Paulo has this new post about residual fitness pn his blog. It gives me hope... Let's hope I have tons of residual fitness!
It seems my leg is getting better and the recovery is faster now. I can see progress every day. I can't walk yet but I begin to be able to put weight on my injured leg. I hope to be able to get back on the trainer next week. Let's see what the Doc says tomorrow.
In the meantime I swim. 2000 yards on Monday, 3000 on Tuesday and 3500 yesterday. Still no kicking though.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Doing nothing
I went to the swimming pool yesterday and Wednesday. The most difficult part is to make it to the pool without falling: walking with crutches on wet floors is not recommended… I use a pull buoy and bands to keep my legs from moving but despite that my right leg bothers me slightly. I hence keep the sessions very short (1000m). Honestly the benefit is more mental than anything else; I need to do something to keep my sanity! We, triathletes, are used to fix or improve things by working. Work works. You’re slow on the bike, train harder. Bad swim technique, swim more and do drills… It is very difficult when something is wrong and the only thing you can do is… doing nothing.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Chocolate
It has been a week already since the race and my injury. But it seems like an eternity to me… Life is pretty boring when you can’t do anything besides sitting on your butt… Yes I am getting better at moving around with my crutches but my range of action is pretty limited. I am trying to treat my depression with chocolate and I think I went through our six month reserve of French chocolate in a week! I don’t see real progress as far as my fracture is concerned (I cannot put weight on my leg yet and it is very painful) but I guess it is time to be positive again (plus I don’t have chocolate anymore).
After discussing with Paulo I decided I’ll try to race anyway. I played with the idea of asking North America Sport (the company organizing the Ironman races in North America) to swap my Coeur d’Alene spot for a Lake Placid one. Ironman Lake Placid takes place on July 20th and it would have given me an additional month to prepare and be in a decent shape. But the timing conflicts with our family vacation plans so I’ll race Coeur d’Alene and must try to be there in the best shape possible. Obviously I am not in the Hawaii qualification "race" anymore and it is tough to re-motivate myself but I’ll try to have fun and enjoy the day.
I’ll try to get back in the pool before the end of the week, without kicking obviously (first time in my life I am going to miss kicking!). And, I’ll take it from there… Step by step.
When I am done with my crutches I can make a stool with them and an old wheel. How beautiful!
After discussing with Paulo I decided I’ll try to race anyway. I played with the idea of asking North America Sport (the company organizing the Ironman races in North America) to swap my Coeur d’Alene spot for a Lake Placid one. Ironman Lake Placid takes place on July 20th and it would have given me an additional month to prepare and be in a decent shape. But the timing conflicts with our family vacation plans so I’ll race Coeur d’Alene and must try to be there in the best shape possible. Obviously I am not in the Hawaii qualification "race" anymore and it is tough to re-motivate myself but I’ll try to have fun and enjoy the day.
I’ll try to get back in the pool before the end of the week, without kicking obviously (first time in my life I am going to miss kicking!). And, I’ll take it from there… Step by step.
When I am done with my crutches I can make a stool with them and an old wheel. How beautiful!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Game over...
The MRI confirmed the obvious, I have a proximal tibial stress fracture. The bottom line is that it has to heal like a regular fracture and it usually takes a minimum of 6 weeks:
- 2 weeks no weight on leg. Using crutches.
- 2 weeks partial weight bearing. Gradually increase weight on leg very slowly and let pain dictate whether to cut back or continue. Might start swimming progressively without kicking.
- 2 weeks progressing to full weight bearing. Might start very easy bike trainer session.
After 6 weeks very easy running if no pain, but more likely water running only for a while...
So, 6 weeks means essentially no training until mid-may, ie. a month before Ironman Coeur d'Alene. Of course it also means a huge loss of fitness. There is no way I can be ready for the race. The IM season is over for me. It is clearly a bummer, I invested a lot this year in training and my fitness was very good. It is tough to get over it right now...
Partial race report:
Oceanside started pretty well. I was in the transition area at 5.40am, saw Paulo, Kevin, Danny and Brian. Everything went fine and I was in the water at 6.57am with the 40-45 wave. The water was much warmer than anticipated and it was a relief. The swim went pretty well, few kicks in the head at the beginning but then I was able to find my rythm and felt good despite some pretty good waves in the mid section of the swim course. I was comfortable the whole time and was a little disapointed by my time (34 minutes) only one minute faster than last year. The bike was great and very controlled thanks to the SRM. It was the first time I raced with a power meter and it was a great tool for me as I usually tend to push to much on the bike. My plan was to stay around 245 Watts with some short periods at treshold (285 Watts) during climbs. The wind was much stronger than last year and everybody was slower. I finished the bike in 2h37 and felt very fresh. I compared my heart rate monitor files and my average HR was 10bps slower than last year. The run started pretty well with few miles at 6'40 pace. Then the pain started to flare up and it was difficult to push with my right leg. I was at the mile 7 marker in 47'30" but had to stop at mile 8. I could barely walk at that point.
Well you know the rest.
- 2 weeks no weight on leg. Using crutches.
- 2 weeks partial weight bearing. Gradually increase weight on leg very slowly and let pain dictate whether to cut back or continue. Might start swimming progressively without kicking.
- 2 weeks progressing to full weight bearing. Might start very easy bike trainer session.
After 6 weeks very easy running if no pain, but more likely water running only for a while...
So, 6 weeks means essentially no training until mid-may, ie. a month before Ironman Coeur d'Alene. Of course it also means a huge loss of fitness. There is no way I can be ready for the race. The IM season is over for me. It is clearly a bummer, I invested a lot this year in training and my fitness was very good. It is tough to get over it right now...
Partial race report:
Oceanside started pretty well. I was in the transition area at 5.40am, saw Paulo, Kevin, Danny and Brian. Everything went fine and I was in the water at 6.57am with the 40-45 wave. The water was much warmer than anticipated and it was a relief. The swim went pretty well, few kicks in the head at the beginning but then I was able to find my rythm and felt good despite some pretty good waves in the mid section of the swim course. I was comfortable the whole time and was a little disapointed by my time (34 minutes) only one minute faster than last year. The bike was great and very controlled thanks to the SRM. It was the first time I raced with a power meter and it was a great tool for me as I usually tend to push to much on the bike. My plan was to stay around 245 Watts with some short periods at treshold (285 Watts) during climbs. The wind was much stronger than last year and everybody was slower. I finished the bike in 2h37 and felt very fresh. I compared my heart rate monitor files and my average HR was 10bps slower than last year. The run started pretty well with few miles at 6'40 pace. Then the pain started to flare up and it was difficult to push with my right leg. I was at the mile 7 marker in 47'30" but had to stop at mile 8. I could barely walk at that point.
Well you know the rest.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
DNF
Not the race I was hoping for. My first DNF (did not finish) ever and a pair of crutches to finish the weekend… I’ll post a longer report but suffice to say that after 8 miles of running the pain was just too strong and I just had to stop. The problem was that I could barely walk then and it took me more than hour to get back to the transition area only two miles away.
I can’t put any weight at all on my leg. The pain is very sharp, knee ligaments seem involved now. It does not look good at all. I had too get a pair of crutches to be able to move, and to go, as promised, to Legoland with the kids…
I can’t put any weight at all on my leg. The pain is very sharp, knee ligaments seem involved now. It does not look good at all. I had too get a pair of crutches to be able to move, and to go, as promised, to Legoland with the kids…
Friday, March 28, 2008
Brain freeze
Brian and I went for an ocean swim this morning at 7.30. The sun was out but the water was very cold. We both had "brain freeze", you know this pain you get when you eat icecream too fast... Well same thing but without the pleasure of having icecream. After 5 minutes everything was okay though.
For those willing to follow the race on line tomorrow there will some live coverage at www.ironmanlive.com
My bib number is 393.
For those willing to follow the race on line tomorrow there will some live coverage at www.ironmanlive.com
My bib number is 393.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Old but ready to race...
The bike not me! I did a test run today and did not feel any pain. I did not want to push my luck and stopped after 5 minutes. Tomorrow I'll do an ocean swim early in the morning followed by a 30 minute ride and then we will all drive down to Oceanside.
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