CLEARED BY M.D.

Well yesterday I went to the doc for my 6 week check up post op. All is good. The x-ray looks good and can start lifting weights and really working on range of motion. So I should be able to get into the pool pretty soon. He said I could start riding outside but thought that it would be better if I rode my mtn bike on the road instead of my road bike. the upright postion will be more comfortable. I still can’t ski or wakeboard though and if I do ride I can’t crash, again. I was able to do 3 push ups, wow!!

I ran long on Sunday a 10 miler with Jayne and Tony. I ran most of it with Jayne at her pace which unfortunatly now seems to be my pace as well. I ran 8 mi. with her at a hr less than 150, which was damn slow. At 8 miles Tony and I took off trying to catch these 2 girls that had passed us at mile 6. We caught them within 3/4 mile but it was hard. We passed them on this tough hill that had my legs burning and my hr at 186. Needless to say I was hurting, but able to finish strong.

Long??? Run

Sunday was my 1st long run since the crash. If you can call 6 miles a long run. But it was the longest I’ve run since the end June. It felt good, however my HR was too high. But I was really trying to give Tony moral support. He ran 17 and I tagged along for the last 6. It was a beautiful morning here temp was great. My legs do feel a little sore tonight though. Tommorrow I will rest maybe an easy spin on the trainer

Making progress

Well today I made a little progress, I think. I was able to run 5 miles on the treadmill. Not fast but faster than I have been running outside. Hr was a little higher it stayed right at 160, went to 167 towrds the end by I think that had more to do with the van halen song I was listening to. Going to try 6-7 on Sunday. Tony is going 15 and I told him I would go for part of that with him. Since I got hurt he has had to all of his long runs alone and I think he misses the company. We’ll see how it goes.

Another Slow One

Well yesterday was another slow run. Trying to keep my hr below 160 is harder than I thought it would be. I can’t hardly run that slow and can’t walk that fast. Shoulder is a little sore today not sure if it’s the running or not.

I was able to read “START TO FINISH IRONMAN TRAINING” BY HUDDLE AND FREY. Not a bad read alot of good info. I’m also reading “BE IRON FIT” BY FINK. Have not read enough to form an opinion yet. But I think in the end I will end up stealing pieces from several training programs most of them seem to have something to offer.

Out of Shape

Well today was the beginning of my post crash training. Wow it’s amazing what 5 weeks of sitting on your ass can do to your aerobic capacity. I started by putting my bike on the trainer in the basement. The plan was to ride for 15-20 min and see how the shoulder felt. It hurt….but was tolerable, and I was able to go for 20 mins. But I was breathing hard and sweating like a pig. But it felt good to be doing something. Then about 4 hours later I decided I would see if my shoulder could take a little jog. So I got my running shoes on put on the hr monitor and Gus(my lab) went for a little jog. Prior to the crash I would have to leave gus at home because my runs were usually to long and to fast for his 10 yo body to take. Today though I knew that he would be fine running with my old busted ass. My should did ok, not great but ok. My hr though was rediculous. I had a hard time keeping below 160 and I was running so damn slow the dog was waiting for me. Oh well still good to back to the land of the living. The good thing is there is really only room for improvement. So at least for a while I will feel like I’m making great progress with every workout. That is always a good feeling.

Back to Blog

Well I’m back to blog, but that’s about it. Since the last time I wrote anything in my blog a lot has happened. Back in May I ran my first marathon, The Couer d’Alene. This was the focus of my training and my life for that matter everything else took the backseat. My goal was to finish in under 4 hrs. The good news was that I actually ran a 3:53:13,so I met my goal. However I was at mile 20 at 2:50, so it took me over and hour to run the last 6 miles. My first race bonk. It all felt good until that 20th mile. Then all of a sudden every step was hard, and I couldn’t seem to understand what was happening. It wasn’t until it was all over and I took an inventory of all of my nutritional goodies that I figured out that I simply ran out of gas. I ran the hole race on 1.5 GUs, 10 oz generic gatorade, and 2 Shot Blocks. Not enough for a 180 lb man running ~ 8 min/mile. Lesson learned, I hope.

The next goal was to be a half IM called Troika here in Spokane. So starting about June 7th it was time to hit the pool and the bike. Training was progressing and all was going well. I was increasing milage and feeling the benifits. Towards the end of June Ironman came to Couer d’Alene. My girlfriend and I volunteered as we did last year. This year we knew 7 people that were competing so we also there to support our friends. And what an experience to watch those people cross that finish line. The flood of emotions when the announcer says “joe blow you are an ironman” and the crowd is screaming, people are crying, hugging, kissing throwing their fists in the air claiming victory….. Victory for themselves and a victory over their former self. Very powerful!

Well now I’m relly fired to train for Troika. I have the 1st 3 weeks of July off from work. The race is 1st weekend in August so I am going to log some serious miles. The first week after Ironman I road my bike 98 miles. The next week was to be 120. On Sat. 7/1 all of that changed. 50 miles into a 60 mile ride with Jayne, my girlfriend, I made a huge mistake. I was more worried about the line Jayne was riding and not enough about my own line. And you guessed it I crashed. Not only did I crash but as I slid accross the pavement on my head,face,but and eventually back. I slid right in front of Jayne who had 2 choices, hit my bike and do a front flip or run over my head. Lucky for me she chose the bike. Unfortunatly for me though I hit the ground hard. Hard enough that when I jump up I knew right away that I either broke my collar bone or dislocated my shoulder. Jayne had her cell phone,as she always does. She called a friend and they were able to come pick us up and take me to the hospital. When I walked into the ER at the hospital, where I work. I knew all the docs and nurses working and was able to get right in. X-ray confirmed what I thought I knew, collar bone shattered. 3 visable breaks even to my untrained eye, I’m a Pharmacist so x-rays are not my gig. In that moment I knew my summer was over. A hell of a way to start my 3 week vacation. Not to mention the house remodel I was in the middle of and race I was training for, all gone. The following thursday I went to my orthopeadic guy, great guy and a friend. He called it a weber type 2 b fracture. And the only real option is surgery, tommorow. So I crashed on 7/1 and I was on the table on 7/7. lucky number what??? Anyway long story short the first week post op sucked. I slept in a recliner, which I had to go buy. The next doctor appt. 10 days post op. suture removal and x ray went great. The xray looked perfect, and the incision, about 4-5 inches doesn’t look like it will leave much of a scar. That’s the good news, bad news 6 weeks in a sling. The other pseudo good news, 2 more weeks off work. I say pseudo because I have never called in sick in my whole life, I’m 42, and have been working since I was 12. So this was the end of that. Oh well.
Well now I’m back to work, 3 more weeks with this sling. I get my bike from the shop tommorow $ 148.11 not bad. I’ll write more about my bike later. The doc gave me permission to put the bike on the trainer to spin. He also said I could get in the pool and use a kick board, this will help in more ways than 1, I’m a crappy kicker, the practice will help.
The other big thing that happened during this time and while under the influence of some very good drugs, legally obtained I might add. Jayne and I both signed up for Ironman CDA next year. more about that later as well,as that will be the focus of this blog for most of the next year I expect.
Anyway sorry for my bad grammer and horrible puctuation and any spelling errors, have not figured out how spell check works on this yet.
Bryan