General Discussion Triathlon Talk » racing IM with bruised ribs? Rss Feed  
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2009-09-08 7:30 AM

90 miles south of Titletown, USA
Subject: racing IM with bruised ribs?
Does anyone have any experience with this?

I took a tumble this past weekend and wound up with 8 stitches in my chin and bruised ribs to boot. I'm scheduled to do IMWI this Sunday.

The chin won't be a problem. The ribs, however, seem like they're getting worse with each passing day. X-rays didn't show any broken ribs, but the pain, at times and in certain positions, is pretty substantial. I think the bike will be ok. The swim and run...uh, I don't know.

I'm taking Advil to deal with the pain at the moment, but i've read enough threads on this site to realize that mixing Advil and racing is not a good idea. Should I try Tylenol if I need something to get me through on raceday? Or is that not a good idea, either? Maybe I just need to HTFU and deal with the pain as best as possible without any help from meds?

Any help from anyone that can lend any is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat


2009-09-08 8:17 AM
in reply to: #2394131

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Subject: RE: racing IM with bruised ribs?
I did FL 70.3 with severely bruised/broken ribs.  It definitely slowed me down in the swim, but once I got settled into the bike I hardly noticed it.
2009-09-08 1:54 PM
in reply to: #2394131

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Subject: RE: racing IM with bruised ribs?

Well no where near the same thing (ie early season sprint training vs ironman) but I broke & bruised mine at the end of May.  I started back with a run a week and a half later and I remember initially it felt like I had a bag of rocks banging around my middle.  Pretty uncomfortable on the run with every step I took and I found that you subconsciously try to compensate for it which causes other discomforts (cramping, back stiffness) but within two weeks I was feeling better.  I also found that once I got past the initial discomfort I could go longer.  I considered wrapping something just to feel more solid but not sure it would have helped.  It didn't impact my cycling and I don't recall it bothering the swim (I had an elbow injury which impacted swim performance so hard to remember).  Just the run.  You still have a week to go - maybe some little runs to get used to the feeling and see if it's tolerable?  Hopefully it'll feel better closer to race day... Good luck and recover quickly! 

2009-09-08 2:20 PM
in reply to: #2394131

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Subject: RE: racing IM with bruised ribs?
If it were me I would try the med-free route, mainly because I have no idea what Tylenol will do under those conditions whereas I feel confident that I could manage the pain.  I might be fooling myself on that last part...
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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » racing IM with bruised ribs? Rss Feed