Isobel Stout – Yes I’m still here after Queenstown.

I had a great time in Queenstown in mid November, living the life of a professional athlete with nothing to do but eat, sleep, train and recover. You may have seen my wee videos that Richard convinced me to do. The week concluded with me taking part in the 10km part of the Queenstown Marathon. I had only planned to walk it but I got so carried away with the great training behind me and the atmosphere on the day that I was even seen running some of it!

The only snag in the plan was the professional, bit; I couldn’t find anyone to pay me to keep this up!

Since then things have gone a little pear shaped. I’ve had a couple of day surgeries which have gone well in and of themselves but I didn’t need the thyroid scare that has been biopsied and found to be benign to my great relief. Now I’ve done something to my back that has resulted in a sudden loss of power in my right leg. I nearly fell off in the carpark last Wednesday night group ride as my leg nearly collapsed under me when taking off! So frustrating because I was so keen to show off the results of my hard work on the bike in the hills. The local hills look very short after trying some of Coronet Peak.

So I am trying to stay calm and not fret about losing my momentum in my mission. Daily yoga is such a help in this. I am still completely focused on riding up Coronet Peak in March. The ride itself will not be easy so I should expect the lead up to have its difficulties too.