Finally I'm getting back on top of things again. It has been another extremely difficult period. I have lost over a month of training after being caught in the infinite injury cycle. I think that I've finally broken out of it and am now close to returning to proper training. The injury cycle is a really dangerous trap for athletes. More so for professional athletes who are under pressure to return to competition. After all, management is running a business.

The injury cycle is synonymous with a broken record; -> rest -> treatment -> start training again -> oops, too much too soon -> injury...then the cycle starts again. The problem is getting the right diagnosis at the time of the injury and an appropriate active treatment programme that breaks the cycle.

I had to go through the cycle a couple of times before I was able to break it and find a way out...Thanks to a great physiotherapist dude I was introduced to. I clicked with his treatment philosophies and once we came up with a treatment plan, I immediately responded both physically and mentally and have been able to make some pretty substantial progress over the last few weeks.

It's been a really frustrating time and even now I'm not sure that I'm 100% in the clear. I'm still treading carefully. But having said that, things are moving well. Today I was able, for the first time 6wks, to do more than six hours on the bike. Not hard or with a lot of intensity but the fact that I can get through it, was a good feeling.

So for all of you who had thought I had fallen off the face of the earth - I haven't. I'm here and looking forward to getting back to racing - even if a little afraid. It has been a difficult period and it's not always easy to write during these times but I had it put to me the other day when my physio drilled me about getting on top of my morale. He asked a question that I should've asked myself sooner, "What about all your supporters? They want to know something..." I guess that essentially what he was getting at is that I need to help myself more and by informing you guys of any good news can only help to lift my morale. Spending more time writing about any improvements is less time spent dwelling on what's not going so well. And without a doubt, writing down my thoughts always helps me to clear the way....

So here we are. The fact is that all of you have been there for us through both the shitty times and the good times and it's not fair that I don't keep you updated more often. So sorry to you guys for being a slack-arse...

I want to thank everyone for sticking by me once again. Especially Carole and Tanner (who is now a whole one. Not just a part of one anymore!) - we had a nice time at the beach last weekend celebrating his 1st birthday. I'm lucky to have both of them and their support. And thanks too to those directly involved in helping me to get on top of my injury and of course those of you who have kept coming back waiting for the next diary entry.

Probably a lot of you are wondering about the Tour. Well, I'm not really sure at the moment if I'm going to be back in time. The first objective is to get through the Tour of Luxembourg and then try and prove to the team that I'm good enough in the Tour of Switzerland. So for now it's one step at a time and the next step is to make the start line at the Tour of Luxembourg with no problems.

Here we go.....

Julz

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