The 2013 Season – Martin Muldoon
It’s been a while since I’ve put a blog out there, I have
been waiting for my 2013 race schedule to stabilise and it only now has, I hope
it stays that way!
Slow start to the
season
I’ve had a challenging year so far. In January after busting
my calf in a hilly 5k race, I crashed the mountain bike in snow and broke some
ribs, putting me out of swimming and running for 5 weeks. During recovery I
picked up a stomach ulcer from NSAIDs I was using, which was more painful than
the ribs themselves! I recovered from all this in March and was still very
positive because during these issues my motivation remained strong and I held
discipline on nutrition and whatever training I could manage (I was still able
to bike aerobically during this time).
In April I was starting to feel good and headed out to Rhonda in Spain with Nicolas Theopold, a strong German who is also coached by Alan. The camp was going well but during a long ride I crashed heavily on a decent. It was one of those high speed crashes you hope never happens. I came in to a double corner at 40mph and met a car, with nowhere to go I swerved and hit a rock face full speed. The moment before impact is unclear to me but I remember feeling like an outside observer, hearing myself clatter off the wall and then hearing the bike land somewhere in the distance. There was a lot of superficial cuts and blood, but I knew right away it was the shoulder that had taken the main impact. It cut the trip short and after all the x-rays and MRIs it appeared I had disrupted the two main ligaments in the AC joint as well as again damaging the ribs. No swimming for 6 weeks and a definite loss of form all around.
Unlike the previous crash, this time it hurt me mentally, I
went from good form to zero inside a split second crash, and it got to me.
After 10 days of depression I finally got back in to the mood for training
again. The main thing that got me through it was Alan’s advice and also the
realisation that I could have been seriously injured had I hit my head or back
during the fall. After 2 weeks I was able to bike and run to some degree albeit
with limited upper body mobility.
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| Beer fixes injuries |
My calf issues are also staying away for now. Earlier in the
year I had travelled to Belgium to see ‘The Foot Doctor’ Walter Houben,
renowned for helping many athletes deal with complex foot issues. I met Walter
in Kona 2010 and he recommended I come see him. I’ve been to him twice now and
he has helped me with orthotics and shoe choice based on his analysis. It seems
to be working and I’ve been running injury free for some months. I’’ll pay him
one more visit before Kona, that’s hoping, not assuming I’ll get there!
Sponsors
I am glad to be continuing working with my other main sponsors again this year:
The lovely and talented Kinga at Soft Tissue Therapy, who keeps me walking while I abuse my body in training and crashing!
The kind people at CherryGood, another product I love and use regularily for recovery, this stuff is full of antioxidants.
Champion System who have kindly produced my kit for another season. Quality gear that is completely bespoke. Here is my 2013 version, still work in progress but not the final version!
I am also getting some help from other companies that can be seen on the side panel above, thanks to all for their assistance.
Charity
I have not raced for charity since I started racing triathlons
some years back, but when The Blazeman foundation offered me the chance to race
for them at Eagleman 70.3 this year I thought it would be cool to give towards
a good cause. Sadly I was unable to make Eagleman but I decided to race for
them for the year through whatever events I can make. You may be aware of the
charity through the likes of Chrissy and Leanda where they roll over the finish
line, here is an excerpt from the foundation:
On May 2, 2005, twenty-year Multi-Sport veteran Jon Blais a.k.a.
"Blazeman" at age 33 was diagnosed with the fatal motor neuron
disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Blazeman dubbed himself the
"ALS Warrior Poet" and brought his battle to the big island of Hawaii
on October 15th that year, where he became the first person with ALS to
complete the Ironman World Championships. It was his last race. In 2006, a
number of athletes, inspired by Jon's 2005 efforts, rolled across the finish
line in Hawaii in honor of Jon and his battle against ALS. In 2007, the
Blazeman Foundation for ALS expanded Team Blazeman, comprised of "Blazeman
Warriors" who have committed to raising awareness and funding a search for
a cure for ALS..."So Others May Live."I watched Jon in the Kona special program a few years ago so it’s a good source of motivation when I’m complaining about my little injury issues! I have already met my sponsorship goals, so no pressure to give anything, but the page is there if you ever feel like donating to a great cause:
http://www.active.com/donate/teamblazeman/blazemanMMuldoo
Race schedule
Anyway all this crashing and injuries meant my race schedule has been changing constantly. My main aim for the year again is IM Kona, but as I said my qualifier race of Eagleman was too soon and sadly I had to withdraw. I’m currently aiming for 70.3 Wiesbaden as a qualifier, however with the standard of competition and lack of slots there I am being realistic and so have a backup race of IM Copenhagen. This will double as a replacement for Roth which I also had to withdraw from as I struggled to recover on time.
After just finishing a week in Lanzarote with a heavy cycling focus, my bike form is starting to come through and with no running injuries things are starting to look positive for the first time this year. With Wiesbaden and Copenhagen on the horizon I need to just keep working on the swim to get it back to where it was, and to avoid crashing in to anything! I hope the next blog will be a race report and not about any mishaps. Looking forward to finally getting my season under way and fighting for that ticket to the Big Island. Good luck to all for their season and see you out on the circuit!
