My JOS training update, aka "no training for Matt"
Hey JOS, just a quick note to let you all know my training will be taking a "different path" and that I won't be posting any workouts for a while.
As you might have read on the week #1 run thread, I slipped on the ice during my Sunday run and landed on my ankle. It felt bad enough that I had to take a taxi home. On Monday it wasn't much better and it really hurt walking through the couple of airports I had to navigate. So on Tuesday I was back in Chicago and made a doctor's appointment, got sent for an MRI, and then today had another appointment to get the MRI results.
I posted the details in the medical forum (http://members.endurancenation.us/F...fault.aspx) but the short story is that I'm wearing a walking boot for 4 weeks (no weight bearing) and won't be running for 6 weeks. I'm unsure of the pathway to a full recovery, i.e. how long until just as fit and fast as I am entering the OS and ready to start training full-bore, but in any case it won't be too soon. Race plans will be adjusted accordingly but I'm optimistic about being in very good form by the time Grand Rapids rolls around, although if I need to set might sights on something later season like Racine or even Silverman I may do that. Florida 70.3 in April looks extremely unlikely now although you never know. Even if it is a C race I won't show up there unless I can turn in a respectable performance.
In any case I won't unsubscribe from this forum so I will be following your workouts and holding you all accountable!!!!
Cheers,
Matt
Comments
Aw, jeez, Matt, I am so sorry to hear that. The general rule of thumb (or foot, in this case) is an equal amount of time to ramp back up running that you have to take off.
But given the history of successful recoveries and performances after accidents we have on this team, I have no doubt you'll be exceeding your HIM goals within less than a year.
I know it's not apples to apples at all...but my husband was in a walking boot for 3 weeks after nearly ripping his achilles (or something, I can't remember), and ran a 50 miler PR 4 weeks after it came off. Just trying to give you hope! Sending you positive thoughts and please continue to help us Jan OSers out with your WSM advice!
That's such a bummer to hear Matt! The injury bug has a painful bite initially, but I can tell you have the resolve to make this waiting period fly by with gains in other areas. Core workouts are non-weight bearing! I hope you heal quickly and we will be carrying the torch for ya for a little bit. - Ed
Glad to hear you'll still be on the forums - you're a big motivating force.
Rest, heal and keep us posted on recovery!
Really sorry to hear this and speedy recovery Matt!
I'm always blown away with how quickly our plans are changed, no matter how big, from an incident that only takes a tiny split second. We all have been there. I did something similar.
Put that energy into another aspect...diet, stretching, core, zen stuff, cooking for the fam, or something along those lines.
Here's to a speedy recovery.
Terrible news but definitely a good attitude on adjusting the year and moving forward. Heal up and come back strong.
Gordon
- This week walking short distances without the boot, but if I need to do longer distances I should wear the boot
- Next week no boot at all
- The following week begin a 3-week "return to run" program she gave me…which appears to include more walking than running at least in the initial weeks
Honestly I'm a bit disappointed. For some reason I thought that when the boot came off I'd be able to resume running workouts on an "as tolerated" basis, i.e. letting discomfort and pain guide how the intensity and duration of the workouts. It is now clear that I won't be doing legit run training for another ~6 weeks, by which point I'm sure my run fitness will be so bad it will take a LONG time to build back up. To add insult to injury, I'm going to be traveling a lot mre in the coming months, which is when I rely on run workouts and get a bit less consistent with fitting in the bike workouts.
I will follow these orders, but it seems I'm resigned to writing off the beginning of this season, if not an even bigger portion than that. I will almost certainly withdraw from 70.3 Florida (although I'll wait to the deadline to ask for my $75). I think Grand Rapids is still possible if the recovery goes really well. But I won't show up unless I can really compete at that race, so Racine/Steelhead may be a more likely target.
This week I'm going to give serious consideration to getting back in the pool and getting lessons and focusing on improving as a swimmer. But at my core I need high-ROI on my workouts, and the overhead associated with swimming is just brutal.
Are you being transferred to a Physical Therapy group soon? I love my PT guys. If you can do that...those guys really know how to get folks like us going. Maybe you could ask for a referral? As always, if you do that, make sure you go to PT people that are used to dealing with athletes, not the ones who deal with the elderly or with workplace injuries mostly.
Matt - this note had me going back to my training log for 2007. Here's what I found: I had foot surgery late 2006, and the "boot came off" for me the end of November. Within two weeks, I was "racing" a 5k: I walked it in about 50 minutes, back with the dog walkers and large people with fanny pacs and camelbaks (for a 5k???). Two weeks after that, I see I did a 5K run in 24 minutes (I was a 20 minute 5K @ that time), with miles of 9/8/7 as I "tested" my speed. I had no fitness, as I had just started running. Within two months of the boot coming off, I was back to my usual training paces and distances. I did all of my planned races in April/May/June, long course Du, HM, and IM. I set a PR (at the time) for my IM marathon split.
YMMV as to timing of return to form, but remember, you'll heal a lot faster than I did, being half my age or so