Kiwi elite triathlete Tony Dodds has endured a rough time on the injury front this year, but is hoping everything will come together for a big 2012 season.
The bad luck started in July, when a training accident in Germany saw him knocked off his bike and through the back window of a car.
The crash left him with deep cuts to his arm and elbow, essentially ending his ITU World Championship Series season.
Then after healing up, Dodds shifted focus to his final two races of the season at the Tongyeong World Cup and Auckland World Cup, aiming for top 10 finishes at both.
He managed to finish 7th in Tongyeong, but soon after began getting pain in his Achilles tendon with the Auckland race looming.
"After the first injury I was just mentally drained, but I had a good race in Korea then came into Auckland. It was a course that suited me and the rest of the Kiwis,” Dodds said.
"After Tongyeong I picked up a bit of an Achilles problem, not stretching and massaging after the race so going into Auckland I didn't know how it would go.”
It started pretty well for Dodds, with a good swim and then a decent breakaway on the bike. But once he put on the running shoes, his race quickly unravelled.
"Going onto the run I was just in excruciating pain. The Achilles didn't pop or anything, I was just struggling to run the whole way and was limping because of the pain.
"In the end I had to pull the pin and it really gutted me to have to do that in a home race with a good lead on the guys behind.”
With the Auckland World Cup now in the past, Dodds is taking a positive outlook with his Achilles on the mend thanks to some intensive physio and strengthening work, as well as glucose injections.
"Last season wasn't ideal for me with injuries, but that's part of being a professional athlete. It just happened to be during an Olympic qualifying year though, which really sucked.
"This injury has come at an okay time, I've had a two week break and am starting to build into next season now and have some pretty exciting things coming up which is good.”
