My Olympic Legacy 29/09/2012

Back in the autumn of 2011 when Michaela said she would raise money for me by entering the BIRC competition, she didn't realise the beast she was unleasing (nor did I for that matter!!). Spured on by my gold medal and watching the Olympics and Paralympics, I decided to investigate rowing... which led me to Evesham.

Evesham rowing club is our nearest club that has adaptive rowing facilities. Earlier today I had my official adaptive classification assessment.  A very nice, smiley lady askedme to sit on the plinth amd within seconds I had to ask "are you a physiotherapist?" She had that evil smile that only physiotherapits have!.
She put me through my paces: lift right arm,lift left arm, right leg, left leg etc. Soon, I was huffing and puffing and grunting. Lots of measurements were taken and then the time came for me to get on the rowing machine . I havent sat on one in quite some months now but like riding a bike, it all came flooding back. As did my problem with my foot:

As I row and as I get faster, my left foot comes out of my trainer. We stopped,tied a velcro strap around the back of my foot and started to row again. Another couple of seconds and I had to stop again. Shove foot back in my trainer again and this time we used a pilates rubber strap to tie my foot to the pedal another few seconds of rowing and yes, you guessed it my foot came out of my shoe again.

Discussion between the medical and technical assessors about whether I should be in the TA category (able to use trunks and sarms but not legs) or ro remain inthe LTA category (able to use legs, trunks and arms). They secured the seat so it couldn't move and I set off rowing again. Very odd experience as I still felt I should be moving my legs. It felt wrong not to be doing so. My upper body strength wasn't sufficient to get me into the TA category so I am definitely in the LTA category BUT. they decided I am in a wholly new LTA (Jan) category as they havent come across my foot problem before. They took videos to send to the adaptive guru. Hopeully he will have some ideas to resolve the problem and stop my foot falling out of my trainer. Meanwhile I have my first rowing session, ON THE WATER in 2 weeks time. My 14 yr old has decided that she may as well join the junior rowers so we will both be on the water soon, just hopefully not in the water but have to admit feeling ever so slightly apprehensive.

I hold Michaela wholly responsible for all of this :) THANK YOU MICHAELA XXX

Next indoor rowing competition: Sunday 27th January 2013

The

next British IRC has yet to confirm details so the  next event will be the English IRC will be held  on

Sunday 27th January 2013 at the Manchester Veledrome

Michaela has "suggested" that we enter......

January seems terribly soon gulp!

For me to enter will mean gettingover some tricky hurdles. For a start, the NHS discharged ,e as an outpatient at the end of March 2012, stating that there was nothing more it could do for me. I have to admit that 6 weeks later I returned and smugly showed them my latest trick - my twitching ankle. Now it may not seem much to you, but everyone told me I would never regain movement in my ankle and I would have to waear an orthotic splint for the rest of my life. They obviously had never come across a girl determined to wear her heels and flip flops again! 
My physiotherapists did refer me to the community gym on a wellness programme, so I wasn'y unduly upset at saying farewell to outpatiernts. Unfortunately I couldnt get on and off the gym equipment without  help so bang went my plans to go to the gym three mornings a week. The gym manager was wonderful and arranged times I could go when she was on duty so she could help me but this meant I had to fit with their schedule and meant gym at 4pm on some days, which didnt fill me with enthusiasm.
I did go and it was good to be exercising. The equipment was of course general gym equipment and I had no helpful physio ensuring I was moving correctly. Upshot was that I dislocated my shoulder again. Very painful indeed. My hip also started to hurt as again the equipment and exercises weren't designed to help me recover movement and function. After a couple of months, the gym sessions were causing more harm than good so I had to stop.
I do have a treadmill at home but I have fallen off and hit my headtoo many times. It is up for sale and I will use the money to buy an exercise bike which I will be able to use on a daily basis.

As for rowing training, I will look at hiring a rowing machine for a couple of months before the competition.

The rest will be up to me and my self motivation and Michaela's encouragement. She too can share my pain and we can both enter the next competition in January, in Manchester.  We will post our training  updates once we actually start doing some :)