well well well that was quick... Doc called today and left a message... I do in fact have a Intertrochanteric stress fracture ... Its stable so does not need surgery just lots of rest... However the message was pretty serious and he highly recommends crutches with no weight bearing at all for a minimum of 2 weeks... I am waiting to speak to him directly and have been able to at least move up my follow up appt to review the MRI in person to next tuesday... Considering I have been walking 2-3 miles per day and doing HIT bike rides I think the crutches are a bit overkill at this point...
Tim - this sounds like a very big deal to me. My thoughts on this are not based on any special medical expertise, but rather as someone who has spent 40 years thinking about and about observing how the body works, a couple of decades watching triathletes train and compete, and knowledge about who you are and how driven you can be.
First off, I know you take a lot of care with your nutrition and diet. I also know that you might be at risk for not getting enough calcium for this injury. Normal calcium needs are one thing, but you've been in a situation where your rate of repair fell behind your rate of damage over the past year. So you might want to check out what additional nutrients you might need to aid the healing process you are facing - not just calcium, but others needs as well.
Second, there's no question you have a high tolerance for discomfort, so the fact that you can walk and cycle means jack squat. You trained for a friggin' Ironman (or two) with this problem developing, so the lack of pain with any particular activity, or your ability to do that activity, should not be used as a guide for what to do and not do. All the sources I consulted say the key to healing is to STOP BEARING WEIGHT ON THE AFFECTED LEG for 2-6 weeks. The downside risks don't seem worth fudging this: surgery to repair the bone, or, worse, avascular necrosis leading to the need for a hip replacement.
Third, I have no doubt that you will feel simultaneously frustrated and driven to heal. The personality traits that delivered the results you've had in competition, as well as the Tim Cronk that we all enjoy being around, will bring you through this.
@Steve - Well you can look at it like which ever came first the chicken or the egg... Maybe it was weakened in the crash and I finished it off running or just made it worse... Either way the location and impact point on the hip make sense... The hip was 100% pre-accident sso its defintely some causal factor.
@Al - Yes it is pretty serious . But the good news is it could always be worse. Since its stable there is no need for the surgery. However the Doc (sports orthodpeadic so he knows the way we think) was very serious. One heal strike could break it completely and your fucked for the rest of your athletic career kind of talk. He also thought it was serious enough to call me immediately to stress these points over and over again about zero weight bearing. Very little blood flow to this area to aid the healing...
Calcium comments... Yes I thought of this too... I am going to take Calcium supplements for the near term although I don't believe it to be necessary...Remember my shattered Clavicle healed like nobodies business... This one bothers me a bit because I think I should be able to take that kinda hit without breaking LOL....I guess I'm 53 and 125lbs (how the hell did that happen?) Because of my diet , I have been tested for deficiencies before and planned to do so again this spring... Note: only deficiency was IRON and that tested low when I ate meat. I will also speak to the Doc about Bone Density etc... In the mean time I'm pretty sure I get much more calcium than most. On the list below I literally eat these foods in bulk every single say with exception to the sardines,yogurt, cheese.... and of course many of the ones listed just below these are in my normal diet as well...
World's Healthiest Foods rich in calcium FoodCalsDRI/DV
Tim. Crutches suck. I've been on them for 3 weeks and will be on them for another 1-2 weeks. When I say they suck I mean it. And in the winter it is terrible.
But you know what sucks even more...surgery. I just went through that and trust me you don't want to be there.
Does getting lax with the crutches mean surgery? Maybe not. But don't take the chance. It's not worth it.
In 2013 I slipped on the ice and was minimal weight-bearing on my ankle for 6 weeks, no workouts for 6 weeks and no running for about 3 months. After that 3 months I started training again and set a half-iron PR 3 months later.
In 2015 I trained through a stress fracture and FAI (a hip impingement). I would not have done so had my doctors told me to stop, but that doesn't mean it was a great idea...and to this day I do wonder if different doctors might have given me a different answer. As you well know, I ended up with a sub-optimal Ironman race, arthroscopic hip surgery, a still-torn adductor that may yet require more surgery, and probably no more PRs ever.
Clearly being "on the shelf" to fully recover is the right choice in the vast majority of cases. Don't even be a cheering squad unless you're sitting in a chair. Do what the doctor says. As people say around here "recover like it's your job".
Ugh Tim, what a bummer. And I'll echo all of the above- behave yourself! But you are Tim Cronk after all, I'm sure you will be back with a vengeance if you listen to the docs!
Tim and Matt, crutches suck, but think of that upper extremity and core strength you are building. I bet your competition will be asking about this "crutch training" you did as your secret weapon come swim times next season! Hey, think positively.
I am just leaving work now and got here at 6am. So no workouts for me today. This might be a slow time of the year for most, but since I do pediatric stroke research, I am running experiments like crazy while kids are off school. 4 back to back experiments have to count for endurance training- i'm wiped!
To all, might not be the end of 2015 we wanted or the start of 2016, but let's make it a happy new year!
Just got back to this thread, lot's going on here!
@Steve Swanlund your putting in huge mileage in the challenge but Z2 ?? Find the root cause old quad/hip flexor injury??
@Al I see in your blogs your sporting health is improving and shows in your reports, all positives !
@Racheal keep up what you're doing steady as you go !
@Tim, as Al has fully stated and we friends who follow you online. "Yah gotta slow done to a stop on this one". Yep embrace crutches, stop even walking the dog long distance, let Heather do that ! I know you are a "hard wired" endurance athlete and you need focus. Take on a new challenge weight resistance training, non wt bearing activities. Short term relief for long term goal/health.
@ Tim, sorry to hear that. I hope your recovery is quick. Same for you Al. Rest up and come back strong.
I did 8.4 miles of XC classic skiing today. It was the first time on skis in almost 2 years. I was definitely fading in the last kilometer. Tomorrow l I'll strap on the skate skis and work the bike muscles in the morning then classic again in the afternoon for a virtual brick. Happy new year everyone!
7 miles this morning. Very happy with where my running is. The other disciplines are slow to return, and I'll take much of the blame- my schedule right now is making it tough to fit in bike/swim, but at least I'm doing something.
5.1 mi run in 45:50, around my local "block", which has two 10-15% gradient hills of 200+ feet in 1/3 mi. Did this @ High Noon, when I could actually have some sun shining on me @ 32F. Yesterday, VO2 trainer intervals, along with a 3 mile brick + strides. Two more days, I'll switch my loyalty over to Jan OS. I have reluctantly decided to stop all swimming until after Lincoln;s Birthday. Given 4 of those 6 weeks are away skiing, not that big of a deal, except my wife and I go swimming every Sunday, so last week and this, she's in that pool ALONE.
Well now I'm back on the bench. I have been having this weird pain in my right upper thigh (Quadricep- Vastus intermedius )that gets angry if I push the paces too much. For the past few weeks I have been really sore after my saturday long run with some speed in the middle. It leaves me limping until tuesday. Then I feel better and can run again until saturday. This week I ran hard on friday and saturday and I could barely walk. So I decided to take a week off from running and really let it heal. I figured I would continue to swim and get started a couple weeks early on the bike. Monday I rode, but it hurt even worse later that day. So no bike no run for a week. But I will put in some serious pool time. If it isn't better by next monday, I will have to find a PT or sports doc to look at it and get a plan to fix me.
Steve ... Please start listening to your body sooner, and then acting on what it tells you. Over the uears I've watched several times as you ramp up volume and/or intensity rapidly, and then down the line get laid up. This time, not only must you rest from running but when you start back up, keep your TSB in the negative teens, don't let it get down to -70! Sadly, the older we get, the longer it takes to heal, and the more anxious we get about wanting to get back in the game. You'd think patience is so,ething we get better at, but it may be just the opposite.
@Steve... Argg that sucks... Al sufficiently spanked you but I'll tag on... After following you around here I have determined your tolerance for pain is off the charts (yeah I remember your IM with a broken clavicle specially the swim) , combined with the BQ/KQ desire to succeed, a work ethic to match.... All this equals danger....At least it sounds like nothing more than rest and recovery... Lots of time for both BQ/KQ as long as you stay healthy...
Doc Visit today... He looks at me in the waiting room and says to the receptionist he better have crutches, I hid my head, the assistant takes me to the back room, on the way she says No crutches I thought I told you no weight bearing ?, you did.... The doc comes in laughing and says its OK no crutches ,I knew you wouldnt, we just go a bit overboard on the no weight bearing thing...I said you did your job and got my attention but I read thru the lines and figured crutches were over doing it a little ... Lets talk about your broken hip, showed me the MRI of the Intertrochanteric Stress Fracture, its stable and you will heal, if you do too much too soon you will have to start back at ground zero.... Minimum 6 weeks of no running as long as I have zero pain I can start back up slowly, biking, etc can be done sooner with pain as my guide but really pressed on the making sure it doesnt hurt so you dont have to start over.... Said he was not concerned at all about the bone density since it was in conjunction with trauma but said it cant hurt to get a bone scan with your primary care Doctor... He was very optimistic, said we can schedule you to come back in 6 weeks but we would do nothing except see how you feel... Just be smart and you'll heal up just fine...
Tomorrow my TSB will drop to my lowest level in 3 years.... I am taking this seriously...
Not much running or biking over the past week but I did get in three days of XC Skiing in below zero and single digit (F) temps. Classic first and last day and skate skiing in the middle. Good low impact stuff but it did make me sore by the last day. The muscles in my hips and upper legs knew that they had done something different for a couple of days. I've also had some emotional stress to deal with. I had to get my 96 year old mom admitted into hospice last week. A slow growing breast cancer that we found several years ago has metastasized into her bones. When she was originally diagnosed with the cancer the doctors said that something else would kill her before that did. I guess they didn't know my mom. So getting away for a couple of days to ski was relaxing in many ways.
On the bright side I was discharged from PT yesterday. This morning I went for a run and made it a progressive one with the last mile at a little faster than Z4 pace. It was very nice to be hitting that pace again and feeling good and strong while doing it. Over the past couple of years I've seemed to get to a certain level of work and then plateau. So I've been looking over my training data for the past 4 or 5 years and it looks like I ramp up too fast and something happens like an injury or illness that sets me back or keeps me at that level. So this year my plan is to ramp up more slowly and try to break through that ceiling. I'm hoping that the work with the PT and continuing to do the exercises they gave me will lay a good foundation for that.
Steve ... Please start listening to your body sooner, and then acting on what it tells you. Over the uears I've watched several times as you ramp up volume and/or intensity rapidly, and then down the line get laid up. This time, not only must you rest from running but when you start back up, keep your TSB in the negative teens, don't let it get down to -70! Sadly, the older we get, the longer it takes to heal, and the more anxious we get about wanting to get back in the game. You'd think patience is so,ething we get better at, but it may be just the opposite.
Yes, sir...he said while hanging his head in shame. Although negative teens is difficult to do, how about negative 20-30's?
@Steve... Argg that sucks... Al sufficiently spanked you but I'll tag on... After following you around here I have determined your tolerance for pain is off the charts (yeah I remember your IM with a broken clavicle specially the swim) , combined with the BQ/KQ desire to succeed, a work ethic to match.... All this equals danger....At least it sounds like nothing more than rest and recovery... Lots of time for both BQ/KQ as long as you stay healthy...
I keep telling myself I have lots of time to get the run back up to where it needs to be before May 1st. On the bright side my swim is off the charts. I've never been this strong in the pool. I guess averaging 16,500 yards/week has to have some benefits.
@Steve- Great news on the swim... You gonna have to swim a 1:05 or better @ IMMD to have a shot at me :-)
3600 yds in the water today, arms were tired from lifting yesterday but the shoulder is getting freaking strong.... 15 min spin on the trainer and I do mean spin IF .24 and TSS of 1.4
I'm sorry I missed this thread until now. My injury a chronic one...stress fracture, but the bottom line is that it took out most of my year last year. From Oct-Dec, I was mostly "just running" from 30-60 minutes, with an occasional 90 minute run...jusst getting to the point where running for an hour was comfortable again.
It has taken me 6 months from my point of diagnosis to now that I'm feeling like I'm ready for the Jan OS. I even managed to run my 5K today at pretty much where it has been at the beginning of the last couple of OS...right at 20:30.
So, I'll probably follow this thread quietly, but the good news is that patience can pay off ...
just came back to reveiw this thread and I am commiserating with all. Tim - heal up Al - keep up the good work, not much snow here, so leave some for me when I come out! Steve - heal quickly
I am back to running, started monday with a very slow 8 miles and then again today (wednesday) I got in 10 miles at a bit faster pace. I haven't even hit my zone 1 pace yet, just trying to get in some miles. Depending on when I am able to ramp up the pace of these training runs, I may have to rethink my BQ attempt on May 1st. Still have time, but the clock is ticking. I have 13.1 on Feb 7th at Surf City that I am hoping to run at Marathon pace (7:30). If that happens then I will continue with the original plan. Meanwhile I have started to get some JOS bikes in and still swimming 4 days a week.
Checking in on this thread, as I probably need it...
I kept this on the DL, but 6 days after qualifying for Kona at IMWI, I went on my first dirt bike ride since February '15. I dropped my bike on my lower leg in a nothing incident and hurt it. Was able to ride out, ride the next day, and walked around on it through the following week until I decided to visit an urgent care shop in Chattanooga on my way up to the race to support the team. Fracture of the fibula in my right leg. I saw my ortho the next week and was not prescribed surgery or a cast, just instructions to "don't be dumb."
I succeeded and now I'm starting to run again, actually a run/walk. I was cleared by my doc last week, who confirmed that the bone is healing well and I won't reinjure it, and that the pain I'm feeling is lower leg soft tissue stuff being stressed. I've been able to cycle fine since immediately after the accident, but have just be very inconsistent.
So yesterday was intervals of about 1:30 run, 30-45' walk for 3.3 miles. Iced it afterwards and didn't have any issues the rest of the day. I've been down this road before of patiently getting my run back. A-race is IMLP than AAA+ race of Kona. I have time.
Running seems to be back to "normal" although I am taking it easy on any speed work, For fear of re-aggravating my quad. I will be shooting for 7 runs/week at least 6 miles per day. The only days that this is a challenge is tuesday and thursday when I swim at masters swim then ride the trainer at night. I'll be watching my PMC to keep things in check. (Right, Al T ?) Swim has progressed very nicely, I am the proud owner of my fastest ever 1000 yard TT (14:42), the bike is whoopin' up on me right now with a very depressing FTP starting out. I'll give 6 weeks to get back to some form of resemblance to last years level.
First ride getting my heart rate up enough to break a sweat after being cleared to ride "with resistance" at my 6-month post-op appointment. I was instructed to either increase "time but not resistance" or "resistance but not time". Up to now the biking has been 20 minutes with no resistance.
I decided to do a 30' ride with the "workout" being a 14' build of 5' easy spin then 5' @z1 then 2x1'(1')@z4 to get the blood flowing. Then 16' of z3. Per the doctor's orders, if I could feel any discomfort I need to dial back to easier or stop and take a day off.
I did not set power targets since after 2 months not riding (the first month on crutches) I have no idea what my FTP would be. So I just went by RPE.
The ride went off without a hitch. The power numbers were actually a lot better than I expected… I think I was expecting to be doing 50 or so watts below my historical numbers. Instead I was just a bit lower than historical numbers but HR numbers were through the ROOF due to course to a lack of overall physical conditioning. For example, similar indoor rides:
Nov 8: 22' @235 watts, HR 157 avg, 173 max Nov 12: 22' @236 watts, HR 166 avg, 180 max Nov 22: 22' @242 watts, HR 165 avg, 184 max Nov 27: 22' @238 watts, HR 161 avg, 173 max
Interestingly, despite the ridiculously high HR, my legs weren't fatigued at all. I honestly felt like I could keep trucking for a while. The only time I see HR like that on the bike is in a 2x20' FTP test and that feels TOTALLY different.
I decided today's ride doesn't "count", i.e. I will delete it from my Garmin without uploading it, then next week I will start uploading my rides. I will keep them at 30 minutes next week then go to 45' the following week.
Assuming my recovery stays according to plan,. I'm still 10+ weeks out from my first run…………….
Welcome back Matty glad you are able to start something you love and succeed at. As an ole dog keep everything in perspective, assess, reassess, and move forward. Success will be mirrored from your smart decisions, keep us posted !
@ Matt - well, just keep spinning. I reflect back 6 years to coming back to cycling/running after months off due to injury. My FTP plummeted from 232 to about 178, and it took the same amount of time to get it back as I has been laid off. Similar story with running. The riskiest time for any athlete is during the rehab phase, when ambition often exceeds capacity. There's absolutely no one you have to impress, nor any reason to rush things.
Needless to say, though, it must feel great to as you say be back in the saddle!
Hi all, I'm semi-new to this thread but not new to this scene. Long story short for those who don't know: T-boned by a car on June 6, ACL fully ruptured (on the SAME KNEE I had my ACL repaired on 15 years ago and have had NO trouble with since), right shoulder was injured and still weak, lingering neck issues, etc.
Current status: I'm almost 6 months post ACL repair and not happy. The first time I had this knee fixed was in 2000 and I ran a BQ marathon 9 months after the surgery. They used my patellar tendon and rehab was great. Fast forward to this one, and not so much. Initial recovery was going fairly well. Quad strength improved very quickly and I was cleared to start running around the 12 week mark. I also did an 80-mile Gran Fondo with 8k of gain at 13 weeks post-op and it didn't hurt during the race. (It did swell up awful the day after though.) Anyway, I began running and I started out slow, but it didn't feel "right". Figured that was typical. I kept at it, slowly increasing my distance, but my form was not great. Running very "toe-heavy" on the right side. Crazy high cadence. Landing super hard on the left. I was starting to get back pain, left foot pain, and right hip pain, mainly because my knee doesn't want to BEND and act like a spring like it should. It just wants to stay stiff when I run. No matter what I TRY to do....it's not a "just will it to work" kinda thing. Anyways, I was stuck in a viscous cycle of PT --> run --> knee swells a little --> inhibits quad function and knee movement --> back down on PT --> knee swelling goes down --> we hit it hard in PT again --> I start running again --> knee swells --> back to beginning
So, in order to make progress, my PT and doc advised that I stop running. Which makes sense because I'm running with bad form at a slow pace and making everything hurt, so what's the point anyway?
I can still cycle with no issues and of course swimming is fine. I can do the elliptical with no pain (no impact) and I am step-milling (that escalator looking thing) too.
I will say that my knee doesn't feel OK. It hurts going up stairs. It hurts going down stairs. It swells. I'm beyond frustrated and sad that I felt like this competent, capable athlete on June 5, 2015 and now I feel like an 80-year old lady getting out of bed in the morning.
I am registered for IM Texas. Which is in like 14 or 15 weeks. And while my bike power has come back and my swimming is better than ever...I can't run. The longest I've done so far is 10 miles (twice) and my knee wasn't happy the next few days. I am pretty sure I'm dropping out of Texas and targeting something later in the year, but I don't know what to do. Just do it? Walk the marathon? I feel like it would be pointless to do it if I can't even run AT ALL right now and have no real run base.
It's very frustrating. I think I partly wouldn't care about triathlon if my knee just felt ok on a daily basis. I want to be able to sit on the floor with my kids and play without it killing me when it's bent. I don't want to sleep EVERY NIGHT with an ice machine attached to my leg. It's just obnoxious and this whole thing is unnecessary.
Sorry. This got way emotional, but I'm a chic and not just a triathlete. This kinda thing impacts your whole life, as many of you know. I'm almost at the point that I could care less about charts and graphs and data and peak fitness. I just wanna have my knee back the way it used to be. I don't want to go out for an 8 mile run and stop and literally scream because running used to be something I obsessively LOVED. Slow/fast didn't matter, ya know?
OK, all done. Here I am in the comeback kid forum, and really really hoping that a "comeback" is still in the cards. Sure as shit gonna try.
Comments
Tim - this sounds like a very big deal to me. My thoughts on this are not based on any special medical expertise, but rather as someone who has spent 40 years thinking about and about observing how the body works, a couple of decades watching triathletes train and compete, and knowledge about who you are and how driven you can be.
First off, I know you take a lot of care with your nutrition and diet. I also know that you might be at risk for not getting enough calcium for this injury. Normal calcium needs are one thing, but you've been in a situation where your rate of repair fell behind your rate of damage over the past year. So you might want to check out what additional nutrients you might need to aid the healing process you are facing - not just calcium, but others needs as well.
Second, there's no question you have a high tolerance for discomfort, so the fact that you can walk and cycle means jack squat. You trained for a friggin' Ironman (or two) with this problem developing, so the lack of pain with any particular activity, or your ability to do that activity, should not be used as a guide for what to do and not do. All the sources I consulted say the key to healing is to STOP BEARING WEIGHT ON THE AFFECTED LEG for 2-6 weeks. The downside risks don't seem worth fudging this: surgery to repair the bone, or, worse, avascular necrosis leading to the need for a hip replacement.
Third, I have no doubt that you will feel simultaneously frustrated and driven to heal. The personality traits that delivered the results you've had in competition, as well as the Tim Cronk that we all enjoy being around, will bring you through this.
Al took the words right out of my mouth.
@Al - Yes it is pretty serious . But the good news is it could always be worse. Since its stable there is no need for the surgery. However the Doc (sports orthodpeadic so he knows the way we think) was very serious. One heal strike could break it completely and your fucked for the rest of your athletic career kind of talk. He also thought it was serious enough to call me immediately to stress these points over and over again about zero weight bearing. Very little blood flow to this area to aid the healing...
Calcium comments... Yes I thought of this too... I am going to take Calcium supplements for the near term although I don't believe it to be necessary...Remember my shattered Clavicle healed like nobodies business... This one bothers me a bit because I think I should be able to take that kinda hit without breaking LOL....I guess I'm 53 and 125lbs (how the hell did that happen?) Because of my diet , I have been tested for deficiencies before and planned to do so again this spring... Note: only deficiency was IRON and that tested low when I ate meat. I will also speak to the Doc about Bone Density etc... In the mean time I'm pretty sure I get much more calcium than most. On the list below I literally eat these foods in bulk every single say with exception to the sardines,yogurt, cheese.... and of course many of the ones listed just below these are in my normal diet as well...
World's Healthiest Foods rich in
calcium
FoodCalsDRI/DV
Tofu16477%
Sardines18935%
Sesame Seeds20635%
Yogurt14930%
Collard Greens6327%
Spinach4124%
Cheese11420%
Turnip Greens2920%
Mustard Greens3617%
Beet Greens3916%
But you know what sucks even more...surgery. I just went through that and trust me you don't want to be there.
Does getting lax with the crutches mean surgery? Maybe not. But don't take the chance. It's not worth it.
In 2013 I slipped on the ice and was minimal weight-bearing on my ankle for 6 weeks, no workouts for 6 weeks and no running for about 3 months. After that 3 months I started training again and set a half-iron PR 3 months later.
In 2015 I trained through a stress fracture and FAI (a hip impingement). I would not have done so had my doctors told me to stop, but that doesn't mean it was a great idea...and to this day I do wonder if different doctors might have given me a different answer. As you well know, I ended up with a sub-optimal Ironman race, arthroscopic hip surgery, a still-torn adductor that may yet require more surgery, and probably no more PRs ever.
Clearly being "on the shelf" to fully recover is the right choice in the vast majority of cases. Don't even be a cheering squad unless you're sitting in a chair. Do what the doctor says. As people say around here "recover like it's your job".
You'll be back.
Tim and Matt, crutches suck, but think of that upper extremity and core strength you are building. I bet your competition will be asking about this "crutch training" you did as your secret weapon come swim times next season! Hey, think positively.
I am just leaving work now and got here at 6am. So no workouts for me today. This might be a slow time of the year for most, but since I do pediatric stroke research, I am running experiments like crazy while kids are off school. 4 back to back experiments have to count for endurance training- i'm wiped!
To all, might not be the end of 2015 we wanted or the start of 2016, but let's make it a happy new year!
Just got back to this thread, lot's going on here!
@Steve Swanlund your putting in huge mileage in the challenge but Z2 ?? Find the root cause old quad/hip flexor injury??
@Al I see in your blogs your sporting health is improving and shows in your reports, all positives !
@Racheal keep up what you're doing steady as you go !
@Tim, as Al has fully stated and we friends who follow you online. "Yah gotta slow done to a stop on this one". Yep embrace crutches, stop even walking the dog long distance, let Heather do that ! I know you are a "hard wired" endurance athlete and you need focus. Take on a new challenge weight resistance training, non wt bearing activities. Short term relief for long term goal/health.
I did 8.4 miles of XC classic skiing today. It was the first time on skis in almost 2 years. I was definitely fading in the last kilometer. Tomorrow l
I'll strap on the skate skis and work the bike muscles in the morning then classic again in the afternoon for a virtual brick. Happy new year everyone!
@Woody it is Jan 1st you are allowed a stumble or two !
5.1 mi run in 45:50, around my local "block", which has two 10-15% gradient hills of 200+ feet in 1/3 mi. Did this @ High Noon, when I could actually have some sun shining on me @ 32F. Yesterday, VO2 trainer intervals, along with a 3 mile brick + strides. Two more days, I'll switch my loyalty over to Jan OS. I have reluctantly decided to stop all swimming until after Lincoln;s Birthday. Given 4 of those 6 weeks are away skiing, not that big of a deal, except my wife and I go swimming every Sunday, so last week and this, she's in that pool ALONE.
Well now I'm back on the bench. I have been having this weird pain in my right upper thigh (Quadricep- Vastus intermedius )that gets angry if I push the paces too much. For the past few weeks I have been really sore after my saturday long run with some speed in the middle. It leaves me limping until tuesday. Then I feel better and can run again until saturday. This week I ran hard on friday and saturday and I could barely walk. So I decided to take a week off from running and really let it heal. I figured I would continue to swim and get started a couple weeks early on the bike. Monday I rode, but it hurt even worse later that day. So no bike no run for a week. But I will put in some serious pool time. If it isn't better by next monday, I will have to find a PT or sports doc to look at it and get a plan to fix me.
Doc Visit today... He looks at me in the waiting room and says to the receptionist he better have crutches, I hid my head, the assistant takes me to the back room, on the way she says No crutches I thought I told you no weight bearing ?, you did.... The doc comes in laughing and says its OK no crutches ,I knew you wouldnt, we just go a bit overboard on the no weight bearing thing...I said you did your job and got my attention but I read thru the lines and figured crutches were over doing it a little ... Lets talk about your broken hip, showed me the MRI of the Intertrochanteric Stress Fracture, its stable and you will heal, if you do too much too soon you will have to start back at ground zero.... Minimum 6 weeks of no running as long as I have zero pain I can start back up slowly, biking, etc can be done sooner with pain as my guide but really pressed on the making sure it doesnt hurt so you dont have to start over.... Said he was not concerned at all about the bone density since it was in conjunction with trauma but said it cant hurt to get a bone scan with your primary care Doctor... He was very optimistic, said we can schedule you to come back in 6 weeks but we would do nothing except see how you feel... Just be smart and you'll heal up just fine...
Tomorrow my TSB will drop to my lowest level in 3 years.... I am taking this seriously...
@ Tim - I'll be sure to send along videos of me shredding the bumps while skiing over the next 5 weeks - just to give you some vicarious hip smashing?
Not much running or biking over the past week but I did get in three days of XC Skiing in below zero and single digit (F) temps. Classic first and last day and skate skiing in the middle. Good low impact stuff but it did make me sore by the last day. The muscles in my hips and upper legs knew that they had done something different for a couple of days. I've also had some emotional stress to deal with. I had to get my 96 year old mom admitted into hospice last week. A slow growing breast cancer that we found several years ago has metastasized into her bones. When she was originally diagnosed with the cancer the doctors said that something else would kill her before that did. I guess they didn't know my mom. So getting away for a couple of days to ski was relaxing in many ways.
On the bright side I was discharged from PT yesterday. This morning I went for a run and made it a progressive one with the last mile at a little faster than Z4 pace. It was very nice to be hitting that pace again and feeling good and strong while doing it. Over the past couple of years I've seemed to get to a certain level of work and then plateau. So I've been looking over my training data for the past 4 or 5 years and it looks like I ramp up too fast and something happens like an injury or illness that sets me back or keeps me at that level. So this year my plan is to ramp up more slowly and try to break through that ceiling. I'm hoping that the work with the PT and continuing to do the exercises they gave me will lay a good foundation for that.
Yes, sir...he said while hanging his head in shame. Although negative teens is difficult to do, how about negative 20-30's?
@Steve... Argg that sucks... Al sufficiently spanked you but I'll tag on... After following you around here I have determined your tolerance for pain is off the charts (yeah I remember your IM with a broken clavicle specially the swim) , combined with the BQ/KQ desire to succeed, a work ethic to match.... All this equals danger....At least it sounds like nothing more than rest and recovery... Lots of time for both BQ/KQ as long as you stay healthy...
I keep telling myself I have lots of time to get the run back up to where it needs to be before May 1st. On the bright side my swim is off the charts. I've never been this strong in the pool. I guess averaging 16,500 yards/week has to have some benefits.
3600 yds in the water today, arms were tired from lifting yesterday but the shoulder is getting freaking strong.... 15 min spin on the trainer and I do mean spin IF .24 and TSS of 1.4
It has taken me 6 months from my point of diagnosis to now that I'm feeling like I'm ready for the Jan OS. I even managed to run my 5K today at pretty much where it has been at the beginning of the last couple of OS...right at 20:30.
So, I'll probably follow this thread quietly, but the good news is that patience can pay off ...
Ahhh, That's the Tim I know and love. My latest swim CSS test converted to a 1:03 IM swim.
Tim - heal up
Al - keep up the good work, not much snow here, so leave some for me when I come out!
Steve - heal quickly
Checking in on this thread, as I probably need it...
I kept this on the DL, but 6 days after qualifying for Kona at IMWI, I went on my first dirt bike ride since February '15. I dropped my bike on my lower leg in a nothing incident and hurt it. Was able to ride out, ride the next day, and walked around on it through the following week until I decided to visit an urgent care shop in Chattanooga on my way up to the race to support the team. Fracture of the fibula in my right leg. I saw my ortho the next week and was not prescribed surgery or a cast, just instructions to "don't be dumb."
I succeeded
and now I'm starting to run again, actually a run/walk. I was cleared by my doc last week, who confirmed that the bone is healing well and I won't reinjure it, and that the pain I'm feeling is lower leg soft tissue stuff being stressed. I've been able to cycle fine since immediately after the accident, but have just be very inconsistent.
So yesterday was intervals of about 1:30 run, 30-45' walk for 3.3 miles. Iced it afterwards and didn't have any issues the rest of the day. I've been down this road before of patiently getting my run back. A-race is IMLP than AAA+ race of Kona. I have time.
First ride getting my heart rate up enough to break a sweat after being cleared to ride "with resistance" at my 6-month post-op appointment. I was instructed to either increase "time but not resistance" or "resistance but not time". Up to now the biking has been 20 minutes with no resistance.
I decided to do a 30' ride with the "workout" being a 14' build of 5' easy spin then 5' @z1 then 2x1'(1')@z4 to get the blood flowing. Then 16' of z3. Per the doctor's orders, if I could feel any discomfort I need to dial back to easier or stop and take a day off.
I did not set power targets since after 2 months not riding (the first month on crutches) I have no idea what my FTP would be. So I just went by RPE.
The ride went off without a hitch. The power numbers were actually a lot better than I expected… I think I was expecting to be doing 50 or so watts below my historical numbers. Instead I was just a bit lower than historical numbers but HR numbers were through the ROOF due to course to a lack of overall physical conditioning. For example, similar indoor rides:
Aug 12: 29' @224 watts, HR 149 avg, 161 max
Nov 8: 22' @235 watts, HR 157 avg, 173 max
Nov 12: 22' @236 watts, HR 166 avg, 180 max
Nov 22: 22' @242 watts, HR 165 avg, 184 max
Nov 27: 22' @238 watts, HR 161 avg, 173 max
Today: 16' @221 watts, HR 177 avg, 187 max
Interestingly, despite the ridiculously high HR, my legs weren't fatigued at all. I honestly felt like I could keep trucking for a while. The only time I see HR like that on the bike is in a 2x20' FTP test and that feels TOTALLY different.
I decided today's ride doesn't "count", i.e. I will delete it from my Garmin without uploading it, then next week I will start uploading my rides. I will keep them at 30 minutes next week then go to 45' the following week.
Assuming my recovery stays according to plan,. I'm still 10+ weeks out from my first run…………….
Welcome back Matty glad you are able to start something you love and succeed at. As an ole dog keep everything in perspective, assess, reassess, and move forward. Success will be mirrored from your smart decisions, keep us posted !
@ Matt - well, just keep spinning. I reflect back 6 years to coming back to cycling/running after months off due to injury. My FTP plummeted from 232 to about 178, and it took the same amount of time to get it back as I has been laid off. Similar story with running. The riskiest time for any athlete is during the rehab phase, when ambition often exceeds capacity. There's absolutely no one you have to impress, nor any reason to rush things.
Needless to say, though, it must feel great to as you say be back in the saddle!
I'm semi-new to this thread but not new to this scene. Long story short for those who don't know: T-boned by a car on June 6, ACL fully ruptured (on the SAME KNEE I had my ACL repaired on 15 years ago and have had NO trouble with since), right shoulder was injured and still weak, lingering neck issues, etc.
Current status: I'm almost 6 months post ACL repair and not happy. The first time I had this knee fixed was in 2000 and I ran a BQ marathon 9 months after the surgery. They used my patellar tendon and rehab was great.
Fast forward to this one, and not so much.
Initial recovery was going fairly well. Quad strength improved very quickly and I was cleared to start running around the 12 week mark. I also did an 80-mile Gran Fondo with 8k of gain at 13 weeks post-op and it didn't hurt during the race. (It did swell up awful the day after though.) Anyway, I began running and I started out slow, but it didn't feel "right". Figured that was typical. I kept at it, slowly increasing my distance, but my form was not great. Running very "toe-heavy" on the right side. Crazy high cadence. Landing super hard on the left. I was starting to get back pain, left foot pain, and right hip pain, mainly because my knee doesn't want to BEND and act like a spring like it should. It just wants to stay stiff when I run. No matter what I TRY to do....it's not a "just will it to work" kinda thing.
Anyways, I was stuck in a viscous cycle of PT --> run --> knee swells a little --> inhibits quad function and knee movement --> back down on PT --> knee swelling goes down --> we hit it hard in PT again --> I start running again --> knee swells --> back to beginning
So, in order to make progress, my PT and doc advised that I stop running. Which makes sense because I'm running with bad form at a slow pace and making everything hurt, so what's the point anyway?
I can still cycle with no issues and of course swimming is fine. I can do the elliptical with no pain (no impact) and I am step-milling (that escalator looking thing) too.
I will say that my knee doesn't feel OK. It hurts going up stairs. It hurts going down stairs. It swells. I'm beyond frustrated and sad that I felt like this competent, capable athlete on June 5, 2015 and now I feel like an 80-year old lady getting out of bed in the morning.
I am registered for IM Texas. Which is in like 14 or 15 weeks. And while my bike power has come back and my swimming is better than ever...I can't run. The longest I've done so far is 10 miles (twice) and my knee wasn't happy the next few days. I am pretty sure I'm dropping out of Texas and targeting something later in the year, but I don't know what to do. Just do it? Walk the marathon?
I feel like it would be pointless to do it if I can't even run AT ALL right now and have no real run base.
It's very frustrating. I think I partly wouldn't care about triathlon if my knee just felt ok on a daily basis. I want to be able to sit on the floor with my kids and play without it killing me when it's bent. I don't want to sleep EVERY NIGHT with an ice machine attached to my leg. It's just obnoxious and this whole thing is unnecessary.
Sorry. This got way emotional, but I'm a chic and not just a triathlete. This kinda thing impacts your whole life, as many of you know. I'm almost at the point that I could care less about charts and graphs and data and peak fitness. I just wanna have my knee back the way it used to be. I don't want to go out for an 8 mile run and stop and literally scream because running used to be something I obsessively LOVED. Slow/fast didn't matter, ya know?
OK, all done. Here I am in the comeback kid forum, and really really hoping that a "comeback" is still in the cards. Sure as shit gonna try.
Thanks for having me. :-)