General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Injured 3 months before Ironman and can't run or bike Rss Feed  
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2015-10-18 7:33 PM


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Subject: Injured 3 months before Ironman and can't run or bike
A little background on myself so you can see if this applies to you at all if you are ever in this situation. I had no background in cycling or swimming prior to October 2014. I have a long running background but since high school my running has been sporadic and never been more than a middle of the pack runner. In the last few years I've had more running injuries lately and was starting to feel old. Especially when I was training in 2014 for a local half-marathon and had my first ever experience with IT band syndrome. Did that race in 1:55. So, I decided if I was going to ever do an Ironman I better do it now because who knows what injuries are coming next. I'm 36 years old, a wife and 2 kids and a pretty demanding job where I am lucky to commit 6 hours a week to Ironman training. Also, I have never done any other triathlons of any distance. Signed up for Ironman Maryland in late October 2014 for the 2015 race. Got a gym membership so I could start swimming and bought a bike in November so I could start cycling. At the beginning of April I bought a wahoo kickr and I use the imobileintervals app and usually do 2-3 rides a week on it that last an hour each. My training plan I was using was suppose to ramp up with longer rides and longer brick runs in July and August and September but I had some busy work weeks and was going on a family vacation and got behind on doing my long rides. I was able to get 1 3-hour ride in on the kickr in May and another 3-hour ride indoors in June. Other than those rides I had only ever ridden 1 hour interval sessions. On July 3rd I decided to try a century ride. Felt awesome during the ride but a little pain in the left knee. By the next day the knee was hurting pretty bad but tried to suffer through a few short runs. Turns out I had patellar tendonitis in my left knee. First all of July went by without being able to run or bike then most of August and by late August I was able to do some short runs. During the time I was injured I came across a number of posts here and slowtwitch about the barryP running plan. As I was able to get back into running I was doing 20 miles a week doing his method of running 6 days a week and at a slow pace. Threw in a 10-mile run in late September and another in early October when Ironman Maryland got canceled and I had to restart training.

Did Beach to Battleship Iron distance triathlon this weekend (couldn't swing the days off on such short notice to attend the rescheduled Ironman Maryland date but luckily this race that is only 2 hours away from me still had open spots) and finished, and though it was pretty painful, I was pretty happy with both my bike and run times even with almost 2 months of no running or biking during the last 3 months before the race.

I was pretty desperate during that time I was injured for any encouragement that it would turn out ok and couldn't find a lot of success stories of injuries so close to an Ironman so if you find yourself in a similar situation I hope this gives you encouragement.
2015-10-18 11:22 PM
in reply to: kaywould

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Subject: RE: Injured 3 months before Ironman and can't run or bike
2015-10-19 7:24 AM
in reply to: kaywould

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Subject: RE: Injured 3 months before Ironman and can't run or bike

In 2012 I fought some calf, achilles, and foot issues that finally resulted in a plantar plate tear.  I struggled through training and racing the Texas 70.3 and Syracuse 70.3 early in the year.  IMAZ was my big race in 2012.  I didn't run once after Syracuse (June 24th) until November 1st (two weeks before IMAZ).  Not like you can get any run fitness in two weeks so it was more a matter of seeing if I could run.  I was well trained on the swim and bike.  I had no idea what to expect from the Ironman marathon.  I figured I would pace the swim and bike well and see how it all shook out.  Ended up finishing a little over 11 hours with a 4:40 IM marathon time... which was about 40 minutes slower than I had hoped for when I registered a year earlier but it's the IM run I'm the most proud of considering I did almost zero run training.

2021-08-23 10:13 AM
in reply to: kaywould


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Subject: RE: Injured 3 months before Ironman and can't run or bike
This is a much-needed message for me. Trained for my first ironman distance race this year in September, but just got injured 6w from race day. Trying to rehab, take it easy. I'm not a hardcore athlete. I completed one triathlon five years ago, and I'm running this race as a bucket-list item. I dedicated this year to training, and was hoping that with my training, plus some luck, I could finish. Things were going reasonably well until my injury August 6. I'm holding on to stories like this one to give me hope that I still have a chance. Thanks for making the effort to share!
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