the long road back to health and future plans

In December 2010, after 5 months recovering, I felt well enough to slowly begin back at work. My pain was largely gone, although the nerve pain in my feet was still there but much less than it had been.

The most persistent problem was insomnia. Although I was almost pain free it was as if my body had forgotten how to sleep. I was getting by on between 2 and 3 hours sleep a night which meant I was often zombie like during the day.

I visited an sleep clinic which is a medical practice specialised in treating sleep disorders. Unfortunately they could do nothing to help me.

Over time I learned to accept getting my on less sleep whilst at the same time doing everything I could to try and optimise the health and energy I had.

First and foremost was getting control of my diet. I stuck to a simple diet in which I minimized processed food and (high glycemic) carbs. Basically I stuck to lots of oats, vegetables, salads chicken and fish. 

I tried meditation, yoga and stretching.

I went to the gym and became strict about exercising.

With 2 young kids finding time to exercise wasn't easy but I began cycling to and from work which was more than 2 hours of cycling but didn't cost anymore time than if I'd got the train.

Slowly, slowly over time I began to improve.



And by August 2012 my sleep began to really improve also.

At the time of writing this (january 2013) I'm almost back to normal. My focus on eating clean has also resulted in some weight loss (9kg). I'm still about 10kg more than what I want to me so that is a goal of mine in 2013 to get down to my racing weight.

I feel improved physically from where I was 3 year ago. My pain tolerance is, I think, much higher than it used to me. I've got a new lease of life and I'm determined to make the most of it.

Over the last couple of years I've grown to love riding my recumbent bike.

In 2013 I want to start recumbent racing and see how far I can get.... I want to get a world record which may sound like a ridiculous thing to say for someone who has only done one race but:



I also want to start tower running. I did two races ages ago (back in '98 and '99). That was 14 years ago now. Time to get into it again and see what I can do.

I've got a new lease of life and I'm determined to make the most of it!