A pain in the neck…

As I sit here typing away the SA sprint team is in Poznan, Poland getting ready for the Sprint World Cup which starts tomorrow.
The team left home soil on Sunday night but sadly I made the final call on Thursday to withdraw from the team…
The past few weeks have been extremely testing for me as I have been struggling with a neck injury. I have had amazing support from my physio’s Mandy Rawlins and Julia Thomas as well as chiropractors Stuart Clifton and Neil Cunningham.
The injury first occurred 3 weeks before the sprint Trial so I ended up racing the trial and then the SA sprint championships when it perhaps may have been better for me to rather have focused on a full recovery. As a result the injury has lingered for far longer than it should have…
Last week Thursday I was advised that it would be safer if I withdrew from the World Cup tour and avoid risking any further damage. I must say although it was a tough call and I was pretty bummed to miss the tour the decision did bring quite a lot of relief. I am now able to fully focus on my recovery and pick up the intensity of my sessions when I am feeling ready. There is also no pressure to prematurely be racing at maximum intensity this weekend in Poland. With the World Marathon Championships being my main focus again this year I will direct all of my energy into being ready for the SA marathon champs and selection event at the end of June.

As things stand at the moment I am feeling really controlled on the water and the forced rest has done wonders for me. I have had some good paddling sessions but am still trying to hold myself back to between 80% and 85% effort in the interval sessions. Yesterday I went up to Pietermaritzburg for a technique session with Attila which I found extremely helpful. From now on I will make sure that this happens at least twice a week. Ryan Louw is up in Durban for three weeks so we’ll try hook up for as many sessions as possible. It is looking like there is a fair chance that we will be racing K2 together in Spain in August this year. We just first need to jump in the boat a few times and see how we go. Cradock is extremely fit at the moment so I’m pretty sure that he will provide the combination with loads of power!
Here is the link for the Poland World Cup.