Well upon visting my Ortho, who is partnered with two crazy triathletes, I got the diagnosis of what is going on with my embattled achilles.
Tendonosis or micro tears in the tendon from overuse,improper stretching, weak f**king hips, a right leg that just seems to go along for the ride, yesterday as I did lunges I noticed my right leg was significantly weaker than my left,hence comfirming the fact that whatever injuries I've succumbed to are result of improper technique or overcompensation.
Doc: My advice no running for 3-4 weeks or the swelling goes down whatever comes first.
Me:But I've got a marathon in 5 weeks
Doc: If you run on it you could rupture it there is the same likelihood nothing could happen to it. How do feel about anti-inflamatories, most athletes hate them because they disrupt muscle building.
Me: Will it get me on my feet any faster?
Doc: It could..
Me: so 2-3 weeks instead of 3-4...
Doc: It might but it is imperative that you don't run until the swelling stops.
Me:What about cycling?
Doc: Swimming is best as long as cycling is giving you no pain you can do it.
Me: So I can ride my bike?
Doc: As long as it doesn't hurt just don't run until the swelling goes down.
So I've been put on the mother of all anti inflamatories given an orthopedic insert and the don't even think about running for at least two weeks regiment. From what the X-rays say early RICE and lighter than normal training helped but the green light has been given to me to ride until my heart's content and to swim like a mofo..so I'm essentially on the Normann Stadler Ironman plan. Swim like a mofo, bike like a beast and oh yeah hang on for that little marathon at the end. Next week I'll assess the swelling if it's gone I'll begin to run again otherwise so begins post on weekly assesments of my ankle. Answer to my prayers would be one week, most likely senario it'll heal in two weeks, things will be a little difficult if it's in three and I might just be walking a marathon if it's four. Taper, what the hell is that?
So begins cycling focus....Today since I was able to get the day off fromwork part of me wants to roll in the outdoors but daylight is rapidly fading.. so I'll go to the pharmacy pick up my script for "Mother of all Anti- Inflamatories" and ride the spin bike with my orthopedic insert in my cycling shoes. This weekend looks good so anyone in the greater Hartford, Boston or New York area looking to freeze their beans with me in the great outdoors is welcome to ride with my Saturday afternoon or Sunday Afternoon...Saturday looks like the better of the two days with temps close to 30 Sunday is supposed to be frigid.
Well that's all from my neck of the woods...man if only I saw the doctor sooner....
Looking for snow tires for his bike
R.D.
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7 comments:
Just think how fast your bike split will be?! And aren't you glad your a triathlete? If you were just a runner you would have nothing to do but sit around right now :)
Prepare for a barrage. Probably tomorrow.
Won't be able to make it down this weekend, but good luck in the snow. Although I'm inclined to think your quality of ride would be better indoors... But maybe you don't have as much shit in the road down there as we have up here.
As far as your ankle: How about instead of you imposing a timeline ("Next week I'll assess the swelling if it's gone I'll begin to run again"), you play it safe rather than sorry and actually LISTEN to your ortho? If you try to force your achilles to be better (by ignoring the pain because it fits better into your training plan), you may be able to hobble through the ironman, but you'll certainly fuck yourself up more later. Are you prepared to sacrifice the WHOLE spring (and maybe much of the summer and beyond) to play Russian roulette with your ankle? How about you just replace running workouts with aquarunning or ellipticals? Sure, they're boring as hell, but they'll keep you in shape. Actually, you probably won't lose much running fitness if you're biking a lot anyway.
And not to contradict you or anything, but I heard an interview with Norman Stadler (Competitor Radio 9/28/08 I think http://competitorradio.com/archive.php?page=15) where he said he swims and rides very little in his ironman buildup... But that's beside the point.
Ammendment: Norman Stadler's running is his weak point, as is your biking. I take it back, you doing a huge bike block IS like training like NS... Sort of...
What claire said.(ex. the stadler shit, mostly because i don't care).
Here's how I see it:
Rest will only do you so much until you run again. You haven't yet addressed the root cause of the issue, and until you do, this will either 1. be a recurring injury; fucking up your racing or 2. deteriorate into a tendon rupture.
You have a few weeks to somehow rehab this thing or risk some dismal shit.
RISK.
I'm assuming you're still going to NZ. I'm assuming you're still going to run the race. In my estimation, if you try to run that thing hard, you run a considerable risk of either 1. fucking yourself up on the spot 2. fucking up the rest of your season and spending a whole mess of time and money fixing it. "Considerable Risk" doesn't mean that it WILL happen, it just means that there is a VERY good chance that it CAN happen.
If you start rehabbing this thing yesterday, you can probably reduce the risk of fucking it up on race day and SURVIVING this race. Unless you're willing to flirt with the unknown that is incredibly painful and career ending, you can indeed get yourself fixed enough in a few weeks to go down there, have a good time, run the race, and then come home halfway decent.
You don't state what your ortho said to do besides rest, and that makes him an idiot. I'll say it again for the Nth time, YOUR ISSUES ARE IN YOUR FUCKING HIPS. THE STRESS THAT SHOULD BE HANDLED BY YOUR HIPS ARE BEING TRANSFERRED DOWN YOUR LEGS TO YOUR ACHILLES. I'LL BET YOUR MOBILITY IS SHIT, YOUR HIPS ARE TIGHT AS HELL, AND YOUR GLUTES ARE TOTALLY INACTIVE.
You need to start corrective exercise last week. You need to spend tons of time in the weight room, and you need to open up your hips immediately.
I know I'm right. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a moron. Also, anyone who tells you at this point to stay out of the weight room will be shot dead. By me. They've obviously never fixed an injury like this. Pussies.
Ignore this at your own peril. if you go down there, race hard, and come out unscathed, you'll be a hero. If you do the same and fuck yourself up, then you'll have the "follow your dreams" apologists throwing disgusting amounts of sympathy your way while Claire and I will repeatedly be telling you that you're an idiot.
I can run you through some shit if you want. I can also put together some sort of program for you to attempt to salvage some function while you are off your feet. I also recommend doing loads of single leg drills on the bike while focusing on bilateral strength discrepancies and maintaining a smooth pedal stroke. According to both your blogs, you'll have a lot of time on the bike.
The choice is yours:
1. Don't rehab and risk fucking yourself up.
2. Rehab while you can and reduce the risk of fucking yourself up.
Also- Trainer offered her services if you're willing to come to Hartford and make the proper arrangements.
Recall- She fixed my achilles for good and it never bothered me again. She also taught me that the source of damn near all lower extremity injuries are IN THE FUCKING HIPS.
Fix your hips you fix your achilles. It is that simple.
acupunture - it works fucking miracles. and about 6000mg of fish oil a day. start now.
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