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Injury 5 weeks before first Ironman?
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 2014-05-19 11:23 AM |
Expert  745    Bethesda, MD/Northern NJ |  Subject: Injury 5 weeks before first Ironman?Hello all - Need a little insight as to how I should approach the next few weeks of training. I am registered to do my first iron-distance race at Challenge Atlantic City (June 29). Really excited. Training has been going well - approximately 10-13 hours a week. I am doing this just to finish. HIM PR is 6:11, marathon PR is 3:52. Fourth year in triathlon, but I have been a runner for a long time. I'm a confident swimmer and runner - the bike is my limiter. I am honestly a slow biker. On Saturday I was out participating in Bike MS here in NJ - I planned to do 100 miles. Around mile 20 I took a good dive - laid down my bike after riding through a pothole. Road rash on my leg and hand. EMS patched me up and I finished the ride, with pain, but not too bad. Endurance felt great. Knee felt wonky. Sunday I was supposed to run in a local half marathon, but when I got up - my right knee was so swollen that I couldn't move it. Ditched the race, elevated and iced the rest of the day. Road rash is still awful, but healing. Today, knee is even more swollen. 2-3x regular size. Super painful, cannot bend/extend. I went in to get x-rays, and luckily no fractures. Doctor also doesn't think I did too much damage to tendons/ligaments. I agree - I think I just whacked it really hard when I landed on the ground. Nothing to do but wait until swelling goes down. He thinks I'll be out of commission for 7-10 days, but said activity is really up to me and I should be guided by pain levels. Question - what the heck do I do for training until my knee feels better?! This is my first ironman, so I'm already a bit worried about the unknown and being undertrained. Now, here I am during peak training weeks, unable to bend my knee. All signs point to it being healed by race time, but that doesn't do me much good if I'm not ready to race? I don't think I'll even be allowed near the pool in my current, road-rashy state, and I can't get on the trainer/treadmill til I can bend my knee. Should I just keep up with my strength exercises and hope that I can salvage a few big weeks once swelling goes down? I don't want to ditch the race, but I also don't want to have an awful day. What would BT do?! |
| 2014-05-19 3:38 PM in reply to: ThatGirl |
Master 2855 Kailua, Hawaii | Subject: RE: Injury 5 weeks before first Ironman? Really sorry that happened to you. BUT I would take the time to heal up. Pushing that knee will just aggravate it. If you can see a sports injury Doc, perhaps there are things that you could do earlier than normal. For example, if you can use 3M Tegaderm patches for the rash, and get in the pool to swim, at least you can work on that. Next, would be therapy to get the knee going on the bike trainer. Hopefully with a lot of rest, the healing will be good enough to get back to some level after the 7-10 days. You'll still have a few weeks to finish up the training before tapering. Keep a positive attitude but bear in mind if you can't pull it together in a week or so, you'll have to evaluate what to do for the race on June 29. Perhaps a different race strategy, like walk instead of run... |
| 2014-05-25 9:54 PM in reply to: metafizx |
Elite 5316 Alturas, California | Subject: RE: Injury 5 weeks before first Ironman? So.... you might not be able to race the IM. However, if you heal quickly, you can start walking as the knee feels better, so start off with like a half mile, see how that goes once you can get across the room without pain and such. Gradually build your walking up if you can do it pain free, this may be 1 or 2 weeks from now. I would walk up to 4 miles 5x a week and 8 miles once if all of that is pain free. Swim will depend on when that road rash starts looking just slightly scabby instead of oozing mess. You also won't be able to bike until you can bend your knee. I would start back on the trainer so you can get off it if you feel any pain. You won't gain any fitness between now and your race. You might be able to recover in time to "just finish it" or you might not. Use good judgment and call the race organizer to find out what your options are for possibly a transfer to an IM 2-3 months down the road. Try to keep in mind that it is just a race and your health is more important. I have had to cancel an IM due to a bike crash when I was about 7 weeks out. Above all do not overdo it. |
| 2015-09-06 9:55 PM in reply to: ThatGirl |
| 2 | Subject: RE: Injury 5 weeks before first Ironman? What did you end up doing? The same exact thing actually happened to me, however I was actually hit by a car at mile 20 of my 100 mile journey. I have an IM coming up in Cabo San Lucas October 25 and panicking that I will not be healed in time.  |
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