Melissa Abbey Physiotherapy

23/09/2025

Berlin Marathon 2025 🇩🇪
Still feels a little surreal to say I’ve just finished my second major marathon🏃‍♀️⭐️⭐️
I’ll never take that for granted.

A whirlwind trip to the German capital ended with a medal 🏅, plenty of lessons, and some always-needed perspective.

Massive thanks to the team at Wolfi’s Sports Trading and Maurten for making this possible — what an experience! 🤩

Performance-wise, I had two plans:
👉 Plan A: chase a PB
👉 Plan B: if Plan A wasn’t happening, save the legs and run smart

It became clear early on it wasn’t my day for a PB, so I switched gears and ran to feel — and still came away with a result I’m proud of. ⭐️

A sub-3:30 will never feel “easy” (definitely not for me!) but I’m grateful for the fight, the finish, and everything this race taught me.

Danke, Berlin. 🖤❤️💛

07/08/2025

05/08/2025

Throwing it down with the boys 🏃‍♂️💥
Either a sneaky PB or the slowest long run ever — we’ll never know. No GPS, just vibes.
8 laps. Bad pics. Awkward videos. Great banter.

Heart rate over pace today — no watch tantrums, no data obsession, just running smart (we hoped).



⸻

Want to keep it even more cheeky or swap any of the hashtags?

21/07/2025

Please address me by my new title :
Hybrid Rockstar 🎸

Triathlete goes hyrox
A lot of type 2 fun - not quite ready to switch out triathlon but really good to test the fitness in a new format ( with no physical help from team Doughnut 🍩)
Who knew running on tired legs would be useful in any other context ?
A funny way to do a 8x1km set (must admit prefer the track versions where we rest in between)

Surprised myself with some of the stations - other then the burpees those we knew would be terrible
Still prefer doing this with team doughnut but it was good to tick it off (even though George was an immensely good hyrox coach for the weekend) 🙏
Swipe to watch a giraffe doing wall balls

17/07/2025

Temp is heating up and so are the tready sessions 🔥
Loving these at the moment
Locked in with no excuses on offer

17/07/2025

Embracing the conditions 🔥
Summers heated up and so have the treadmill sessions
Loving these hard runs where there isn’t anywhere to hide

Love me a hard treadmill run

30/06/2025

“Training in the Heat? Read This.”
Summer running.
Summer riding.
Summer surviving.

Training in hot conditions isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s an extra physiological stressor.
Your heart rate goes up.
Your perceived effort skyrockets.
Your sweat rate explodes.
And you risk dehydration and heat-related illness if you don’t adapt.

🌡️ What to watch out for:
🚩 Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
🚩 Unusually high heart rate
🚩 Headaches
🚩 Goosebumps or chills in the heat (bad sign!)

Tips for training smart in the heat:
✅ Train early or late
✅ Hydrate before you even feel thirsty
✅ Slow down your paces
✅ Pour water over your head + wear light colors
✅ Listen to your body, not your ego

Heat is a stressor — treat it with respect.
Adapt, hydrate, and adjust. You’ll thank yourself later.

💬 Tell me below: do you train in the heat, or does the treadmill save you?

15/05/2025

I thought I was doing everything right: training hard, staying lean, pushing limits.
But my body was trying to tell me something. And I ignored it.
What is RED-S
RED-S stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport.
It happens when your energy intake doesn’t meet your training demands.
It affects your hormones, bone health, mood, recovery, and performance.
And here’s the thing:
It’s not always intentional.
It can happen without disordered eating.
It can happen to men and women.

Signs I Missed:
Constant fatigue- Missed periods- Slower recovery + more injuries- Mood swings- Stalled performance

I thought I needed to train harder.
What I actually needed was to fuel smarter.

Why It Matters:
RED-S isn’t just about missing periods or race results.
It’s about your long-term health.
Your bones. Your cycle. Your immune system.
It’s common in endurance athletes, and it often goes unnoticed-especially when we look “fit.”

What Helped Me Recover?
Realising what was happening ! And then
-Working with a sports dietitian
-Cutting back on training and the getting smarter about it
- Tracked my cycle + symptoms
-Prioritized sleep + recovery
- Ate like an athlete, not like a calculator

Recovery wasn’t easy or linear-but it was 100% worth it.
* You don’t have to look sick to be struggling.
* You don’t have to hit rock bottom to deserve help.
* You don’t have to earn food or rest.

RED-S was part of my journey-but it’s not my ending.
If this hit home for you don’t leave it till your forced to face it 💕

04/05/2025

Never too old or too experienced to learn something 🧠
I’ve always known my bike handling leaves something to be desired but a windy day in SA made it very apparent. As triathletes we often hide behind non-draft and very limited technicality in races. However what I learnt today is the better I can handle my bike the better I will actually be able to TT a bike.

I was very nervous to even have this session but I’m so glad I did - I have a lot to practise but in 90 minutes my confidence had already 📈
Huge thanks to Agit. Hugely patient and knowledgeable with just the right amount of risk.
My advice - no matter how long you’ve been riding go do some skills training ( especially if you ride on the beautiful Dubai tracks )
Still lots to practise and improve on but so glad I have started this process

Also the videos make it look so lame - it’s so hard 🤣

22/04/2025

Back doing some training 🚴🏽🚴🏻‍♀️🚴‍♂️
Happy I took the break I needed 😴
Enjoying the last few weeks of decent weather 🌦️
Always fun finding some friends 💛

07/04/2025

Ironman South Africa 2025 💨🌊
Returning home to race is always a treat and to toe the line healthy at the 20th occasion of this beast of a race was very special!
I would be lying if I said it was a great day - it was a tough day. The weather, my brain and body all of it. But I wanted some redemption and in a way I got that- it was tough but I kept working
And a little perspective always helps 🧠
8th overall and 4th in my AG is still great and I’m proud of that - just searching for the day I get it all right at once ✨
As always a huge thank you to “my team” these guys who stand with me through it all - even when I’m snippy or crying on the run ♥️

29/03/2025

Racked and as ready as I can be
-maybe a few more carbs to consume
Proud of the work I’ve done and goal tomorrow is to be proud of the work I do ⭐️