I have been back in Australia for nearly three weeks and it’s great to be relaxing at home. I haven’t been race walking but I have been swimming with a squad 3-4 mornings a week and also cycling around the beautiful hills along the Sydney coast. Swimming with a squad is much more enjoyable as it’s more sociable and those who know me well understand my love of a chat! The only hitch is they start at 5am in the morning; yes it’s difficult to get up that early but worth it when training is all over at 6.30-7am and I can jump back into bed for an hour extra sleep.
The reason I’m still not race walking is because my foot isn’t 100% (yes still!) even though I have had 6 weeks of rest from race walking and weight bearing training. I had a bone scan and it was clear which means I don’t have a stress fracture then this week I had another MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) which was much better quality than the Beijing MRI. It showed inflammation around my tendon at the bottom of the shin (tendonitis). So I have to rest it for a little longer and get more treatment to loosen up the muscles in my shin and foot.
I will continue to cross train so I maintain a basic fitness and it should be easier to get back fitness when I can race walk.
HBA GREAT AUSTRALIAN RUN
At least I now know what the problem is and I have a reason for the pain around my foot since July. I planned to race walk in the HBA Great Australian Run in Melbourne on 30th November for my sponsor MBF (part of the HBA group) and try and beat as many runners as possible! But after my MRI results I will hopefully still participate but only as a fun walker (i.e. not race walk). www.greataustralianrun.com.au
WORLD OSTEOPOROSIS DAY October 20th
As an ambassador for Osteoporosis Australia I participated in their promotion of World Osteoporosis Day with an appearance on the Mornings with Kerrie-Anne on Channel 9 as well as other media activities to promote the importance of physical activity for bone strength. See www.osteoporosis.org.au
COACHING CLINICS
Since arriving back in Australia I attended two athletic training and development days as a coach helping out younger athletes. The first was at Sydney Olympic Park on 26th October where 35 youngsters from around New South Wales attended a race walking training session as part of the Elite Schools Athletics Coaching Clinic. Anne Saville (my mum) and myself took the race walking event group. There were a huge number of young, talented athletes who attended for all the track and field disciplines. One of the race walkers who participated, Dimitra Psarianas was kind enough to let me use her photos from the clinic on my website as I didn’t have time to take any photos.
Race Walkers at the NSW Elite Schools Training Day - Homebush
Dimitra and I at the Elite Schools Training DayI also returned to my old Little Athletics Club, South Eastern, to help out their coaching day on 1st November. The kids were a lot of fun and their race walking techniques certainly improved in the little time we had to for each age group. There is a photo of me racing on the cover of the Little Athletics Achievement Book for the 2008-09 season and every Little Athlete in Australia receives the book so some of the kids recognised me from that.
Next time I write I hope to tell you about starting race walking again!
