“Bad things happen in threes.” You’ve heard the saying before, and it is correct in this case. Third injury in a pretty short time span. First was the calf injury, which stopped me from running for two months and sent me to the physiotherapist for multiple sessions. Just as this was getting under control, I was hit by a motorcycle while biking. Headache for a bit, overall soreness but nothing too bad, I can deal with it. But the third one is really tough right now.

The week after the bike accident we went to Barcelona for a week of vacation. The weather was not great, and it rained a few days. On one of those days, we were on our way to a restaurant just after the rain had finished. We were all a bit hungry, so we were moving quickly down the sidewalk. I stepped on a metal grate (I think it was for the metro below) and tried to change direction down a new street – my feet slid out from under me and I went down on my shoulder. At the time, I just felt clumsy. I picked myself up and we continued to the restaurant. But as we arrived and sat down, I started to sweat and my vision was closing in. It felt like I was about to pass-out.

Later that day and night, my shoulder was really hurting. I found it difficult to sleep that night and I needed a good amount of Advil. Even the slightest movement was painful, and lifting my arm at all was no good. It got a bit better after a few days, but still that deep ache never left and anything sportive was definitely a no-no.

We arrived back from vacation on a Friday, and I took it easy. With both my shoulder and my leg out of commission, triathlon training was non-existent. Last week I tried biking and that was possible, as I could just plant myself on the trainer and felt no pain. So, after multiple trainer sessions, I decided to try swimming. Not at the pool with the club, but on my own, at the beach. I think that first day I did 150 meters, and then 15 minutes of running/walking on the beach. At least the leg was feeling better. The next day I went back to the beach, about 500 meters this time and a bit longer running/walking on the beach. Slowly things were coming back.

On Thursday I did an open water swim with the team. It was a wetsuit swim, but I could not put the wetsuit on due to the painful stretching needed, so I swam without it, doing 1100 meters and feeling very pleased with myself. When I got home, I did a 3km run, the longest I had accomplished in almost two months. Things were getting better. Friday was a 5km run, well mostly run with a bit of walking, but no serious pain in the leg. All the stretching and exercises, along with the compression sock, were making a difference. I had decided to stop after 5km instead of being forced to stop by the injury. On Saturday I did a 2.5-hour ride outside, my first since the accident. Everything was good.

Yesterday, Monday, I went back to the pool for the first time in several weeks. My shoulder was tight at first, but as the session went on it loosened up. At first I could feel a clicking sensation in my shoulder bones with each stroke, but this became less pronounced as we continued. In the end it was a normal 3000-meter session in an hour, and I did the whole thing. Then later I did a continuous 6 km run, and again was able to complete it. The leg was fine, I didn’t push it too hard but it was ok. The biggest problem was the ache in my shoulder from each bouncing stride. I can deal with this, I thought, it isn’t that bad. So, almost back to regular training, today a bike/run session, and 19 days until 70.3 Marbella. I had a sprint race scheduled for this weekend, but I pulled out as it was just too soon. But I think I’ll be ready for the 70.3, we’ll see how things go over the next week. I think I can I think I can.