New Bike Day

Not new tri bike but really excited all the same. More info later along with some great news from the orthopedic surgeon.

Happy New Year Updates and Totals for 2018

I hope you are well and are conquering any challenges the end of 2018 presented.  I am!!!   As some may know, the end of 2018 was a bit challenging for me. While riding the DTE Energy Foundation Trail (close to Chelsea), I took a fall on my mountain bike.  The fall wasn't caused by landing a big air jump or speeding over rocks and roots.  I recall a rather low speed turn with my rear tire sliding out and a force I don't recall ever feeling previously as my left shoulder hit the ground.  After the forceful fall, I sat up, reached over the feel my left collarbone area and immediately realized something wasn't right.

Here's what it looked like:

About ten days later (after surgery), I had another new look with a titanium plate six titanium screws binding the two ends of the broken collarbone:

 

As I write this, I am about two weeks post surgery, feeling better every day, and I am Iron Man!

I am also hopeful about the outcome of my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on January 2.  I'm mentally ready to run again even though this is likely premature. My questions will be like:
- What can't I do?
- Is it OK to ride a stationary bike and put weight on my left hand?
- Is running slowly on a treadmill at an 8% incline OK?
- When can I run outside?
I'll report back about what the doc says.

More than anything, I happy to report I'm getting better.  Thanks to all my family and friends for their texts, call, notes, care, support and love!  

Totals for 2018  

Let's check out how the year went relative to working out along with comparisons from two other years when I ran full Ironman races: 

	2012 - 43 years old	2015 - 47 years old (hamstring injury Feb - Oct)	2018 - 51 years old   (broken collarbone in Dec)
Swim	137561 yards = 78 miles	120884 yards = 69 miles	198935 yards = 113 miles
Bike	2721 miles	2811 miles	4768 miles
Run	897 miles	1069 miles	1025 miles
Time	374 hours	352 hours	424 hours
Races	-  Ironman Muncie 70.3 -  Ironman Mont Tremblant - K2 Marathon	- Boston Marathon - BQ! - Ironman Muncie 70.3 (sub 6 hours) - Ironman Boulder (huge bonk)	-  Ironman Wisconsin 70.3  -   Ironman Lake Placid

Highlights of 2018:

- I was amazing this year!  More swim and bike miles than every before along with 50 more hours working out than every before.  Wow!!! 

- Swimming - 113 miles and almost all of that happened from January through July. As you know, swimming is hard for me so I'm particularly proud of this stat.  The outcome of this work was a pretty darn good swim for me at Ironman Lake Placid.

- Biking - 4768 miles...that's a big number for me.  There were a lot of hours on the trainer this year and quite a few road miles too.  

- Masters 50+ records this year!  Since I turned 50 this year, all races were records but my time at the Detroit Turkey Trot 10K in November was one that stood out for me...something like 40:17 on a course that Garmin measures at 6.37 miles every year I run it which comes out to something like 6:20 miles.  Not bad for an old guy.

- Using TrainerRoad for triathlon workout plans. This was new for me in 2017 (thanks to RCK's encouragement). The plans ask for a lot (as I've written here a number of times), but they work for me.  I wish I had been able to run some flat races like at Muncie or Steehead (instead of the insanely hilly Ironman races in Madison and Lake Placid).  It would have been fun to see how this year's fitness played out at those courses.

- ALL WORLD ATHLETE! BOOM!!!  For the first time ever, I was awarded All World Athlete bronze by Ironman based on my results from this year at Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 and Ironman Lake Placid. 

Overall it was a great year.  I just have to get by the rather large end of year bump in the broken collarbone road.  I will share an update about that soon.

Thanks for reading....hope you are getting through your end of 2018 challenges.  It really is a good idea to get out for a run/walk or hit up the gym for a 20-30 minutes :-).  Take it from this broken collarbone guy who spent 60 minutes on the stationary trainer this afternoon.

An Eric Heiden Excerpt On Broken Collarbones

From: http://www.espn.com/olympics/cycling/news/story?id=4008306

USA Cycling physician Eric Heiden, the quintuple speedskating Olympic gold medalist who is now an orthopedic surgeon in Salt Lake City, said modern treatment of broken collarbones has reduced average healing time from six weeks to four.

Broken collarbones can mend on their own without surgical intervention, but Heiden, who also competed in elite cycling and started the 1986 Tour de France, said the current "treatment of choice" for cyclists with the injury is to insert a titanium plate that is 3/4 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick and can range from 2 1/2 to 6 inches long to "bridge" the fracture, held in place with screws.

The plate is specially molded to fit the collarbone, which has a unique curve, Heiden said. It's an outpatient procedure, and the plate generally is left in place rather than removed after healing.
"Then, it's just a matter of treating the soreness," he said.

With the plate stabilizing the fracture, riders can generally start training on a stationary bike in a week, Heiden said.

"In six weeks, there shouldn't be any residual problems from the collarbone," Heiden said.

Boston Update - Choices

Following a great trail ride in Chelsea last Saturday and my visit to the ER, I went to the see  orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Moravek today.  I explained my athletic goals for the year:  the Boston Marathon in April, Ironman Traverse City in August.  He listen and then here is what he showed me:

The doctor counted the pieces of bone that had once been my clavicle.  There are, he said, at least 4 pieces.  He went on to talk about the choices:

1. Let the break heal naturally.  The doctor said this was a choice because it would heal up. There would be a "bump" under the skin where the bones healed and fused together.  

2. Surgically repair the break.  In this surgery, the skin is cut and the collarbone is repositioned back to where it should be and then held in position with screws and a plate. The plate and screws do not typically get removed, but sometimes patients find the plate bothersome under the skin. If this is the case, the plate and screws can be removed after the fracture has healed, usually at least 6 months after the break. This operation is performed in the operating room under general anesthesia. The surgery will take about 60 minutes. Usually, this operation is outpatient surgery.

I listened, a little confused actually because the two avenues were being presented as choices.  I had assumed that treatment plan had already been determined while at the ER on Saturday:  the break was to heal naturally.

I listened some more as doc recited the research that had been done about natural healing of the clavicle versus the surgical option.  It was a mixed set of research.  In some collarbone breaks, it sounded like having the surgery made more sense while in other situations, natural healing made the most sense.

Finally, I found a moment of silence and said, "I hear you saying it is as choice to have this surgically repaired."  I listened to his clarifying response:  "We don't just treat the ailment seen on the x-ray; we treat the patient.  Every patient might have a different need. Some patients need surgery so they can get back to work in two weeks rather than three months."

Choices.  I like choices.

I thought for a second and said, "Let's do the surgery."  The doc responded that is exactly what I'd do if I were you.   Surgery is next Tuesday.  I'm hoping the surgical treatment plan will likely get me back to running about two weeks after surgery.  Fingers crossed.

As an aside, some of you know part of what I'm thinking about / remembering:

1. Tyler Hamilton winning a stage of the Tour de France in 2003 while riding with a broken collarbone taped into place.  

2. Lance Armstrong falling during the 2009 Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and fracturing his collarbone.  He went on to have the same surgery I'm having and then riding the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

                   

Boston challenge #1

 I've had a bit of a setback today. While riding my mountain bike in Chelsea, I fell and broke my collarbone. Just left ER. No surgery I don't think.   At this point the pain is pretty bad. Hopefully the medicine the doctor prescribed will help with that. Not sure how long I will need to sit on the sidelines… 

 No either injuries that I'm noticing at this point. My head feels fine, my back is good, legs feel great.  

Nike Odyssey React 9.5

First run in the new Odysseys. Great. Will be great if these can be Boston shoes!

First thoughts of Heartbreak Hill today. :-)

Size 10 Epic React = Good

I like the Nike Epic React for comfort and styling but my normal size 9.5 is making the toes on my left foot bleed. The toe box is, I guessed, just a little too snug like several others have reported.

I decided to try a size 10 with the hope that the comfort would still be there but without the bleeding. Today was my first run on the bluish size 10s and the result was good! No blood and still comfort.

Boston 2019 training - and maybe losing some of the current gut - starts in about a week. Hopefully the size 10 Epic React will be a staple during the training.

Next up in my shoe reports I will review the Nike Odyssey React, size 9.5. Stay tuned and keep tri'ing.