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Ash Clayton Blog Summer 23'

Ash Clayton Blog Summer 23'

Georgina Clark |

This May was a lot about recovery from injuring my heels. I could walk, so I could still do a few things, but I was completely out of skiing and anything else. I kept in the gym for my upper body strength, but nothing that would put force through my heels. I went up to Kendal for KJAM to help out and support the riders. It was odd to sit on the sidelines but I kept myself busy chatting and doing a bit of filming. Despite all the doom and gloom of being injured, I got accepted to the TASS scheme. It aims to help athletes with service such as S&C, nutrition, psychology, physio and also some bits on lifestyle. I was very pleased as it has now really helped with S&C. Before I was using a homemade program which was doing the job, but having a program set by an actual S&C coach, I feel its a lot more targeted at making me stronger to throw bigger tricks on bigger jumps.

June came round, and still recovering. There were going to be a couple of competitions to do, but on advice from my physio, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk of damaging my heels more. The S&C sessions on Wednesdays were going well, these I have at New Bucks Uni with a coach, but I was struggling with motivation to go to the gym on my own after not going for so long. One of the highlights of June was FINALLY being able to ski. A Belgium trip on the last weekend was something worth waiting for. I took it slow, not knowing how much impact there was going to be, and also very nervous that my heels would cause me pain. Once I got over the initial fear, I was on a roll. Getting all my usual airbag tricks, then taking a stab at the big one. The stairs seemed to be a little better than last time, but the hatred is still there! 144 steps in wet gear , skis and ski boots, in 30 degree heat is not what you want for walking up those stairs. But none the less, progressive and very fun trip. 100% looking forward to the next one, time to level it up!

Last blog I mentioned that I had taken up crochet. When I bruised my heels back in the middle of April, I started crouching granny squares. After crocheting 9 with some form of cohesion between them, I decided to make more and do a blanket. Well, 11 weeks later, to the day, I finished it and I’m very proud of it.

 

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