Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 29)

Excellent & Happy Birthday!

Well it looks as though I'm about to be come VERY well aquainted with my bike trainer and the pool.... Just went to the doctor today with pain in my left calf and he diagnosed a stress fracture.  No running for 6 weeks, then a slow re-entry into higher volume over the next 6 weeks after that. 

Ugh.  At least this happened early in training rather than later.  I'm going to be a good girl and listen to his advice due to the risk of it not fully healing before the build begins.

It seems like any time I ramp up run volume to train for a marathon, I end up injured.  Not quite sure how to prevent this.  Though, as long as it heals and doesn't affect my performance at CDA, I still think that BQ was worth it

Mango - sometimes an injury that sidelines us for a bit is just what we needed to fully heal up and the start over with a smarter training philosophy.  Particularly with the injury-risk of distance running, it's so hard to start small/short/easy enough when base building if you're already in decent shape.  But if an injury makes us lose fitness, we can get to the place where we are mentally ready to start easy and build slowly.

I'll say this - I would have never gone from a 4:24 open marathon to a 10:XX Ironman without a season ending bike crash 15 months before my IM.

I'm very familiar with this. I suffered a stress fracture in Mar '09--actually from a minor bike crash--but felt major pain in the calf like you. It was on the head of my fibula, and I had to DNS at Boston because of it. BUT, I could still bike and swim and aqua jog.  And that's what I did. Didn't do way much aqua jogging but I spent a lot more time in the pool and on the bike, and I reaped the rewards of it.  I didn't lose too much run fitness at all due to the time I spent on the bike, and some aqua jog sessions (harder than I thought they would be!).  So, it can definitely be a blessing in disguise as I know my swim endurance grew and I got a lot better on the bike.

I don't even have a plan yet!  Still working on one.  I am going to check out that book.  :-)

Thanks guys for the comments on using a setback to my advantage.  I'm generally strongest in running and weakest in swimming, so this likely is a good thing in the end.   I was having a tough time getting myself to the pool the past few months, most of the time I was able to convince myself to go for a run instead.  This will force me to get to the pool now!

sarah- I'm going to be using the Fink plan.  It's going to be a modified version (swapping running for other activities) for the first few weeks.  I'm really excited to have structured training in my life again soon

TexasMP- can you tell me a bit more about aqua jogging?  I've never done that, do you need something to stabilize you in the pool?  Thanks!

I had the same question on aquajogging and a friend here on BT sent me to this article about it: http://www.trifuel.com/training/workouts/aqua-jogging
I did get a belt and the resistance shoes, but really, you don't need the shoes and could just as easy use regular water shoes--I just happened to get a pair really cheap.  I did think the resistance made a positive difference in getting a good workout in.  Some pools already have the belts cause they have some deep water aerobic classes that people use them for.  The important thing is body position and to try to keep the same general form as running so you're working those muscles without the impact.
A friend of mine that I quasi-coached for the Great Floridian Iron Distance was plagued with some stress fractures in her foot this year, and I had her in the pool doing longer steady sessions, as well as some interval sessions with the aqua jogging. She was able to run the entire marathon come the race day.
 
At first, I thought it was kind of a joke...but the day after, my muscles felt it and I realized it was helpful!

Everyone be sure and congratulate PhatKnot on an awesome 10:30 (approx) finish at IMFL yesterday!! He ROCKED it! Recover well dude!

I am!  I would love to chat about the workouts...anything and everything to keep me accountable  

I'm going with the intermediate plan from the 2nd edition of his book, although I'm going to switch the Mondays and Thursdays to fit my schedule better. I'm also going to replace the two "short" bike sessions with days 1 and 3 of the Jorge plan for about the first 18 weeks. I've been doing Jorge's plan from last year for a couple of months now, and plan to go through this year's plan as a second cycle once I finish the first round mid-December. Looking forward to following everyone's experience.

Thanks Brittany! I lived to tell the story haha. Now its time to buckle down and get more involved here.

Anybody have any good suggestions for a busted toenail? Everything hurts but this is like a massive splinter throbbing. WAAAAAAAAAAAANH haha

From my marathoning days, I have lost many a toe nail. I still have one on my right foot that grows up not out. It just gets thicker and thicker and then the whole nail falls off and starts the process over. Gross!

Hey Phatknot, congrats on IMFL, just read your RR on your blog, Amazing day for you. Enjoy the recovery!

Congrats Phatknot!!  Amazing time!  I loved reading the race report as well, it gets me so pumped to experience that for the first time

7.5 short months to go.............

My key to a good day was to listen to Brittany last year at IMAZ where she rocked the house. Smart pacing is the key to having a good day. Last year I went out too hard on the bike and early part of the run and suffered while I hung on for dear life. This year the mantra was slow and steady wins the race and it worked!

Just wanted to point out that:
1. You are all awesome
2. I'm stalking you all on BT
3. I've learned a lot from you guys on this thread already and the journey is just beginning 
4. It's going to be fantastic
5. Cant' wait to meet you in June 

Group hug!!!!!

I've been talking to a BT friend the last few days about the three best "bang for your buck" places on BT - in my opinion.  They are:
1) mentor groups
2) state forums (at least mine)
3) race-specific threads

Why?  Because all of those places are large enough to attract some experience and knowledge, but small enough to retain a sense of family/community.  And for the last one (this thread), we also have the benefit of a shared goal that we are all striving for. 

Over the course of the next 8 months there will be some fantastic information here while we all share our experiences and musings and what not, plus we will care enough about each other to:
1) make sure any questions get answered, and get answered well, and
2) make sure that any bad information doesn't get passed as good information (one of my biggest gripes on the main forums).

If I have anything to do with it, this thread will be one of the biggest influences in everyone getting to the line healthy and prepared.  Y'all are my CdA family, and I care way more about your success than someone trolling the forums stirring up trouble.  Sometimes, that'll mean I care enough to tell you that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.  You should be flattered when that happens

sorry to be the tech. challenged kid here but I would like to read phats race report.  How do I get to it?

Me too!  You will be floored by my bangin' beach bod.

Edited by spudone 2010-11-10 1:49 PM

On a more serious note: What he said.

It's also cool to see how many different states people are traveling from.  I only knew Washington people last year and one from Idaho.

Ah, between this and the inspire you left me you have me all blushing...so glad we'll both be at IMCdA this next year!! It's going to be a different "ride" pacing that bike course vs. something like FL or AZ I think.  Something more to learn! Yeah, my mantra on the bike last year was definitely "don't blow your legs out, stay steady, but don't blow your legs out."

I TOTALLY agree with the race forums being great here on BT, especially for the Ironman races.  I think it really helps knit a group together and learn from each other on a single, shared focus at the same race. I'm immensely pleased to see how active this race group has been since this summer.  It bodes well--and yes, LOTS learned already!!

Nerdjock--when you get here to San Diego we will definitely have to get together for some training sessions.

On the training front--I started with a coach on 1 Nov.  It's been good thus far, and I'm feeling good in the bike and run and excited to see the strengths there grow, but my swim is SUCKING.  Man, just not feeling it there!! But, I have a swim analysis with my coach on Friday and I'm hoping that helps identify what mechanics are messed up with me so I can make some progress there!

my race report is on my logs dated 11/7. I need to get that into a race report but im too lazy, fried, and lame.

Fixed it for you.

Edited by T in Liberty Lake 2010-11-10 3:30 PM