A triathlon with an open wound would not be a good idea

Today saw the World Triathlon Series come to London.

I like to do a triathlon each year but this year I decided to be "easy" on myself and enter the super sprint distance rather than the usual Olympic one I have been doing in recent years.

I was really looking forward to it as it was in Hyde Park and would be my first experience swimming in the Serpentine. I had been doing some swim training in my usual outdoor pool in Covent Garden which had been nice in the light mornings / evenings but I have to admit my cycling had been pretty much non existent bar riding my bike to and from the service shop to have it prepared for the race. But that didn't put me off...I knew that I would be able to make the 15km part of the race on the bike.

However; I have always had a cyst on my back but recently it had become a lot bigger and in the past week was really painful. It had made it very hard to sleep as it was right in the middle of my shoulder blades and on Wednesday night even wearing a jacket was sore as it rubbed against the newly formed mountain on my back. I had been to the doctor the previous week who said it would be best to get it removed so I had an appointment next week to see a specialist.

I did my usual track training session on Thursday night but afterwards decided that the size and colour of the cyst meant that I needed to go back to the doctor in the morning as I couldn't wait until next week to see the specialist. So here comes the first of the gross pictures...this is what it looked like Thursday night:

As soon as he saw it the Doc said it was infected and would rupture over the weekend and he would need to release the pressure now to avoid that happening. His words were then "are you feeling brave" which instantly when you hear that from your doctor you get a nervous feeling but being British I of course replied that I was and he could go ahead with whatever he wanted.

He sent me across to the pharmacy to get some local anesthetic and adrenaline and then he was ready to do his stuff. He warned me that it would hurt and feel uncomfortable as he squeezed the infection out. It wasn't as painful as I had prepared for although I did get a shock as he yelped at one point and said that the "stuff" had gone all over him and he needed to take his jumper off. Nice. He said it was a career first for him so I could be pleased that he got something new out of his Friday at work.

On the short walk home I resembled the victim from a teen slasher movie and could already feel the wound weeping down my back. When I took my top off at home it looked like this:

Despite the gruesome look my back did already feel pain free and overnight the red inflammation had started to go away thanks to the antibiotics. Some slightly less gross pictures of the now much improved back area:

So long story short it meant that the triathlon was a no go for me as the open wound would not be good in the Serpentine but hopefully I won't be out of action for too long.

I still went along to the race to support. It was a great atmosphere in the park and I was very impressed by the massive mannequins lining the route:

Wayne (one of my trainers) who I was doing the race with finished on my behalf (actually using my bike, helmet & wet-suit) in a time of 1 hour so in a way I kind of made it round the route! Some pics at least of him triumphant along the way:

So fingers crossed my back is ready for the next race in two weeks time...