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plateaud frustrations!
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 2005-01-22 8:00 PM |
Veteran  319  Illinois |  Subject: plateaud frustrations!So, who knows how interesting this one is... but i just want to vent at how frustrated i am with my now 'chronic' injury/recovery. So, frustrated, I want to quite from training/tri'ing. Anybody else out there suffering with a long recovery from injury. I'm at 2.5 years post-injury, still learning to live with this. Everytime I think I am on my way to 'normal' training again- i feel repercussions of having gone too far too soon. Example, I did an indoor triathlon [fancy work out really]. I didn't feel anything too harshly afterwards. THEN i had to try weights to my workouts... and it went downhill from there. aaak, I am near ready just to retire from it all and not have to deal with the pin/needles and delicacy of training at 'just the right pace'. anyways, thanks for listening... i am going to go fester, I'm sure this is all self-pity that i have to get myself out of or even combination winter blahs. Thanks for listening to who-ever does read this. Milly |
| 2005-01-22 8:12 PM in reply to: #107164 |
Resident Matriarch N 43° 32.927 W 071° 24.431 | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! I hear ya girlfriend. This effin ankle is my cross to bear. One step forward two steps back. I just posted in your blog. I am tired of this and ready to wave the white flag. I just don't know if I am gonna pick up and try again........ Thinking of putting the C'dale in ebay in the spring. I can just ride my road bike for pleasure, don't need a 2k tri bike. It's been about 3.5 years since the last time I broke the ankle and I was only able to get back to tri last year.....depressing. Time to refill the Prozac..... Edited by TriMom217 2005-01-22 8:15 PM (surrender.jpg) Attachments ---------------- surrender.jpg (2KB - 15 downloads) |
| 2005-01-22 8:24 PM in reply to: #107174 |
Veteran 319 Illinois | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! I am so with you. Maybe we should start a "white flag" forum. For all those forcefully retired triathletes. I just responded to the 'inspire me' post... thank you. Three years for an ankle, that sucks. And I'm sure you've gone through all sorts of therapy for it. I should try the prozak way next. what is the answer? My road bike... is sitting there next to my MTB, all cobbwebbed, flat tires... so sad looking. The store where i bought my road bike from has since just recently closed. there go the "life time free tune ups". Is that a sign for me? who knows- all i know is that i feel like a beaten dog at this moment. maybe we should have an 'ebay garage sale' of sorts. HEY, maybe they have a "fairy god mother wand" on sale at ebay.  |
| 2005-01-22 8:26 PM in reply to: #107178 |
Resident Matriarch N 43° 32.927 W 071° 24.431 | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! my doctor has a magic wand, I'm sure it's broken tho. Yes, all my bikes, running shoes, everything is covered in cobwebs. I'm thinking we should take this to PMs before we depress everyone else around here! |
| 2005-01-22 8:31 PM in reply to: #107181 |
Veteran 319 Illinois | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! lol, in a sick downer sort of way... that was pretty funny. thanks for the chuckle. but, maybe also by posting this I am holding on to my small twicker of hope that somebody has a solution we haven't tried... PM me anytime.... I willingly share my empathy [or at this point depression/frustration/anger/etc]. |
| 2005-01-22 9:37 PM in reply to: #107164 |
Master 2233  Mechanicsburg, PA | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! Vent away. I've had a stinker of an off-season too. Every time I seem to start making progress, I get hurt. Tearing ligaments in my ankle in a 5k, practically throwing myself off a "cliff" on my mountain bike and the latest flank/abdominal muscle tear is the worst - I don't even know how I did it... But I haven't quit yet and short of a doctor telling me to "Stop or die," I'll keep healing and plugging away. I comiserate with you so much. With the exception of hurting myself a few times, I really do enjoy the training/racing. Spring will be here soon, so take extra special care of yourself (physically and mentally) and get into it when you are ready. -Frank |
| 2005-01-23 12:07 PM in reply to: #107174 |
| Online or Offline | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! TriMom217 - 2005-01-22 8:12 PM I am tired of this and ready to wave the white flag. I just don't know if I am gonna pick up and try again........ Thinking of putting the C'dale in ebay in the spring. Noooooooooooooooo!!!!! |
| 2005-01-23 2:59 PM in reply to: #107178 |
Expert 936 Westchester County NY | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! Don't give up hope on your progress! In 1998 I messed up my rotator cuff swimming. I did PT, and did not improve. Eventually I had surgery, and ended out gaining weight. Spring 1999 I'm getting back on the bike, and slowly plotting my comeback, and boom! I crashed and fractured my clavicle on my other shoulder. It never healed, and I ended out with another surgery. A lot of other things happened over the next two years including house renovation which entailed 3 months living in a hotel, and my mom getting cancer and dying. Those sort of things caused me to eat my way up to 167 pounds. I lost 44 pounds in 2001, and started my triathlon comeback in 2002. I did two races in 2002, and then in 2003 relaunched my triathlon "career" for real. It would have been very easy to turn my back on a sport that I had done since 1983. I wasn't sure how I would do after 3 years away from triathlon, running and bike races. I did fine. I'm a much stronger swimmer and cyclist. My running still sucks. :-) 2003 and 2004 were my best seasons ever. I'm glad I was able to overcome the injuries and personal issues to return to the sport. My best friend was instrumental in giving me a kick in the azz to get going again. I was afraid of what would happen in that first race back in 2002. Would I reinjure my shoulder? Would I have to walk during the run? Nope, and nope. I shocked myself by placing 3rd in my age group, despite being on the older end of the 45-49 range. Don't you dare think about selling that bike! Do what you can do, and one day you'll be back. NO WHITE FLAGS ALLOWED!!!!! |
| 2005-01-23 4:25 PM in reply to: #107164 |
Elite 3498 Chicago | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! Hey Milly, try to figure out/isolate what makes your back hurt...then don't do it. If you can bike and swim but not run, then I would focus on that. I guess what I'm saying is, if you can't do a triathlon because of an injury and no doctor or chiro can guide you through it so that you can compete/train with no pain, then KEEP THE BIKE and hit the pool... (sry to hear about your chronic injury rearing it's ugly head again...that sucks) |
| 2005-01-24 12:47 AM in reply to: #107164 |
Veteran 319 Illinois | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! Wow! Thanks for the slap on the face everyone. I think every so often, when i feel the pains of my injury creeping up I have a self-pity party. I guess, as I was telling Ellen, I just need to be more patient. No matter what, despite the two steps forward and the one step back... it's still in a general forward direction. And Steve, you're right... I should continue to focus in on what i can do. It was just hard realizing one more thing I shouldn't be doing [simple things like trying to strengthen up my arms with 3 lb weights]. Really, thanks to all for not allowing us to quite completely- it really can be worst, but venting is good. Now I just need to figure out why my cell phone keeps dialing into my voice mail box by itself- it's freaking me out. Anybody have that happen to them? |
| 2005-01-24 11:43 AM in reply to: #107567 |
Elite 3498 Chicago | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! gr8brindle - 2005-01-23 11:47 PM And Steve, you're right... I should continue to focus in on what i can do. It was just hard realizing one more thing I shouldn't be doing [simple things like trying to strengthen up my arms with 3 lb weights]. Wanting something we can't/don't have is only natural. It's what makes the world go round! On the note of self-pity, perhaps you should memorize this short poem for motivation, which Mr. David Herbert Lawrence wrote and one that has enjoyed resurfaced popularity from a hollywood movie: --------- SELF PITY I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself. Edited by Steve- 2005-01-24 11:44 AM |
| 2005-01-24 1:30 PM in reply to: #107567 |
Elite 4344 | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! gr8brindle - 2005-01-24 12:47 AM ... venting is good.QUOTE] Hey Milly, Yup, venting is good. The important thing is not how far or how fast you go today, it is how far you go over the next 30 or 40 years. Hang in there, you are on your way back. Maybe take a day off between every cardio workout. Gentle yoga on the between days just to open the lungs and the mind. Is a recumbent bike better for your neck and back than a regular bike? When you start back with the weights, try doing the motion without weights for four or five days just to wake the muscles and nerves up, then when you pick up a real weight, make it a 1 lb sack of dried beans, do 4 reps and then quit no matter how good it feels. The message is be sure you are under the threshhold for triggering any irritation of the nerves. Go so slow that it takes a calendar to time you . Always and forever stay within the range of activity that doesn't cause pain. Looking to see you back. TW PS I think "Plateaud" or maybe "Platoad" would make a great user name for an over-the-hill guy like me. Edited by tech_geezer 2005-01-24 1:32 PM |
| 2005-01-24 1:43 PM in reply to: #107164 |
| Regular 98 New York, NY | Subject: RE: plateaud frustrations! Great advice from everyone here. I have two other suggestions, since I have gone through this same experience many times over the last 15 years (injury, slow recovery, re-injury, quitting, coming back etc). 1. I have found it very helpful to follow a training program. This helps me not over-do it, as is my tendency. If my plan tells me to run 20 minutes, that's it, that's all I do. I could run more (and in my previous philosophy probably would have), but instead I stop, stretch, and do 10-15 min of abs. Its kept me very moderated, and I am not having the kinds of soreness and injuries I suffered from before. 2. For chronic pain and injuries, try acupuncture. It seriously saved my athletic life. I had chronic leg pain from shin splints and surgery when I was 18. I never exercised, other than occasional rollerblading. I used to sit at my desk at work and my leg would ache all day. I started acupuncture (along with a 3x week swimming regime) and within 6 months I was playing soccer for the first time since I was 16. I really can't reccomend it enough, particularly for recovery from surgery and for chronic pain coming from muscle/tendon tightness. It helps your body heal itself, which western medicine really doesn't. And this isn't really advice so much as philosophy--take a long term approach. Your body can do an amazing amount of healing if you just give it long enough. Its hard to be patient for years at a time, but if you can find some form of exercise that keeps you active but doesn't cause harm, and then just wait, you'll get back there. I promise. :-) --Jennifer |
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