Danielle Santucci Micro

Danielle Santucci

Hi Coach P,

I'm in week 16 of the Adv IM Plan leading up to racing IM#2 for me in Louisville.  Raced LP in July and so far the transition back into the IM volume has been going well with the exception of my running.  I just can not get my body to move like it did leading up to Placid.  Every run with the exception of a few here and there have been a struggle.  This past Tues, as a conclusion to my modified "camp week," I struggled (barely moving) through the 2hr run and the result the following day was a body that felt like I had run an open marathon.  Today I bailed on a short 30-45' run half a mile in...I was just hurting.  On a positive note, I feel like my swim and bike are solid.  I'm worried that Oct 9th could end up being a very long day for me if I do not do something about this running.  Help

Thanks, 

Danielle   

Coach Patrick

DS -

Thank you so much for checking in. This is one of the reasons why doing the "double" can be so hard. It's very difficult to predict how your body is going to respond to the training load. If you have any links to Garmin connect or Strava where I can view your historical data, that would be great. In the meantime, shooting from the hip, I think it's a great idea to just shut down the run. There's nothing to gain here, and you have done more than enough long runs to be ready for what race they will demand of you.

so rather than doing a week where you have a long run, I would rather you take that total weekly run volume and spread it out.

Mon - As planned, including 45' run @ TRP
Tue - Swim + 60' run @ TRP
Wed - Bike Session
Thu - Long Run Day (split as 2 x 60 AM / PM if you can, if not then do one here, one Friday)
Fri - Swim + Run 45 to 60' (if you are doing second half of Thursday run then it's 60').
Sat - Bike, no run here.
Sun - Bike, short run off it.

This approach will get you lots of running without the cost of stacking it all. Let me know what you think!

~ Patrick

Danielle Santucci

Thanks for the reply Coach P! I've had a bit of a struggle with running since this initial post. I may have a pulled muscle and running on it just seems to aggravate it. Sooooo, I've pretty much shut down the run for another week. Last week I ran 5 miles total, this week only 4. I'm not sure what this means for IMLou, but I'm hoping that I can heal it within the next 2 weeks and just run the marathon on my current fitness. My swim and bike are strong right now, so I'm confident there. It's just this darn run

Coach Patrick

DS -

Bummer!!! What muscle, pray tell? Rest is best...remember you aren't showing up on Zero Fitness, so the top priority is showing up as healthy as possible.

Let me know!

~ Coach P

Danielle Santucci

Hip/groin area. Good news is that the X-ray I had yesterday came back clean...no hip stress fracture! Was able to "run" on the elliptical yesterday for 105' with no pain just a bit of tightness. I'm thinking of just doing my runs from now until the race on the elliptical as I feel it's as close as I can get to running with no pain. Then just pray my legs will know how to really run on race day. Good idea?

Coach Patrick

Fantastic idea. if it's truly just uptight, is it anything you could do between now and then to help mobilize it? Whether it's a ART massage or yoga?

Danielle Santucci

All of the above and then some (acupuncture and dry needling). I'm exhausting all options and praying for a miracle

Coach Patrick

As final damage control, you'll want to make sure you have some Tylenol to manage pain on race day. I definitely advise against taking any hard-core painkillers before the day. Other folks have done in the past but results have been varied. I think your experience and mental toughness will be incredible assets on the day. Fingers crossed for you as well!

Danielle Santucci

Thanks Coach, I will prepare to have Tylenol on me in case the need arises. Appreciate your guidance and well wishes!

Coach Patrick

How are you feeling this week?

Danielle Santucci

MRI results with some bad news. Femur stress fracture, no running until November. Will just swim and bike the Lou course and cheer everyone on running. I'm disappointed, but not as much as I would have been had I not raced Lake Placid in July.

Coach Patrick

That's bad news, but it can also be good news – given the size of your fever it's a very easy bone to heal… that's assuming that you are going to rest it. hard to do at first, but all you need is about four good weeks to get the callous forming, which will eventually turn to bone.

Of course the downside is that if you fractured your femur, the largest bone in her body, there might be other issues at play. Have you ever had a bone density scan? Just want to be sure were not missing something obvious that could potentially rear its head again in the future.

Danielle Santucci

Thanks Coach P for the follow up. The healing is going well, exactly 18 days of no running to date and aside from Lou minimal biking as well. I have started a strength program that I'm hoping helps heal and strengthen the bones while keeping my metabolism up during this no running phase...I would hate my pic to turn up on the insult diet page ;-)

Yes, I'm considering a bone density test. Any type of test that would give me more insight into what's going on internally I'm open to. Will keep you posted on the results!

Coach Patrick

If you have anything you can share regarding your strength program that we could give to the rest of the team, I would appreciate it. I have had several women ask me for strength program guidance, and I have to admit it is not my specialty.

I am glad that you're getting the test done, given the level of performance if you expect from your body we can't afford to leave any stone unturned. Please keep me posted!