Earlier this week Kiwi long distance triathlete Terenzo Bozzone went under the knife to solve an Achilles problem that has hampered him for much of the international season.
For the past few months Bozzone has struggled with the injury, which caused severe discomfort and stiffness in his Achilles tendon during training and racing.
After seeking medical advice it was hoped that the problem would heal itself through rest and rehabilitation, but that didn't happen.
The 26-year-old is now back in New Zealand and recovering at home in a cast following his surgery on Tuesday.
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH TERENZO (9:44)
"I've been struggling with it for a couple of months now. When I came home we tried to get into a vigorous strength routine but that didn't work so last resort was the surgery," Bozzone said.
"It went well and my surgeon, Doctor Matthew Brick, was happy with how things went. What was wrong was a tendinopathy inside there so he went in, took off the sheath of the Achilles, desensitised the nerves and cleaned out all the scar tissue from the tendon."
Bozzone's surgery is very similar to what fellow Kiwi Kate McIlroy had done to both of her Achilles tendons following last season. Both athletes were operated on by the same surgeon.
Since her surgery, McIlroy recently wrapped up her international racing season with her best ever ITU result after finishing third at the Yokohama World Champs, backing up from a sixth placing in Beijing the previous weekend.
"Kate was my inspiration actually to get this surgery. I hadn't spoken to her until pretty much the day before my surgery but I'd heard she'd had both her Achilles done by the same doc earlier this year and she's having a great season.
"If she can do it with two legs hopefully I can do it with only one having been operated on."
Now in rehabilitation mode, Bozzone comes out of his cast early next week and has been told he should be able to swim in 2 weeks, get onto the wind trainer in 2-3 weeks and be back running in 6-12 weeks.
After qualifying to race Ironman's pinnacle event in Kona, Bozzone was forced to make the tough decision to pull out with the risk of potentially causing long-term damage too great.
But he will still make the trip to Hawaii this year to watch the race unfold from a totally different perspective.
"I just have to look at it like - I'm only 26 years old and realistically I have 13-15 years left in the sport and I can't waste it all with the emotional side of things and running through this injury.
"It's going to be good to watch the race from the sidelines and see how it unfolds from a different perspective and will teach me a few lessons. Hopefully I can come back to Kona next year with all that extra experience under my belt.
"Long term Kona is where I want to succeed but short term Ironman New Zealand is where I want to compete well. I want to take Cam Brown of his throne in the nicest possible way. I love racing in Taupo, I love going down there and I know next year I'll be going in with that much more drive, passion and hunger for the title.
"I'm hoping with this new found hunger I can come back with a new outlook on the sport and win races."
Source: Triathlon New Zealand
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