The Ironman is a beast amongst triathlons! It consists of a 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike ride and a full marathon totally 140.6 miles. Half ironman are known as 70.3’s being half the distance exactly.

In June I completed my first ever Ironman event, the Bolton 70.3. This was my second ever with the previous one some 8 years ago.

As mainly a runner, the running and cycling aspects of the training I knew I could do, but was made more difficult by the heavy rainfall at the start of the year. As a result, most of my bike training had to be done indoors. I swam once a week, which I initially thought was sufficient.

At the end of February disaster struck and I injured my shoulder and tried, like all athletes to continue through the pain. Big mistake as I developed a frozen shoulder. Once I admitted I too needed help, I got my osteopathic colleagues to treat me regularly and modified my training regime accordingly. There is no denying you need good rehab alongside exercises, such as we offer here at The Wimbledon Osteopath, to recover and get back on track with one’s sporting goals.

Swap from one regime to the one you can do whilst recovering. That way you keep the fitness levels up. So, I did more indoor bike whilst swimming with my bad shoulder was still tricky. The running was easiest for me. Triathletes always have their own preferences.

Training around work was tough as I had to ensure I was strong enough for both. Also, as a female athlete, we have to balance amending our training sessions around our monthly cycles also to accommodate any drops in energy levels that might occur at such time.

Race day was a mixed bag. Some aspects went to plan; others did not. I am delighted to say I completed it in under 6.5 hours. The feeling of elation mixed with relief will stay with me forever.

I know first-hand what it takes and can advise accordingly. Alessia has also done marathons and started ironman recently, so she also knows the insane amount of effort that goes into these.

The most important advice I can share is to address any niggles you might have immediately before they become a bigger issue and cause further damage. That is why we are here, to offer the correct manual therapy and get you through it and back to training as soon as possible.

Would I do it again….probably , but not for some time!