Well what a rollercoaster my life has been during last the few months. I went from winning a race a week to not being able to walk up the stairs without getting out of breath. After my win in Stoke I began feeling tired more often and not being able to be competitive in races I would usual be.
Dani Interviewed for ITV4 - Katya Johnston
Initially I put it down to nerves and thinking my body was holding back for the Nationals which were in a weeks time. I started the race to quickly find out it was definitely not the nerves holding me back when I couldn’t even get up the first hill in the bunch.
I went to the hospital on the way home to have blood tests in order to find out as quickly as possible what was wrong with me. Unfortunately all I was told was that I had a viral infection and there was nothing I could do apart from rest, my worst nightmare! 2 weeks went by and i didn’t feel any better so I went back to have more blood tests. I then got the news I was dreading, Glandular Fever! I was devastated after hearing so many stories of how bad it was and how long it took people to recover. To top that off I had tonsillitis on top so was really feeling sorry for myself.
However after 4 weeks off my bike and lots of advice of people including three people I look up to as cyclists (Lizzie Armitsted, Becky James and my own Horizon Fitness team mate, Sarah Storey). Knowing they’d all had it and are still top class athletes gave me a lot of confidence that I’d get back on my bike and become stronger than I was before.
I’ve now been back on my bike for 2 weeks, gradually getting back into it. Starting on the tandem with my boyfriend Matt Rowe which was interesting! I didn’t like not being in control!
I was gutted not to be able to retain my National Crit Champion title however I’m hoping to ride the National Track Championships at the end of September if I believe I can be competitive!
Dani x
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