The run up (or skate up?)

So, last weekend I was merrily on my way to Team Ireland tryouts.

Given things often run in 'threes' I think in hindsight I should have seen the divine power pissing around with me - or someone saying give it a miss this time love...

1.) I fall over in high heels the week before and smash my ankle, spend the week RICEing the bugger. Said ankle feels reasonable by day of tryouts, yippee!

2.) On the fight over I get elbowed in the head by the fight attendant (British Airways, I am disappointed in you). Spend the whole flight icing my head and worrying about concussion. Not concussed on day of tryouts, yippee!

3.) ........I rupture my Achilles tendon in warm ups....

That's right. I wasn't even on skates. I wasn't even more than 15 minutes into tryouts before I took myself out in a rather spectacular fashion.

Who needs Achilles anyway? Well, uh, turns out most people.

We were doing various warm ups/jumps/jogging but it was the hops back and forward as we moved side to side that got me. I remember thinking (amusingly) that I was doing rather well at them, a split second before i heard a 'snap' (or more of a slap or pop sound) and my foot decided to detach itself from my calf.

It is a very weird sensation having an unattached foot (I know it's still literally  at the bottom of my leg, but all push has gone from it). When it happened, I heard the noise and it felt like my foot went in to a hole in the floor. I actually looked around at the floor and assumed the wood had warped? I had no pain, nothing. I then put my foot down and suddenly realised that bugger, it wasn't the floor, but it was my foot that was the issue.

At that point I knew I had done something very serious. Feeling that your right foot is in a hole or on a ramp (this is the only thing I can liken it to!) whilst it is flat on the floor is not what feet are meant to be doing! I was moved over to the side and my leg was iced - I felt behind my ankle and couldn't feel a tendon at this point. I just remember saying I need go to hospital and I have done something bad (pretty sure my tendon had gone at this point). Ice it some more.. nope. Pretty sure tendon gone......