Powerbreathe Trial Week 5: small steps

After last weeks accident it has been a rather eventful week to say the least.

I spent the weekend in hospital and was discharged on sunday evening. Head injury is no fun at all, and for 3 days my head felt like a fizzy pop bottle that someone had shaken up really hard. Dizzy did not even begin to describe it! 
I can’t remember the last time I felt this awful. I have done no exercise for a full 7 days, and the last time I did that was at Christmas when I had Flu!

By about mid week, the feeling became more like constantly feeling like I had just stepped off a merry-go-round. Now while that’s an OK feeling if you are doing it for fun, it’s really not funny at all when you are faced with it 24-7. It means I have spent a lot of the week sitting on the sofa avoiding the need to move! It took till about Friday before I could walk without feeling the need to clutch the nearest wall for support! I was given a concussion test on Monday last week (2 days post accident) by one of my coaches, David Sutton, and I was unable to stand up on two feet without falling over. Hubby said I was still slurring my words for about 4 days following the accident.

By this weekend the constantly dizzy feeling was beginning to go, although a neurosurgeon has warned me to be very careful because the symptoms of the head injury suggest it should be classed as ‘moderately severe’. I have sat on a stationary bike and pedalled, and this morning I went for a gentle swim. I was rather worried about the swim, but it actually worked out OK. So, perhaps thats another small step in the right direction.

I am told that because I am an athlete it should mean that I recover well, and perhaps a bit faster than most. Lets hope so, because I have Beijing World Triathlon Championships in September to get fit for!! A big ask, i know, but if I am sensible, you never know.

I hope to return to using the powerbreathe during this week too, all being well.

Melanie Ryding

Originally published on Powerbreathe's blog