Coming back after major injury/illness
Happy New Years to all my EN friends!!!
I have been a member for almost a year. I am very spuratic at posting. I have been struggling (in my mind) about taking a break from EN for a few months and communicating with Patrick (who made it gracefully easy to do by the way) but before putting my membership on hold I posted a sort of goodbye to my Women's Training group and then got a kick in the behind from Penny to "give back". I am going to work on that in the women's forum. In a nutshell, my question for this topic has to have an answer somewhere because EN is so organized....... So if it is please just post a "where to go" place.
Nutshell, I have been unable to do absolutely ZERO exercise due to injury and major illness for 8 weeks with two weeks of rest ordered by GI doc still ahead of me. Question is, should I just find an OS and in two weeks do whatever the training guides? in other words a pre-determined step by step guide to easing back into TRI training (max distance 70.3)? My immediate goal is I am committed to a mid March tough Bike Camp in Tucson that requires fitness level to be 70 miles per day in elevation for 4-5 days (it actually is worded something like "C group ability to ride 16-18 MPH for a minimum of 3 hours" but includes lots of rolling hills and some tough climbs. I went last year and it kicked my butt but I did it and learned a lot both in fitness and in confidence. Big difference is I had trained pretty hard prior to going in order to not embarress myself too much. This year they only accepted 20 individuals and require an intermediate to advanced level to attend (as described above). When I signed/paid/bought plane ticket (for myself and my 35 year old son) I was in great shape. Now I share this hoping no one sees this as "being a trader" to EN
, because last year I bragged on and on about EN.... it is just a perfect supplement and only a 330 mile drive or 40 minute flight and a wonderful opportunity to spend 5 days with my "boy"!
Those of you who may be familiar with me know that I am 57, have had two left knee replacements and lots of other knee surgeries but am able to do quite well in my age group (e.g. by default I got a slot for World Championship 70.3 in Sept. 2011) meaning the gal in first place lives in China and declined the opportunity, but the room was packed with many age groupers hoping for the same opportunity (so I feel I earned it). I was second and grabbed it (are you kidding??). I am not all that concerned about Sept. but super worried about mid-march goal.
PS I try like crazy to shorten my question and promise to try not to be so long-tongued in the future! Kind of an achilles heel I work on
Comments
Linda - I'm going to take a shot with some observations here based on my own recent and on-going experience after major trauma Sept 18th.
First, it seems your question is, "Is it possible for me to get back to the biking capability I had for the Tuscon camp, with only 8-10 weeks to get ready?". Now, for you, motivation is NOT an issue; the question is, starting from basically zero, or baseline, fitness, can you reasonably expect to handle a 4-5 day bike camp with 50-70 mile days?
After two weeks in the hospital, I had lost 15+ pounds (10% of my weight), and probably all of my fitness. My resting HR, normally about 40, was above 60. Etc. It took me a month of daily walking to just be able to go 3-4 miles in an hour. Then Nov 1, I started weight lifting 3 x a week, and it has taken me two months more to finally get my weight back to its pre-hospital level, and to get my lower body strength back to 100%. My initial attempts at biking and running, during the month of December, netted me fitness levels at about 85-90% of what they were starting last year's OS, when I had taken about 5 weeks off of training.
In other words, it took me three months of rebuilding and rejuvenation just to get to the point where I thought I could reaosnably attempt the start of an EN OS plan, even dropping from advanced to intermediate (who knows, I may slide to Beginner if I have to).
Now here's the thing: the OS is HARDER than what you'd need to do to just bring your biking up to camp-ready levels. You're not racing; you're not swimming or race-walking. You're just concerned with getting saddle time in, and building up your endurance. If you focused just on those two things, say biking 4-6 days a week with only one day a week of OS-type interval training, you probably could prep yourself during an 8-10 week period, assuming you have medical clearence to go for it.
I used to be quite rigid in my athletic goals, and got a lot of rewards as a result. But during my recovery (rehabilitation, rejuvenation, resurrection, reincarnation, whatever), I've learned to be a lot more flexible, meaning, I can't train at any higher level than the healing process allows me. If that means I slide on my goals, well, getting healthy is goal # 1 before any racing aspirations. It sounds to me like the camp and time with your son is a key first step on the healing path for you, and maybe letting the OS slide to make sure you can have a successful bike week is the way to go.
Al, first of all thank you for taking your time to give me such a thorough answer. I noticed there were 30 "visits" and started to worry that my question was confusing or something else. It is always vulnerable to post private issues
. I read your response to my husband and he made me read your one sentence over and over and unfortunately it isn't on my screen but the part about your body can only do what your healing allows you. I do like your entire approach. Having never really done an OS (last year I signed up for EN and went straight to the 20 week prep for 70.3. So understanding your answer about the strenuousness of OS was important. I am going to do exactly what you suggest. I see my GI doc tomorrow and will get his "go ahead" date and focus on the bike starting slow with less intensity until I gain my strength. I am also hiring my old trainer back to do your suggested core work. I am very fortunate to have a very good indoor bike trainer (300 PRO Cyclopse with a power meter) in my lonely unused pain cave.
It is interesting you mentioned the weight loss as I am down to about 99 pounds. Although my old weight was about 104 for my size it is a significant loss, I had no fat to loose so it could only be muscle loss. In the hospital I actually gained water weight from so many continuous IV's but that was not real weight gain.
Thank you for sharing your personal story and I am going to look for your postings in September to see what the heck you experienced for such a dramatic weight loss. You are one of the special members who make EN what it is and I am so very grateful for your time and feedback. Will keep you posted what doc says tomorrow and maybe become more interactive posting in general. Happy New Year!!
I think you are going to have a great time in March...and a good story to tell in addition! First, print out Al's post and tape it to your bathroom mirror.
Second, if things don't pan out perfectly, then maybe you can be a volunteer on days 3 and 6 of the camp, and ride the rest - there are always options. Your health must be the primary concern, and digging yourself into a hole to meet some arbitrary goal might cut short your larger, real goals.
Third, be really smart about your training and recoveries. I pre-mix a recovery drink when I'm mixing up my workout drink. That way, it's REALLY easy to be sipping on a recovery drink as I'm stretching out after the workout. You don't have tons of time between now and the camp, so you'll want to be making the most of every workout. And tomorrow's workout begins with today's recovery regime.
Lastly, I would suggest planning a little recovery into your larger plan - maybe about 4 weeks in cut your volume by 20% for a few days to let everything "soak in" a bit. The goal here is having a kick-butt final month leading up to the camp.
Oh, and lastly, lastly - remember to post up pictures of you and your son knocking them dead at the camp!!!
Mike
Some great thoughts by Al and Mike - yes - put them on your mirror. Only thing I'd add is don't be afraid to let the others in the camp know that you are coming back from an illness/injury and really wanted to keep doing this with your son. Let them know that you'll try to take a few pulls on the front, but may really need their help a bit to get thru the miles. I know I'd understand and would be happy to take pulls on the front for you. You'll also find their encouragement will give you a boost.. Then to top it off, buy everybody a round at night for thanks. Lastly - no shame hitching the SAG wagon once in a while.....These kind of times with your son are special and use that as a big motivator to get in shape - you'll be fine.
Thanks J.T., will take all into consideration, thanks for giving your feedback too! Will keep you all posted! It has been pouring rain here for days. Today I will get some info from my doc though