My last post ended with me returning from San Diego after unsuccessfully trying to run again. As for San Diego I did my best to enjoy the remainder of our Christmas Family vacation. I spent most of the time having fun with my Grand kiddos and Daughters. If you have not been to San Diego you should make plans to get there. Along with visiting family we spent time on the beach and in San Diego's Gas Lamp district. I also found time to Sherpa for my Daughter and her 1/2 marathon. The course was described as relatively flat. According to my daughter it was anything but flat. I guess to a Texan it was hilly.
Upon returning to Dallas (Allen, Texas actually) I made an appointment to see my orthopedic surgeon. I quite like my doctor, he is the one that put me back together after my bike crash. Remember, there are 2 types of bike riders; those that have crashed and those that are going to crash. I broke my hand and collar bone. The collar bone was broken in 4 places. This was in late 2009. My first 70.3 was scheduled for April for 2010 (IM New Orleans). Prior to the surgery I mentioned this to the doctor. Without asking whether I would be able to make it to my New Orleans race he assured me that as long as I wasn't a wimp I would have no problem making it to New Orleans!!
He actually used the word wimp.
Unfortunately Dallas had experienced a severe ice storm before Christmas and he was booked solid putting broken arms/wrists/hands back together of people that had slipped on the ice. So I was forced into seeing another doctor in the practice.
So I went, I was x-rayed and told I was never going to run again. OUCH!
From the x-rays the doctor had said that I had severe osteoarthritis in my knee and that I will never run again.
This is an on going blog and the final state of my health has not yet been finalized. It may in the end be true that I will never run again. That finality is undecided.
So back to the chronology of "knee" events. The doctor suggested treatment of injections that add fluid to the knee. This fluid adds a cushioning that was lost from the arthritis. It has minimal effect and only lasts a finite amount of time. I left the doctors office with pamphlets, a Cortisone injection and a despondent pallor.
When you do not like what you hear it is pretty easy to not listen. So I spent the next little while trying to figure out ways of refuting the doctors diagnosis. So I came up with the following:
1.)Arthritis is a slowly degenerative disease that should in no way be taken lightly. However how does on go from running marathons to never running again?
2.)Mixed Signals the doctor would say things like the arthritis is not bad in this area. So how could it be really bad in other areas.
3.) I was told with the shots I could then walk without pain. Even with the present problem walking was not or ever was a problem. Only running was a problem.
4.) When the doctor moved my knee a grinding sound was made. He said "that was the arthritis setting in.". Well Doc it has been "setting in" for quite a while because my knee has made that exact sound for 25 years!
Feel free to comment and add more if you would like I could use all the ammo I can get.
One thing supporting my refuting of the doctor was my Chiropractor. His take was that all people my age have some arthritis and that there was no need to stop running. Modify my training maybe but stop running, ridiculous.
I continued to work with the chiropractor and do therapy on the knee. It never seemed to respond well. The cortisone should have reduced the inflammation some what but it seemed to have no affect. So my Chiropractor sent me for an MRI. This is getting expensive!
The result of the MRI. Torn meniscus in the right knee.
Back to the Orthopedic surgeon.
"The Run"
"The Run"
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
And now for the off season
So what does one do in the off season?
What else; prepare for next years "on season". Actually I think the correct term is "in season", or just the "season".
In previous post I have outlined the more mechanical aspects of off season training
( Past post on periodization ). My training is going to follow the over all plan of starting with low hours and low intensity. Although not as low as in the past. One of the things acquired while training for ironman triathlons is a slightly elevated baseline.
Even with an elevated baseline my training weeks do not include runs and swims greater than an hour or bike rides exceeding 2 hours.
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It is now the major part of the off season (February) and I just completed surgery on my knee.
Before the injury details a few updates to fill in the time since the last post.
My last post was in October after finishing Ironman Louisville. It was my second ironman and I was ready for my third. I signed up for Ironman Texas. I was scheduled for Mid May. Family commitments kept me from planning a summer time race My Daughter is getting Married).
As I started to post (see above) the off season begins with low intensity and short duration. So throughout October and November I went merrily along with a 6-8 hour a week training regime. In December I got called to report for jury duty and actually got picked for a Jury. The trial lasted almost a week and so it cut into training a little. On the whole it had little impact and I was enjoying the training and looking forward to ramping up for IM Houston.
A quick note before I continue to the injury. During the trial I tried to get back to this blog but I found that as I tried to write I would start to process things in my head. That also included the trial. The judge in the trial gave us the standard instructions of not deliberating the facts of the trial until all the facts had been presented. If you have watched Law & Order you are probably familiar with this. We were also told not to self deliberate as well.
I felt that if I spent any time writing I would start thinking about the case and start processing the details of the case. So I put that aside until the case finished. If you are wondering the case was a sexual assault case. The details were not the most pleasant. In the end the accused was found guilty. I was an alternate so I did not even get to actually deliberate the case. I sat in a room alone while the remaining jurors deliberated.
Now for the injury: I had a torn meniscus in my right knee. I am still not sure exactly how it happened. I do not recall a specific incident or occurrence that suddenly caused me pain. Over a 4 day period I had the following workouts:
Sunday: Yoga (my first yoga session and I thought it was really cool)
Monday: Hill workouts
Tuesday: Weights
Wednesday: Track workout
I had pain since the Monday workout. On Wednesday I could not finish the track workout and by Thursday I could barely get out of bed. Other than pulling up short on the track I did not experience any specific painful event.
So I backed off the training and went to see a chiropractor my coach recommended. We felt it was some soft tissue damage and that after a few sessions we would a clearer idea of what was going on. My exact recollection of events is a little hazy but the general chronology was; The knee at first started to respond to therapy. The biggest issue seemed to be that I could not bend the knee. The main problem seemed to be centered in the back of the knee. As it was worked the flexibility seemed to be coming back. During this time I was not running but I was still swimming and biking. I did a bike before Saturday before Christmas and felt good. I did a little work around the house (blinds). The next morning it was really sore and I had trouble getting out of bed. I had a light run scheduled that day (10 minutes elliptical 10 minutes run and 10 minutes elliptical). I know that as soon as I started the elliptical that something was wrong. I only lasted a couple of minutes on the treadmill.
So the plan was to rest it more and try again in 2 weeks.
In those 2 weeks we were going to San Diego to visit our daughter, son in law and grandchildren. So after Christmas I was all set to try again. I was still swimming, the Marine Crop base had a nice pool to use. So after Christmas and bought of Stomach flu I was ready to try again. The plan was to try 1 minute of running and 4 minutes of walking. It did not seem to go to badly until the next morning. So the decision was made to see an orthopedic surgeon when I got back to Dallas.
Continued in the next post.
What else; prepare for next years "on season". Actually I think the correct term is "in season", or just the "season".
In previous post I have outlined the more mechanical aspects of off season training
( Past post on periodization ). My training is going to follow the over all plan of starting with low hours and low intensity. Although not as low as in the past. One of the things acquired while training for ironman triathlons is a slightly elevated baseline.
Even with an elevated baseline my training weeks do not include runs and swims greater than an hour or bike rides exceeding 2 hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------
It is now the major part of the off season (February) and I just completed surgery on my knee.
Before the injury details a few updates to fill in the time since the last post.
My last post was in October after finishing Ironman Louisville. It was my second ironman and I was ready for my third. I signed up for Ironman Texas. I was scheduled for Mid May. Family commitments kept me from planning a summer time race My Daughter is getting Married).
As I started to post (see above) the off season begins with low intensity and short duration. So throughout October and November I went merrily along with a 6-8 hour a week training regime. In December I got called to report for jury duty and actually got picked for a Jury. The trial lasted almost a week and so it cut into training a little. On the whole it had little impact and I was enjoying the training and looking forward to ramping up for IM Houston.
A quick note before I continue to the injury. During the trial I tried to get back to this blog but I found that as I tried to write I would start to process things in my head. That also included the trial. The judge in the trial gave us the standard instructions of not deliberating the facts of the trial until all the facts had been presented. If you have watched Law & Order you are probably familiar with this. We were also told not to self deliberate as well.
I felt that if I spent any time writing I would start thinking about the case and start processing the details of the case. So I put that aside until the case finished. If you are wondering the case was a sexual assault case. The details were not the most pleasant. In the end the accused was found guilty. I was an alternate so I did not even get to actually deliberate the case. I sat in a room alone while the remaining jurors deliberated.
Now for the injury: I had a torn meniscus in my right knee. I am still not sure exactly how it happened. I do not recall a specific incident or occurrence that suddenly caused me pain. Over a 4 day period I had the following workouts:
Sunday: Yoga (my first yoga session and I thought it was really cool)
Monday: Hill workouts
Tuesday: Weights
Wednesday: Track workout
I had pain since the Monday workout. On Wednesday I could not finish the track workout and by Thursday I could barely get out of bed. Other than pulling up short on the track I did not experience any specific painful event.
So I backed off the training and went to see a chiropractor my coach recommended. We felt it was some soft tissue damage and that after a few sessions we would a clearer idea of what was going on. My exact recollection of events is a little hazy but the general chronology was; The knee at first started to respond to therapy. The biggest issue seemed to be that I could not bend the knee. The main problem seemed to be centered in the back of the knee. As it was worked the flexibility seemed to be coming back. During this time I was not running but I was still swimming and biking. I did a bike before Saturday before Christmas and felt good. I did a little work around the house (blinds). The next morning it was really sore and I had trouble getting out of bed. I had a light run scheduled that day (10 minutes elliptical 10 minutes run and 10 minutes elliptical). I know that as soon as I started the elliptical that something was wrong. I only lasted a couple of minutes on the treadmill.
So the plan was to rest it more and try again in 2 weeks.
In those 2 weeks we were going to San Diego to visit our daughter, son in law and grandchildren. So after Christmas I was all set to try again. I was still swimming, the Marine Crop base had a nice pool to use. So after Christmas and bought of Stomach flu I was ready to try again. The plan was to try 1 minute of running and 4 minutes of walking. It did not seem to go to badly until the next morning. So the decision was made to see an orthopedic surgeon when I got back to Dallas.
Continued in the next post.
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