There’ s still more work to complete before I’ m competitive again but I have not lost my desire to race
Will SUP be as big as cycling?
There’ s still more work to complete before I’ m competitive again but I have not lost my desire to race
Hmmm, maybe … Cycling has grown massively in the last few years. Events like SUPBIKERUN which Fanatic sponsor are fantastic fun and have been really instrumental with introducing SUPers to biking again and vice versa. So who knows?
Cycling Rule # 12 already is easily transferable to SUP. You know, the one where the correct number of boards to own is n + 1? It goes like this – while the minimum number of boards one should own is three, the correct number is n + 1; here n is the number of boards currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of boards owned that would result in separation from your partner.( Work that one out! – Ed).
I started having serious shoulder problems mid- 2014. I ' d played county squash for 20 years which had taken its toll on my body, together with all the previous paddle sports I guess. I ' d had shoulder investigations way back in 2000. At the end of the 2014 season I remember a race in Bournemouth where I couldn ' t even chase my own shadow. The pain was pretty intense, so I thought I ' d be sensible and rest it. I ended up having a steroid injection in March 2015. That was magic. No pain for two months and I decided no paddling and to rest more still.
However, at my first SUPBIKERUN event in May that year I felt my shoulder give way halfway through the mountain bike leg.
After completing the event( what great events these are) it was a long, painful drive home from Exmoor. That led to further consultations. These confirmed a tear in my rotator cuff. Despite work to try to get this resolved there was no improvement. Pretty much a year after my last SUP race I had surgery, just before Xmas 2015. Unfortunately, I developed a frozen shoulder after the surgery, which I ' m still working hard to recover from. I had further surgery on June 1, 2016. And I now have a real hope of seeing massive, faster improvement. There’ s still more work to complete before I’ m competitive again but I have not lost my desire to race.
Right now I just want to be able to paddle again properly! Then I can set goals. I ' ve given up other sports I loved due mostly to a back injury and I ' m determined that I can return to the water again to compete at some level.
Hopefully some time abroad will help with my rehab. George is heading out to Rio to work on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, so there ' s a plan hatching to have a break after that in Jericoacoara( Jeri), Brazil. I need to get properly fit for windsurfing and SUP by September.
Other than Jeri in Brazil, I want to take our girls Holly and Carla somewhere where they can learn to windsurf in a warm steady breeze and do loads of SUP, maybe a spot in Greece or Turkey. Cornwall is bound to also be a summer destination but as much as I love being away I still love home. Beachlands, Hayling. SUP Simple!
To my parents and parents in law, wider family and especially George, Holly and Carla I’ d like to say thank you for your support and putting up with my selfish sport training, competing and goal attainment for the whole of your lives. And to my regular cycle training partners Kate and Muzza who put up with‘ Radio Fran’. Also to Nik Baker for first sponsoring me with both fantastic Fanatic and ION kit and then giving me a job I love.
s t a n d u p p a d d l e m a g u k 30