Emma's torture chamber and personal challenges.

So, I bimbled over to see Emma, The Bees Physio yesterday as she had kindly agreed to see me to have a dekko at my achillies injury.

The reason I wanted to do this was because with my injury history I know who are the experts in relation to sport's injuries. That is a good piece of advice for you lot actually. Doc's are ok in their own way, but for injuries, physio's who specialise in sports injuries are the way forward without a shadow of doubt. And Emma who deals with professional rugby player's on a daily basis is an absolute God send and a fantastic resource for me.

I got there and was invited into the treatment room where I gave her the potted history of the injury and what had happened recently. Which I won't bore you with as I have covered the original injury and this re-occurrence in other posts.

She then put me through some mobility tests which seemed to go ok, she then asked about the calf muscle itself and did some physio type prodding around. "Ahh" she said, "have you had any tightening of the calf muscle?" "Yep" I replied. She told me to lie face down on the bed (teeing up the jokes for you here folks) where she started doing something called "targeted trigger therapy" or something like that.

What that is, is basically she stuck her finger as deep as she could into the area of the calf that was giving me gyp and left it there until the not inconsiderable pain subsided. She did that in and around the problem area for about 45 minutes. It concentrated the mind a bit I can tell you.

She went on to tell me that I need to warm up properly and cool down (which I knew but very rarely do) but I should be ok to crack on from Monday but to take it easy on the climbs. What I'll do is pedal the less hilly routes so my calf is not under too much strain.

The drive home was done in an exceptionally good mood as she gave my achillies the all clear which was my main concern. Seriously, you never want to snap your achillies. It hurts, no, it really hurts. Trust me on this.

I had to laugh when my daughter Fay got home from school and she saw the area of my calf that Emma had been treating which had sunk, probably about 10mm in and to a diameter of probably 30mm, she yelled "Yeuch what's that? It's horrible!" She didn't calm down any when I told her what it was and what caused it. The irony being is that she wants to be a physio when she leaves school. Methinks she needs to toughen up!

Moving on, Toby had written a nice piece on his Blog about "The Man who cycled the Americas" now showing on BBC 1 and suggested I mention it too. This is the story of Scot Mark Beaumont who, er, Cycled the Americas. The first episode was shown earlier in the week but can be seen on BBC I Player. The rest can be viewed at 2235hrs on Tuesday 30th of March and Tuesday 6th of April.

Just to make an already challenging quest all the more difficult he also climbed the highest peak in North America and climbed the equivalent in South America. I always knew these Sweaties* were barmy!

Seriously though, it's an inspirational tale that shows just what is achievable with the right mental outlook. The thing that gobsmacked me was his ability to climb thousands of meters along huge distances with a bike as loaded as his was. It makes my little sojourn up Cock Hill or Frankley Beeches every evening look a bit silly. The bloke is amazing! It's well worth a look. I'll certainly be watching the last 2 episodes.

A few of our number also have their own personal challenge this weekend. Apologies for any omissions if you've mentioned that you're doing it and I've forgotten, but I know Joby and James are in the middle of panicking about the Verenti Cheshire Cat and something called Mow Cop.

Best of luck to you 2 fellers and anyone else reading this and doing it too.

* Sweaties - Rhyming Slang - Sweaty Sock = Jock. "Jock" being British slang for a Scotsman.