Odious comparisons

Mine today is possibly hubristic, self-regarding, and inappropriate, but I don't care; I'm beginning to get some idea of the state of mind professional sportspeople must endure when they have a long-term injury - frustration (at not being able to do what you love), anger (how dare this thing stop me doing this?), self-pity (why me?), worry (will I ever be the same again?), and relief (well at least I can have some time off training).

Several things have happened since I had my diagnosis of sciatica/crushed sciatic nerve on Monday:

- as you might expect, I've decided to treat getting rid of it as a training goal in its own right. So, this week I've bought a supplement (kelp), been on the interweb, inevitably, to find the best exercises to address it, and to establish how I can help things along by using diet - turmeric, salmon, green tea, broccoli and blueberries need to feature prominently, whilst sugar, vegetable oil and non-organic milk need to be given the heave-ho as far as possible. I've also been actually doing those exercises, contorting myself into a variety of unlikely positions

- I've realised that, amazingly enough, I'm not actually the first person in the world to suffer from this, and compared to some my symptoms, though debilitating in the sense exercise is difficult, are pretty mild really - I'm not actually in pain most of the time. That said, those who report they were during their bouts, have never gone back to regular, vigorous exercise. If I ever stooped to emoticons in this medium, you know which one I'd be using at this point

- I have ridden my bike. I even rode it on the road, but only for 23 miles. Whether it was out of frustration or wanting to test myself, it was a very quick 23 miles - 68 minutes - but with a weird sensation. If you've ever brushed up against the electric fences farmers put up in fields to limit their livestock to grazing in certain places you'll be familiar with it - that low level buzz of electricity down the side of your leg. Think that, but whilst riding a bicycle. I'll try again on the trainer in the coming days to see if it repeats itself, and to see how I feel about embarking upon a more regular, perhaps gentler, training programme. I might even let the physio have a say in that when I see him again on Friday.

At some point all this self-absorption will have to stop. Bear with me in the meantime. I've never liked being ill in any way at all - who does? I hear you say. But my dislike is not just at the feeling rough bit, it's rage that I'm denied the chance to do what I want to do. The positive effect is that I tend to get over things pretty quickly, so I hope I'll be back to the reporting of rides and runs in the not-too-distant.