Below is the latest diary entry from Wiggle-sponsored triathlete Michelle Dillon who has just undergone surgery on her back and is now recovering at home. Mich, have plenty of rest and get well soon from everyone at Wiggle!

Posted: Thursday Sept 25th

I have only today come out of hospital after spending the last week in a hospital bed after having my back operation which has caused me so much grief over the years. I must admit this was a shock to me when I saw the last scans before going under the knife on Friday morning 19th Sept. You see I thought I was having a disc replacement at Level 4 and a fusion at L5 but I had one more CT scan on Friday morning before going in which would help us see the bone better in my back. To my horror the doctor called me into a room to discuss my options that morning after looking at the scans I was scared,

The scans showed a big fracture at the vertebrae at Level 4 which had broken into 3 pieces and was making things complicated. Mr Wilson explained to me that if I were to have a disc replacement at this level the chances of it holding up were slim, so he explained that fusing this level and the one below would be the best solution long term. This meant Double fusion at levels 4 & level 5 and after seeing the scans I was shocked. He explained this as a unique case that he had never seen before and that my back had taken a pounding and needed something to be done. ….

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We are now in the month of September and I thought it was only fair that I let everyone who have followed my career and watched me race over the years know why I haven’t been racing this season. It’s been a tough time for me with injuries and it took a lot of investigations to finally figure out why over the last 4 years I have struggled with my injuries and have trained and raced on pain that no-one would have seen. I dealt with it well and hide a lot with a smile but sometimes I would turn up to a race a wonder if I would even stand on the start line.

If the travel was long and I was sitting for long periods of time I would get off a bus or plane and be limping with sciatic nerve pain or a numb leg. I would continuously be stretching strengthening and doing everything in my power to get myself to the start. A lot of the time it was a mental battle and my focus was lost in a cloud of worry which was all coming from my back. In 2005 & 2006 I had two really bad episodes of disc bulges which at stages had me crawling to the toilet and not being able to stand up with the pain. I over came this with bed rest and treatment and was determined to bounce back in 2007 as I knew I wasn’t finished yet…

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We are offering lucky Bloggle readers and Wiggle customers the chance to ask elite GB triathlete, Michelle Dillon any questions of your choice!

Many will have learned a lot from Michelle’s regular diary entries exclusively here on the Bloggle… but now you can get an even greater insight in to the mind of the triathlon guru who can still proudly claim to have recorded the highest finish of a British athlete in Olympic Triathlon.

Introducing…
Michelle Dillon Question Time

You can get expert insight into training & recovery tips, info about her bikes and race equipment, chatter about her career past, present and future… It’s up to you!

Simply email in your questions to news@wiggle.co.uk with your name and where you are from and we will take care of the rest! We will send as many as we can over to Michelle for her to answer and we will post them up right here on the Bloggle.

Ask Michelle Dillon a question now!

As we see the close of the Beijing Olympic Games, I feel myself reflecting on several different feelings I have felt during the last two weeks. As many of you will know, I have been suffering from a de-generative back disorder that has progressively got worse. During last winter the pain and symptoms increased and reached a point where I was physically not able to train with this pain any longer. Since then I have been receiving treatment and have just received the word that it now needs to be operated on. Throughout my career I have suffered my fair share of injuries and my back problems have popped up quite frequently. One of the most memorable times when my back caused distress was before the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, when I received an epidural in my spine before the race, just to get me to the start-line. This makes my 6th place in Athens such an achievement, however at the time I suffered from disappointment as I so dearly wanted to be on the podium with a medal around my neck as all Olympians do. Little did I know that even after the 2008 games my 6th place would remain as the most successful British Olympic Triathlon performance to date.

Watching many of Team GB receive medals in Beijing was emotional knowing what you go through as an athlete and this inspires and motivates me. I cannot describe how privileged you feel to represent your country in your sport and I can only imagine how it must feel when it ends in glory. The thought of standing on the podium listening to your home Nation’s Anthem actually gives me goose bumps, just thinking about it. Team GB’s achievements this year have been fantastic and I hope that the results encourage more people to become involved in sport….

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Although its been a down period with not racing yet this season, I finally get to see the specialist I have been waiting on seeing next week to see what the verdict is for my back problems that I have been suffering with over the years. At the London triathlon this weekend I am one of the official speakers to do a daily talk for 20 minutes on my experiences as a Triathlete and injury prevention. You can find us at the Mazda Tent and a timetable will be handed out for daily schedules.

Also recently I am supporting Maggies cancer foundation who are launching some more of their new centres to help support people with Cancer. To help launch their new centres they are having a bike & hike event in October which I am helping them endorse and would encourage all levels and abilities to compete as its for a great cause.

I’m really enjoying my coaching too and helping others to achieve their goals is something that gives me great pleasure, more athletes are joining Team Dillon all the time which is fantastic.

Focus and Wiggle sponsored triathlete Michelle Dillon was featured on the cover of the great new Tri mag ‘Triathletes World’ and inside gave a great insight into her mental toughness and the secrets to her success.

Here’s a couple of pics including one of her with her awesome Focus Izalco Extreme.

You can pick up a copy of Triathletes World for just £3.75 from your local magazine retailer.

Hello again, Its been a while since I wrote a blog this is due to me struggling to find something to write about.

As everyone knows they havent seen me on the racing scene yet this season due to injury. Throughout my career I have had so many injuries and somehow managed with the up’s & down’s that sport can give you. I think its because the up’s are so high like when you win a race or run a PB that you are addicted to this feeling it keeps you fighting to get over bad injuries and claw your way back to the top again to experience it once again.

Through my career I cant remember having a clear run of more than 1 year with no injuries, coming from a running background I have had several stress fractures, two of them kept me out for a year at a time and they were really tough to come back from. Thats why I went to triathlon because with the cross training I figured that this will be less impact on your body and surely less injuries. Well I did get another stress fracture early in my triathlon career, but after that it was more nervy stuff coming from my back.
Mainly due to the combination of cycling and being in one position for a long period of time then jumping off the bike and running fast.
It is so important to do lots of stretching and core/strength work, this is something that wasnt so popular when I was competing and you just trained hard and let things rot so to speak. If I could turn back the clock I would be in the gym 3 times per week, more work I know but its worth it in the long run.

I am hoping to sort out my problems and compete later on in the year, I will keep you all informed.
Happy training & strengthening.

Michelle Dillon

After returning back from Australia to the Uk i have been a busy bee, firstly I vistied the wiggle hq and picked up my new bike.
Awesome!
Then the following day I had a photoshoot with Runners world magazine who are bringing out a new triathlon type magazine around June/July time and was chosen to be on the front cover of there first issue, very exciting.
So I found my self climbing up hills on my new bike, but I can tell you it was definately alot easier with those lightweight wheels they are a dream. I had lots of fun and look forward to seeing how it looks when the magazine comes out.

Meanwhile Im looking forward to getting some riding in on my new bike so catch you all very soon. happy training everyone.

MD

We had a visit from our sponsored athletes Stuart Hayes and Michelle Dillon at the end of last week. We’d love to say it was for purely social reasons but they were here to pick up their new Focus Izalco Extreme bikes (along with getting training tips from Paul.) They got the workshop boys to do some tweaks and adjustments to get that perfect fit and we’re getting some amazing feedback from them now.

The season has just started and unfortunately mine has been delayed. I wasn’t able to race at Mooloolaba World cup at the weekend due to a virus that hampered my preparation in the lead up to it. I hadn’t been feeling very well and just wasn’t ready to start racing just yet so unfortunately I was a late withdrawal. This means I won’t be racing at New Plymouth this weekend either and will probably have to wait until the Olympic selection race in Madrid to get my season underway. This is when you will see me next toe the line for the start. Before that though I will be heading back to the UK and sunny (I’m hoping) Loughborough.

I have been coaching Stu Hayes and again he performed strongly to finish 12th in his first world cup of the season. Mine and Stu’s training Emma Davies and Richard Stannard did really well too and finished 15th & 23rd respectively.
They will all race this weekend in New Plymouth so look out for their results! I will be there too, cheering them from the sidelines.

Take Care

Michelle