Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 12)

Quality trumps quantity...hit your key workouts and you will be good to go

6 weeks ladies & gentlemen! 

3-4 weeks of heavy training and 2-3 weeks of taper.  (plus that whole "travel to the race site" )

I'm definitely wearing a sleeved wetsuit.  While you can get by in a sleeveless you will not overheat in a full.  When I'm wearing my full its easier for people to swim over me and not scar me up so bad.

6 weeks!?  I'm beginning to wish it was next week, so I could stop devoting all my free time to training.  This is like a full time job.

Unlike others (see above) I'm glad that the race is still 6 weeks away.  I need another 4 weeks of good workouts and then a 2 week taper. 

After todays swim I'm starting to think I can make the cutoff, also finally broke the 100 mile barrier on the bike this weekend.

I too need 4 more weeks of training!  But, I will also be glad when I can finally cut my lawn. 

BTW - I plan on drafting off you on the swim. 

Race day will be here before you know it...

I am enjoying the "icing on the cake" long bikes/runs as we get closer...

My daughter has her entire summer workout planned too... I consider myself a great role model!! LOL

I was going to reply to this by making a list of the top 10 worst game plans in sports history.   However, after much searching I have been unable to find any that would be worthy of being on the same list as your swim plan.   

Pureed asparagus - yumm

The general offerings are as follows:

Bike Aid Station
Gatorade Endurance
Water
PowerBar Gel
PowerBar
Bananas

Run Aid Stations
Gatorade Endurance
Water
Cola
PowerBar Gel
Pretzels
Chicken Soup Broth (Fulls only, after dark)
Oranges
Bananas
PowerBar

Short Version: New bike picture, skip to the bottom if you don’t want to read the details.

Long Version:  I have not said much about my crash because I did not want to get depressed about maybe not being able to race this year.  But, some people have been asking about my new bike so I thought I would layout the full details of what happened.

April 5, 2009 I was finishing up a 4.5 hour ride.  I had about 3 miles more to go before I got home and was riding down a paved bike path.  A lady and two kids were riding towards me so I got off the aero bars and slowed down.  I do not trust kids and dogs so whenever I pass them on a trail I always drop my speed in case they do something dumb.  She saw me and waved her kids onto their side of the path.  Everything was set up for an uneventful pass.  When we were about 20 feet apart a mountain biker came riding out of the bushes on the side of the trail a ran into my front wheel.  He was not on a path, he was not on a trail, he was blazing his own trail.  I saw him just as he entered the trail and locked up both breaks.  He had his head turned and was looking at the lady, he never even saw me.  When he hit me I flipped over the bars and went airborne.  I landed on my head and left shoulder.  The mountain bike when down as well.

He got up quickly and was jumping around cursing and dripping blood all other the trail (he had cut the top of his hand in the crash).  I was laying on the trail but could not get up because my left shoulder hurt.  I reached up and felt it; there was a large bump where there should not have been one.  About this time and older couple rode up and stopped.  They called 911 and then they called my wife. 

The lady that was riding on the trail with the kids offered to carry my bike up to the trailhead (about 1 mile away) and meet my wife with it.  Luckily the older couple that stopped was thinking clearer than me because they insisted, to the point of being rude about it, that they would take care of my bike and me.  The mountain biker did not want to stick around for the ambulance, he told me he wanted to go to the urgent care clinic that was about 2 miles away and get some stitches.  I should have known this was BS at the time but I was in no position to stop the guy.  He was covered in prison tats including the tat chain around his neck.  It turned out that the lady and kids that were riding on the trail were with him.  As they were leaving the lady said, “sorry but I need to go with him.  He can’t drive since they took his license away.”  I later found out that the mountain biker got to the trailhead at the same time the ambulance and my wife did.  They talked to him but he refused any treatment or to give them any information.   I later found out that he never showed up at urgent care either.

The ambulance and my wife drove down the trail to where I was at.  The paramedics checked me out, declared that “no bones are sticking out but your shoulder is messed up”.  They said I needed to go to the ER and get an x-ray.  They gave me the choice of riding with them or riding with my wife.  I picked my wife.

X-rays showed that I had a Grade 3 AC Shoulder separation (not a break).  I have since been to an orthopedic doctor who did not recommend surgery but did recommend that I go thru physical therapy.  After 3 weeks of PT I have gone from not being able to lift my arm over my head to starting to swim again.  Swimming is still very hard.  During the recovery part of the stroke it feels like I’m swimming with a 10 pound weight, and if I pull to hard it feels like a bunch of pins are being stuck in my shoulder.  As a result, I’m swimming very slow, doing only short sets, and not pulling very hard at all.  But I am feeling a little stronger every time I get in the pool.  Biking and running are mostly pain-free and back to normal (except for a little loss of endurance).

Enough about me, the real important question is “how’s the bike”.  The carbon frame of my 2006 Quintana Roo Seduza was declared cracked and un-safe to ride.  Cracks were also found in at least five of the spoke bases on the back wheel, and therefore it was declared to be un-fixable.  Since I could not find Bozo the mountain biking clown I turned in a claim on my homeowners insurance.  They sent me a check for about 60% of my old bike was worth.  The remaining 40% will be reimbursed to me if I turn in receipts for that amount (i.e. use it or lose it). 

With the insurance money I found a raw 2008 QR Lucero Lite frame on clearance at backcountry.com.  I also picked up a 2008 clearance aero wheel with upgraded ceramic hubs from Neuvation.com.  I had my LBS take the old components off of the Seduza and build a semi-new bike.  I have also added a new wireless computer.  I still have a little insurance money left to spend; will most likely use it to buy new tires and tubes.                

(Copy of Copy of shoulder.jpg)

(Picture 003.jpg)

Whoa!  Crazy accident story.  Why are there so many freaks in this world?

Congrats on the bike.  How do you like that frame compared to the Seduza?  And congrats on getting healed enough to get back out there.  It's too bad it couldn't have gone better for you after last year.  But I'm predicting you are going to have a great race.

Wow!  I'd say I'm glad you're OK, but at least you're healing well.  I'm glad you got a new bike, but wish it had been under better circumstances.  I'll venture a guess that even if you had contact info, you probably wouldn't get anything out of the mountain biker as he probably wasn't carrying insurance. 

I got an 08 lucero after my crash as well!! (its not a lite though).  What an awful story.  I'm really impressed with your healing and  your perseverance, I've had patients with AC sprains not nearly as bad as yours not be able to lift their arm overhead at all for many many weeks so to be swimming (even weakly or with pain) is pretty impressive!! keep us posted and hope we get to meet you in 6 weeks!

Sorry to read the details T.  See you on race weekend. 

And, I'm still sticking with my plan of drafting off you on the swim.