Starting up again after a five month layoff

GMAN 19030

So I'm cleared to commence training on Friday.  Ironman Canada on July 27th was the last time I did any kind of working out.  I had the heart scare, then the hernia and hernia surgery five weeks ago, and the latest was a staff infection indirectly related to surgery.

I'm about 10 pounds over my race weight so I have kept my weight in check.  I'm sure my BF% is much higher than I'd like but that will melt off quick enough.

I've never gone this long without working out or training.  Obviously, I'll want to take it easy to avoid an overuse injury.  I have two 70.3's in April and one in June.  I don't want to "pay attention to the clock" for the first three or four weeks to allow me to build some fitness before jumping into a plan.

Any advice or wisdom?

Coach Rich

Posted By Bob McCallum on 23 Dec 2014 11:18 AM

So I'm cleared to commence training on Friday.  Ironman Canada on July 27th was the last time I did any kind of working out.  I had the heart scare, then the hernia and hernia surgery five weeks ago, and the latest was a staff infection indirectly related to surgery.

I'm about 10 pounds over my race weight so I have kept my weight in check.  I'm sure my BF% is much higher than I'd like but that will melt off quick enough.

I've never gone this long without working out or training.  Obviously, I'll want to take it easy to avoid an overuse injury.  I have two 70.3's in April and one in June.  I don't want to "pay attention to the clock" for the first three or four weeks to allow me to build some fitness before jumping into a plan.

Any advice or wisdom?

I've had several multi-month non-training periods due to injuries, surgeries, etc. My notes:

• Swim: not sure what limitations you'll have post hernia surgery?
• Bike: just ride hard often. Looking at your power will suck but it comes back quickly. Don't recommend you look at HR. Go by RPE and power and just deal with the fact that your numbers will be very low.
• Run: getting your frequency back is paramount, but do so within the limitations you'll have as a result of lost durability. That is, have a goal to run 4-5x/wk...but listen to your legs and decide how to amend that plan based on you feel from day to day, week to week. When I was coming back from foot surgery, I started with 3 x 15' runs per week, increased the length of each run by about 5' each week, had a few days where I stopped halfway down the block, and rode the bike instead, etc. 
• Highly recommend you leave the 2x April HIM's as "we'll see" events. Don't but hard dates on the calendar by which you need to build to a long run of X in order to have a successful HIM. ^This^ will increase the likelihood that you'll do something stupid and injure yourself. 
• The June HIM is more doable. 

GMAN 19030

Thanks for the comments, Rich.

16-17 weeks before the 70.3's... I would hope given my base fitness that I'd be in at least B+ shape which should be good enough for sub-5. I think I have plenty of time to intelligently prepare. The June race is definitely my A Race though. The first two were to just get some racing in and knock off the rust.

Paul Hough

Good luck Bob...hoping that 2015 is a good year for you!

Coach Rich

Posted By Bob McCallum on 23 Dec 2014 06:38 PM


Thanks for the comments, Rich.



16-17 weeks before the 70.3's... I would hope given my base fitness that I'd be in at least B+ shape which should be good enough for sub-5. I think I have plenty of time to intelligently prepare. The June race is definitely my A Race though. The first two were to just get some racing in and knock off the rust.

I'd say there's base/aerobic fitness and run durability. The former comes back very quickly. The later...depends...based on our natural biomechanics, any history of overuse injuries, etc. Conservative is always best. 

GMAN 19030

Gotcha. I've only had one nagging running related injury that was eventually solved by using Hokas. Otherwise my run durability has been solid. I definitely plan on being conservative until I feel like I'm back in shape. However long that is.

Dave Tallo

Good to see you getting back in the saddle / on the roads, Bob.

Daniel Huhn

I've been through a couple hernia surgeries myself. Please take it easy for the first couple months. Even after you have the green light from the doc, you'll continue to feel it. The good news is that you'll bounce back quickly. I did a HIM 14 weeks after my first hernia. If anything, all of the ailments really helps keeps you focused on task at hand.

GMAN 19030

Posted By Coach Rich on 23 Dec 2014 12:12 PM

Posted By Bob McCallum on 23 Dec 2014 11:18 AM

So I'm cleared to commence training on Friday.  Ironman Canada on July 27th was the last time I did any kind of working out.  I had the heart scare, then the hernia and hernia surgery five weeks ago, and the latest was a staff infection indirectly related to surgery.

I'm about 10 pounds over my race weight so I have kept my weight in check.  I'm sure my BF% is much higher than I'd like but that will melt off quick enough.

I've never gone this long without working out or training.  Obviously, I'll want to take it easy to avoid an overuse injury.  I have two 70.3's in April and one in June.  I don't want to "pay attention to the clock" for the first three or four weeks to allow me to build some fitness before jumping into a plan.

Any advice or wisdom?

I've had several multi-month non-training periods due to injuries, surgeries, etc. My notes:

• Swim: not sure what limitations you'll have post hernia surgery?
• Bike: just ride hard often. Looking at your power will suck but it comes back quickly. Don't recommend you look at HR. Go by RPE and power and just deal with the fact that your numbers will be very low.
• Run: getting your frequency back is paramount, but do so within the limitations you'll have as a result of lost durability. That is, have a goal to run 4-5x/wk...but listen to your legs and decide how to amend that plan based on you feel from day to day, week to week. When I was coming back from foot surgery, I started with 3 x 15' runs per week, increased the length of each run by about 5' each week, had a few days where I stopped halfway down the block, and rode the bike instead, etc. 
• Highly recommend you leave the 2x April HIM's as "we'll see" events. Don't but hard dates on the calendar by which you need to build to a long run of X in order to have a successful HIM. ^This^ will increase the likelihood that you'll do something stupid and injure yourself. 
• The June HIM is more doable. 

Update: Recovery has been perfect and I feel 100%.

Now to the highlighted portion.  Rich was spot on.  I'm back into the groove of things and able to do whatever but I'm not close to the shape I need to be in to have a successful race (by my admittedly high standards).  I'm basically eight and nine weeks from race day for the NOLA and TX 70.3's and I'm nowhere near where I need to be from a speed and endurance perspective.  I clearly underestimated how much missing 10 months of training in a 14 month period from Nov 2013-Jan 2015 would affect me.  Sure, I could show up on race day, slog through the event, finish, and still beat 80% of the field but that's not why I do this.

The hard date on the calendar was starting to get to me as the most I have run is 6 miles and the most I have swum is 1000 meters and the most I have cycled is 90 minutes.  I'm not ready... pure and simple.  Bob from five or six years ago would've "crammed" the training and likely done something stupid like running 12 miles next week and riding for three hours, etc.  Bob from today says to retreat and live to fight another day.

April 70.3's are off the table.  The June race had to be scrapped as well as we decided to take our Hawaii vacation during that time.  I'm going to concentrate on doing short course stuff for the summer and look to do some 70.3's towards the end of the season.

That Strauss guy is pretty smart. 

Coach Rich

Yep. Unfortunately, I have a LOT of experience with rebuilding after injuries, etc. The bike comes back very, very quickly but the run just sucks. At least it's flat where you live because running on hills when you're rebuilding and/or above your race weight by double digits is like getting smacked both ways, fitness and body comp

vickaiser

Lots of good stuff in this post. I know there's been a lot of discussion the last week on whetever mojo there is or is not left here at EN. Just wanted to comment that I read these threads and as an athlete trying to make a comeback, I'm gleaning lots of good info and wisdom reading these forums. This one especially struck for some reason as one I want to keep in my back pocket. Like the stuff about the "old" Bob and the "new" Bob.

Thanks guys.

Dino Sarti

Best of luck. That's a bummer. I missed three weeks due to travel and then illness. The first week back sucked. I hated it. It got better tho....

Al Truscott

My reaction is ... pulling the plug on the early season 70.3s seems like the right choice to me. And, yet, its different than the choice I made 4-5 years ago when I suffered through a major injury, 3 months of total couch time, and another 3+ months trying to get back into "training shape". I simply *had* to get back to IM CDA, to prove to myself that I was not broken. I'm wondering if I would make a different choice, knowing what I know now. But I think not; I was in a very different head space than where Bob finds himself. He has been through a year + of starts and stops, with recurrent setbacks and enforced down time. He's learned how to go slow, while remaining true to his competitive spirit. Preventing another setback is obviously the primary goal and motivation here, so as not to permanently lose those competitive opportunities.

Keep training to train, and keep your standards high.

 

Dino Sarti

After reading Al's comment, I remembered I was sidelined even longer after breaking my collar bone. I seemed easier though because I came back gradually. 4 weeks laying on the couch, two weeks on the trainer just easy, then outside. It helped to ease in.

jaleslie

Wise.

GMAN 19030

Posted By Al Truscott on 19 Feb 2015 02:31 PM

trying to get back into "training shape". 

Bingo!  I'm not even in training shape let alone being close to race shape.  4-6 weeks from the race I should be in peak (or near peak) form and nailing my key workouts.  I would barely be in training shape.

Gordon Cherwoniak

I agree wise decision.  I hear 2015 is the year of 'new Bob'.

Bruce Thompson

Bob...lots of good advice already shared by the team.  My only add is to remember to take it one day at a time.  Just get a little better, stronger each day and your fitness will come back.  Just don't rush things and get an over use injury.  Welcome back!!

Jeff Braaten

Great post, I am in a similar boat in that haven't really done a thing since IMFL this past November and had Tx 70.3 in April on the books as well as Grand Rapids Half in June. Pretty much decided to do exactly what you are planning to do by getting into training shape first and see how the end of the summer/fall feels.