Having dipped my toe in racing in 2021 I had decided to really give it a good go in 2022. Roy Holmes, my coach, was optimistic and wanted to build me a really big base and then sharpen my top-end and repeatability for key races.
I had a bit of a break at the season end and then on 11th October I began the base build. It went really well even though it was quite frustrating for me as I wanted to enter Zwift races and do well, but I was determined to follow Roy’s directions.
My fitness and form graph looked absolutely textbook, rising at a sensible rate from October 2021 to April 2022 when my CTL was at an all-time high. I had booked a training week away in Calpe, which Roy would be at, and was really looking forward to using this as the springboard into the 2022 season.
That’s when things started to unravel. Two things happened. Firstly I got covid, so spent most of the week away sat in my hotel room feeling grotty and pissed off. Secondly, for a couple of months previously, the tightness in my right hip had been getting worse and Wendy had noticed I was limping a bit. I had determined to see a physio when I got back from Calpe.
Once my Covid was over, I went to see a physio and he gave me a bunch of exercises to do but after a few weeks things were no better. I went to the docs and arranged an X-Ray. I then booked a private appointment with an orthopaedic consultant as the NHS waiting list was too long. He told me that I had moderate to severe arthritis in my right hip and the only way to make a significant improvement was a total hip replacement.
I had kind of expected this as my leg had been getting worse. In the end I couldn’t walk more than a couple of hundred yards before the pain got too much. I booked the earliest available date for the op which was 18th August.
The combination of covid and hip had left me in a pretty depressed state. Rightly or wrongly, a large part of my self-image does revolve around my fitness as expressed by my cycling and after devoting 7 months to a hard training regime, it had all got wasted.
I settled down to wait for the operation and did all the pre-hab recommended by the consultant. He told me that I could cycle as much as I wanted as it wouldn’t do any damage that would be long lasting. This helped as I was able to do some cycling especially with Wendy which was great.
Operation day came around fairly quickly and before I knew it, I was having a needle in my spine giving me an epidural and then some heavy sedation to put me to sleep. I woke up feeling not too bad and with a new hip installed.
(You can see the 17cm metal insert into my femur, the ceramic ball joint and the plastic socket. The plaster is to avoid posting a dick pic :) )
I stayed in for 2 nights and was then allowed home. At first many things were hard work and some were impossible. I progressed from two crutches, to one crutch and then after 6 ½ weeks I became crutch-free although still with a lot of discomfort in my right leg – it isn’t really surprising as they have to cut away a lot of muscle to allow the surgeon to do what he has to do, and that takes some recovering from.
I then did a couple of short 6 minute spells on the recumbent bike in the gym, but this seemed to irritate my joint and muscles so I stopped them. A couple of weeks later, after our holiday in Cornwall, I saw the surgeon for my 6 week check-up (which was actually 8 weeks due to the holiday). He was pleased with progress and agreed I could start cycling on the turbo which I began straight away.
I’ve done 6 rides now in 9 days starting at 15 minutes and getting to 45 minutes yesterday. The average power started at 86W and is now at 142W. Mr. Waite (my consultant) advised me to use my power pedals to ensure I was doing 50% at least on my right leg as otherwise I’d be getting my unoperated leg fit but not the one needing it. This sounds easy but I was surprised how when I pedalled without thinking about it, I was doing 75% on my left leg. Even when I tried to only use my right leg it only went to 52% right. I guess this shows just how much damage has been done on the right leg.
So that is where I am up to now. I can easily walk a couple of miles at a decent pace. I can ride 40 minutes on the turbo at 140W and the pain / discomfort is steadily reducing.
The graph below is my Strava Fitness graph (I cancelled TrainingPeaks when I stopped training.) It shows the consistent build from Oct 2021 until my ill-fated Calpe week.
My challenge now is to go from this overweight guy with little cycling fitness, to a master’s racer who can compete with the best. I haven’t tested it yet but I would estimate my realistic FTP (mix of fitness and leg ability) is say 160W and my weight is around 80kg (it was 69kg at its lowest) so a w/kg of 2. I need to get the w/kg to 4+ and rebuild my top-end power and repeatability. I don’t know how realistic that is and even if it is, I don’t know how long it will take – but that is my challenge and I’ll provide updates as I go along. Wish me luck.