Gray Guys/Girls Master's Focus Triathlon Mentor Group--CLOSED (Page 27)

On Saturday I was supposed to compete in a Sprint Triathlon.  While I was in the water warming-up I began to do some short sprints.  I was out away from people but there was a somewhat slow gentleman that was very casually swimming around and somehow he got in front of me.  Instead of slowing down, which would have been the intelligent thing to do, I pulled hard to the side to radically change direction and go around the guy.  I heard the 'pop; at about the same time I felt the pain start.  I realized pretty quickly that my day was done.  I got to shore - which was probably entertaining for anyone that was watching seeing as how I only had one arm, collected my wife and then we had to figure out how to get me out of my wetsuit.  By that time, there simply wasn't going to be any moving of my arm.  There were medics at the event that would have been only to happy to cut my wetsuit off, which I wasn't to excited about.  It took about 30 minutes but we finally got it off without damage!  Then we got my bike, packed up and headed for urgent care.

They did an X-ray on Saturday and determined I have a torn rotator cuff.  He immobilized the shoulder, loaded my down with meds and referred me to my GP.  I got in to see my doc this morning and first thing, he ordered a MRI which revealed a 3cm tear in the subscapularus tendon of my left shoulder - pretty much the tendon is all but separated from the head of the humerus (the upper arm bone) - when I go down, I go down in flames!  My GP is pretty sure it will require surgery and I have an appointment set for Thursday with the Orthopedic surgeon.

If they can do it arthroscopically it will likely be 4-6 months before I can expect to be back to full range of motion.  If they have to do open surgery it will likely be closer to 6-9 months.  Either way, it looks like my 2015 season just ended.

Of more immediate concern is that I do not want to lose the fitness I have been busting my backside to build!

Steve, you went through your crash and recovery last year.  I recall that your shoulder was involved but I also remember you had broken ribs which would have made exercise difficult.   I am wondering if your ribs hadn't been involved if you felt like you could have gotten on the trainer and/or ran with your shoulder in a sling?  I went to the gym this afternoon and walked a brisk couple of miles on the dreadmill without any difficulty so just wondering.

Anyway, this kind of sucks.  An injury was not in my plan this season.  I double checked, there is no injury anywhere in the plan.  Life just dropped a load of lemons in my lap, guess it's time to start making some lemonade.

Nothing like a race entry to motivate your training!  Now is the time to put together your plan.  With the training volume you are putting in, you will do great!

Hey Thomas,

On a road bide, padding on the saddle can, and often will, make the pain and discomfort worse.  I know, that's counter-intuitive, but sadly it is true.  When you have too much padding, it squishes down and deforms which applies pressure where you really don't want pressure.  If you haven't been doing longer rides and then suddenly you went out for 2.5 hours, you are going to have a bit of discomfort.  That will generally subside as you put more miles in and have more time in the saddle.  However, if you have serious pain, or the discomfort doesn't go away, then the first thing I would look at is your bike fit.  If you are not fit properly, you can be miserable.

You mentioned that you have a split seat.  Saddles are very much a personal thing.  A saddle that is great for me may be painful for you.  Before I go changing saddles again, I would get your bike fit checked.  Once you know that is good, then you perhaps try different saddles.  Cobb saddles has an excellent return policy and they encourage you to try a saddle for a couple weeks then return it if it doesn't work for you.  They have a pretty extensive line so you may well find the perfect saddle that way.  Again though, before you start playing with saddles, I would make sure the fit is correct.

Yes, a good pair of bike shorts will help immensely.  I actually prefer my tri-shorts over bike shorts.   They both have padding, just the tri-shorts have a bit less and it drys quickly so you can swim in them.  You can pick-up an inexpensive pair of bike shorts for $50-75 or so.  Tri-shorts tend to be a few dollars more.

Hope that helps.

Edited to add this link:  http://cycleryusa.com/buyers-guides/selecting-the-right-bicycle-saddle-pg278.htm.  This is a page that talks about saddles and finding the right one.  About 2/3 of the way down there is a paragraph on padding that you may find interesting.

HoRy ShiP Scott!!  Not the ideal way to start a sprint, eh!  But you've got a good attitude.  Hopefully you can keep active at something.  What about water running in the pool?  If not now maybe later.

It is fortunate that you didn't completely sever the tendon.  That would've been an immediate surgery for certain.  When I was reading your description of the event I got curious about how old you are so I went into your profile and saw your race report so I went to it and of course read it.  What a story (and photos)!  Very inspirational.

Steve - ChelanMan - I finally made reservations at a Motel (Midtowner).  I couldn't get a campsite anywhere.  Not even as far away as Bridgeport.  So, I can relax on that and just look forward to the race.  We'll be arriving Thursday and leaving Monday.

Weight Loss challenge:

11.18 hours of workouts = 22.36 points

No weight gain (or loss)  =  5 points

Total                                    27.36 points

Scott-ouch! Hate that this happened. Hope you can get it fixed and then get back at it.

Scott...

I am so sorry to hear about your shoulder/injury.

It will be a hard  - but I am guessing with your determination and fortitude you will come back even stronger.

Sometimes those lemons arrive for reasons we don't understand for a spell...  

Thinking of you - because I have lived with someone injured and it is rough on everyone. 

I am betting your lemonade will be one for the books though.

I did another three days in a row of training this past weekend.  The gal I am exercising with is training for IM St. George (70.3) and ultimately IM CDA.

Friday we did 1:15 on the bike and 30 minute run/walk.  I have to say I really like the run/walk having never really done that on the road before. 

Saturday was a swim I did 1700 total to include 12x25 sprints.  I concentrated on form except for sprints.  We have fun doing the sprints together, I die but it is fun (this week's were faster than last and more consistent).  Finished the day with 1:30 on the bike.

Sunday I did my first ever 3 hour bike training and didn't die.

We used the Sufferfest videos.  If you have not used those I HIGHLY recommend.  They make the time go by so much faster and I think I personally get a better workout than Spinervals.   On Sunday, our first video was all about form and I have to say I learned so much.  Who would have thought biking was technical...I thought you got on and rode! 

On the nutrition portion of the workouts I did pretty well.  On Sunday I used Hammer's Perpetuem and Fizz tabs.  I never had the crash headache after any of the workouts which is unusual for the duration and intensity of them.  Drank a bottle with Fizz every hour or so.  What I have noticed is I am up in weight by a 2-3 pounds. I thought by today I would go back to normal but not so much....

With my ankle I haven't been running but I am starting to think running is my most effective form of weight loss.  I thought swimming and biking would be right up there but after this weekend I am starting to rethink that logic.

How are you guys handling the nutrition/weight, etc.

I am only responding to this because my husband has done a couple IMs. 

He had a hard time with his saddle - he went through 2 or 3 until he found the right one..

Before this last IM, he/we also spent the time and money to have a professional bike fit by a Retul certified professional. If you anywhere near Tucson  Endurance Performance, Brian Grasky.   It was amazing to watch them do a computerized bike fit and worth every penny when he was on the bike this last year in hellish winds during IMCDA.

He also used BUTTer cream and tri shorts.   Good quality Tri shorts.

Here are the current points.

Lot's of impressive workout totals!

(0301_weightloss_workout.jpg)

Scott - so sorry to hear about your shoulder injury.  Hope the surgery goes well and you recover quickly!  I had arthroscopic surgery on mine about 2-1/2 years ago (not a tear, just clearing out scar tissue) and was told not to run for about 6 weeks.  I wasn't biking much at the time so that wasn't an issue, but not being able to run was tough.  I did a lot of walking though.  

My trail race over the weekend did not go as well as I had hoped .  It was freezing cold, overcast (snowstorm later in the day), the trail was icy and I've spent too much time avoiding hills during my run training lately.  The good news is I beat my time from 2 years ago by almost 18 minutes  (that year was cold but sunny with about 2" of fresh snow on the ground).  I think part of my problem too is not eating/drinking enough when it's cold.  I had a little bit of gatorade and some water but nothing else - not really enough for a 2 hour plus run.  I had a couple of gu's with me but never took them.  I don't usually think about it until it's already too late.  It's something I need to work out if I ever hope to be able to do a HIM.

Janet

Thank you everyone for the good wishes.  It is truly appreciated.

I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon today.  Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning.  He is planning to go in arthroscopically.  He said he expects I will begin passive movement (physical therapy) three to four weeks post op.  That will gradually transition into range of motion and strengthening exercises.  He said if I put in the work that I should be back in the pool by 12-16 weeks post op.  He is OK with the trainer 1 week post surgery for easy rides and harder rides 2 weeks post op.  He said my shoulder will be immobilized so running will likely have to wait until at least 4 weeks after surgery when he anticipates the immobilization will go away.  He said I can walk as much as I want as soon as I want so I am hoping to maintain at least some of my fitness.

All in all I am pretty happy.  I expected to be laid up longer than it looks like it will be.  I really am only going to have a few days with no exercise and only a couple weeks before I can get back to some aggressive trainer rides.  Maybe the entire season isn't done after all.  I have a half-marathon scheduled in April and a marathon at the end of May.  I suspect both of those are coming off the schedule.  Beyond that, I have several sprint and Olympic tri's scheduled in July, August and September.  I also have the Ironman scheduled in October.  I have to do some thinking about all those events.  I suppose I won't really be able to make a decision until I get a better idea of when I can get back to training and seeing what is left when I do start.

For the immediate future, I have to figure out something to do to fill the hours I would have otherwise been training.  I am pretty close to going nuts and its only been a few days.

I know what you mean.  I have been putting in a lot of work so that I could make a serious Kona attempt in October.  My target was sub 10-hour.  My swim was right where it needed to be.  My cycling was right where it needed to be and my run was right on the edge of being where I needed it.  I won't say I was making reservations for Hawaii just yet but I was feeling extremely confident.  Now, that is likely out the window this year.  The thing I keep using to lift my spirits is that Ironman Louisville qualifies for Kona-2016 so I could still theoretically make an attempt early next year.  This didn't completely kill my plans but it sure put a hitch in my giddy-up.

We talked at length about this today.  The doc's biggest concern is that he doesn't want me busting out sutures or staples or whatever else he might be using so he said no trainer for at least a week and nothing hard for two weeks.  I am fairly confident that I can maintain my cycling fitness.  My swim will go away a bit but I am not overly concerned about that as it will come back fairly quickly.  My biggest concern is my run.  I talked to my running coach about maybe trying to easy run with my arm in the sling and he said absolutely not.  He doesn't want me developing bad habits after we have spent a year getting everything right.

It's gonna be what it's gonna be so I will continue to make lemonade and try to have some level of patience!