Spin + massage = pain

Thursday 26 May

Actually, I had a great day. Up early for the 6.40am spin class at the gym – my first since I got back from my holiday. Surprisingly, it didn’t burn my quads as much as I was expecting (maybe I need to crank it up more next time !). It was however a bit of a mental battle during one of the tracks. My legs were screaming at me to turn the gear down, but my mind (thankfully)was having none of that. Increased leg strength post-holiday has no doubt helped. Followed by 30mins of stretching. Very happy to report that not only did the spin class not aggravate my hip, but it has been fine today – no niggles at all !

At lunch, I headed off for a massage. Nothing short of swearing could possibly convey just how much today hurt. I have suffered migraines for as long as I can remember – I think they have given me a particularly high pain threshold (not sure if that’s a good thing or not) which I need today. My therapist is of the view that I need to “open my (left) hip” (sounds almost crude) so I have a few more stretches to do. It seems that I’ve got issues with the range of movement in my left hip so my right (and problematic) hip is having to do extra work. I’ve been more conscious of my gate over the last week and I suspect she is right. I seem to walk strangely – my right leg takes a longer stride than my left (don’t ask me to demonstrate), She spent an hour solely working on my LHS – hip flexors, obliques, hip joint, ITB, quad and shins. I have bruises already and I can feel the tenderness on my LHS hip when I wear my handbag on that shoulder….. needless to say, I’ve brought my rest day forward to tomorrow (Friday).

Following the ‘discomfort’ of the massage, my day ended very nicely – flowers were delivered to me at work this afternoon(!); had dinner with my girlfriends followed by a drink at the Tilbury with G, Fats, KT, Amjan and a lurker !

Started reading Lance Armstrong’s autobio yesterday – what an incredible athlete & man. His mental strength amazes and inspires me… Not long til TdF now - looking forward to more sleepless nights...