyes open for more in that department!

January 2012

This month has been another tough one to say the least! I had more scans done on my ankle and it showed no improvement. So we consulted an Italian and an English surgeon and they agreed that I need some invasive treatment on my ankles. But to do this we have to find someone on the island or I’ll have to fly back to the UK. However, they did also say I can start some jogging. So I have been doing 5min jogging at a time combined with circuits 3 times a week plus some more pool and bike sessions. It’s good to be back doing some kind of decent training but it’s nothing like being back on the track! I had a photo session with my new training group which was great fun and a good chance for me to get to know them better.
To top it all off I had my uni exams. These were an experience in themselves – nothing like Bolton School exams! I didn’t even know that the 1st exam had started! Also if the exam starts late we don’t get the time added on the end i.e. so if the exam is meant to start at 9:00 and finish at 11:00 but doesn’t start till 9:15 it will still finish at 11!
My brother also got married this month but unfortunately I couldn’t make it due to my exams.

December 2011

My ankles have continued to cause me problems this month. As there has been very little improvement we decided to get some scans done at the start of the month. It turns out I have a ruptured ligament and some inflamed bone so I have had to rest this month. To help protect it and help the healing I have to tape it every day and 2 times a day contrast bath it in hot and ice cold water. It has been hard not being able to train – training becomes addictive to people who are used to it everyday. I have only been allowed to do basic circuits 3 times a week which involve no ankle work and become very repetitive.
I put all my focus into my uni work to try and keep me distracted! I have been very busy especially with a number of geography fieldwork assignments.
I was glad to be home during Christmas and around my family and friends. They did a good job of trying to cheer me up. My Nan was at our house for Christmas too which was lovely: though she was very shocked when I set about doing a circuit on Christmas day! I had a quiet New Year with just a few family friends round - as my ankles and high heels don’t go well together. I also managed to get an allergic reaction to the tape I was using to strap it.
Whilst I was back I had a meeting with the English side of the support team to fill them in with the progress. It was very successful and I was given a good talking to about being patient.

November 2011

This month has been a hard one to say the least. I made the HUGE decision to change coach: I can honestly say it’s the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I felt I had to move on to help me progress my career to where I want it to be. This was particularly hard as I have known my old coach for 10 years and after all it was because of him I moved to Malta in the first place. It was also hard because I was very close to the people in the group and I was afraid of losing their friendships. I was very lucky to have lots of friends, family and mentor around me to help me through this hard time. I’m now training with another local coach called Mario. I have now been working with him for 3 weeks and I am much happier. I have a support team in place that is working together well to help provide me with the best training and support possible. So although, it is still a bit hard right now at times I am sure it is definitely the right decision. I’m greatly looking forward to starting the new chapter in my athletics and hopefully reaching new, higher levels.

Unfortunately I managed to pick up ankle problems at the end of last month so my training has been disrupted further. But with my new strengthened support team in place I am working my way through an intense rehab programme. I am doing a lot of work running in the swimming pool to keep up my fitness. I actually really enjoy these sessions however, I must say sometimes the pool is very cold when they decide not to heat it and the wind doesn’t help! This means I’m back at the physio again everyday getting my dose of brotherly teasing.

Malta had its census this month too which was interesting for me as it is part of the Geography syllabus. We had extra feature lectures with the organisers from the Government and a visiting lecturer from England. I have now settled well into uni but as I expected I’m now extremely busy and don’t have much time to relax.