Two time Olympian, former Australian Swim Champion and now Para-cyclist on the road and track, Hannah Macdougall has had a busy time over the past 8 weeks.  Kelly cycle coaching asked Hannah for an update and here is what she had to say about her cycling and university life recently….

The past six weeks have been some of the busiest in my life and I have managed to pack in an extraordinary amount of activities. Leading the highlights list was an adventure down to the Rip Curl Pro where I was the All Abilities Day Ambassador. This included saying a few words to not only support the initiative but also provide motivation for the participants and doing a bit of promo on live TV. I was also given the opportunity of having a few pictures taken with world champion surfer -Kelly Slater. I was told that Kelly likes to travel incognito these days due to the constant barrage of photo and autograph requests. However, it is amazing what a bit of female charm and a carbon fiber leg can get you!

Capping off this day, literally and figuratively, was my graduation for my double degree in Sports Management and Sports Science down on the Geelong Water Front. This celebration marked four years of further academic study and I am happy to report that I completed it in distinction style.

In between these events I managed to fit in a quick two-day trip up to Sydney to have some new legs made by a company (APC Prosthetics) who specialize in elite performance prosthetics; this change in prostheses practitioners was the result of my previous leg man packing up camp and transferring his skills into the building profession (I didn’t think I was that much trouble to work with…).  An extremely fast turn-around saw the production of two new legs, one for everyday use and one for cycling. My new cycling leg is fantastic in that it is not only adjustable in terms of length but also allows for different angles of the cleat position. This makes life a whole lot easier as now I won’t have to get a new leg made every time I need a minor change. It also means that as I progress and get stronger on the bike I will be able to change the length and angles on my cycle leg.

While it has been exiting and I have already begun to use my new cycle leg, it hasn’t seen quite as much action as I would have liked. This is due to the fact that I am still sorting through my overuse hip injuries (apparently I was born with an uneven head of femur – thanks mum and dad…).   I have had to do daily core work to strengthen my glutes, deep hip rotators and quadratus femoris through pilates and core work.

In fact, only today my surgeon decided I need to get arthroscopic surgery of my hip, so I am sitting in my hospital bed right now, awaiting surgery tonight.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that as part of my rehabilitation I will be back on the bike this Sunday turning my legs over (yipee).   The rehabilitation process means plenty of trainer and wattbike action but this will be perfect pursuit preparation.

My goal is still to compete at the Track World Championships next year in February with trials for this in December.  I can’t wait to be back in the start gates ready to race the 3km pursuit.

So my recent Easter adventures have revolved around wind trainer sessions, a 10,000 word literature review for my honours thesis, and helping to raise money and awareness for the Good Friday Appeal hosted by Channel 7. This last event was a bit of fun as not only did I help to raise a few hundred dollars for the appeal but got to meet some Melbourne Victory Players and Channel 7 presenters.
On a similar note, I made a guest appearance on the Channel Ten program ‘Scope’ where they completed a special sports science feature with my cycling leg making a special appearance.

Last week,  I had a few ice packs attached to my head as I had four wisdom teeth removed, a joyous experience as I’m sure people who have had their wisdom teeth removed shall concur… Thus, it has been ‘quite’ busy recently and shall continue to be so over the coming period leading into my thesis deadline, world championship trials and London 2012 Paralympic Games.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my major sponsor, CharterMason for their current support in helping me to achieve my goals and am looking forward to our future endeavors.

Over and out,
Hannah