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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Kurt Godel wrote: »altogethernow...
"Just the knee???";)
Hey now....I didn't tell them about tethering myself to the endless pool!
:D 0 -
Thursday, March 5th, 2015
Snow, snow, snow and more snow. :eek: Good grief, yesterday it was in the 50s (Fahrenheit), and today it was below freezing. And due to the snow, I didn't make it home from work over lunch, but we closed up shop early so I got two different training tasks done back to back in the late afternoon/early evening.
Run plan: 60 minutes on the water treadmill
After two days of no tub trotting, it took just a little bit to find my sea legs and get into the right rhythm. I set the wave current to 2:02/100 yards, but somehow without me realizing it, the clock actually settled on 1:57 so this run was actually done a wee bit "faster" than I had intended. No harm. It felt good.
Actual run: 60 minutes movin' and groovin' in a tank full of water
Trainer
With my knee/leg the way it is, I have not dared come within 50 feet of the Cat, but tonight I felt it was time to see what would happen if I tried some spinning. I went super, super easy...and I was ready to bail at anytime if there was a hint of anything foul...but all went pretty well. Until I get the MRI done (I got it moved up one day to next Wednesday) and know the results, any time on the trainer will be spent with caution and care.
Actual trainer: 60 minutes of spinning like a sissy
:(
And I hit the mat for some stretching and foam rolling to finish off the evening. Neither cat could be arsed.0 -
Friday, March 6th, 2015
Run plan: 60 minutes on the water treadmill
A crazy lunchtime splashy-trot at a 1:57/100 yard wave current pace. With my entire outside world painted white with snow and the sun in full glory today, I could've used a pair of sunglasses for this since I was basically blinded by the brightness coming from the window in front of me. But I'm not complaining, trust me....I'll take hippy-happy sunshiny-sunshine any day of the week!! And the aqua-run was fine. I concentrated on really working the legs while a revolving ticker-tape of inspiring and empowering words rolled through my mind. Hey, whatever gets you through the session, right?:)
Actual run: 60 minutes running in the tub
Swim
I knew I wanted to do a little spiffy interval work tonight, so I just let this session evolve....
30 minutes non-stop at 1:24/100 yard wave current pace
3 x (5 x 50 strokes at 1:16/100 yard wave current pace, 10 seconds rest) w/1 min rest between sets
20 minutes w/pull buoy at 1:21/100 yard wave current pace
The first 30 minutes were fine, other than the fact that my neck and shoulders were a little stiff and sore, perhaps from some quality swimming earlier in the week. ??
The spiffy intervals were also fine. They were work, but the work required at the 1:16 pace was welcome and appropriate. Originally I had considered doing 4 sets, but I was honestly starting to slip a little bit on the 3rd set so I decided there was no point beating a dying horse.
The 20 minutes w/pull buoy at 1:21 was potentially the toughest task in this session. Arms were hanging off me, and it took the little chat that I had with myself to keep it classy. In the end, I was satisfied with this entire session as I felt it was full of quality.
Actual swim: ~4,000 meters swimming in place0 -
Saturday, March 7th, 2015
Run plan: 60 minutes on the water treadmill
Ugh. I'm going through my periodic cycle of not being able to sleep at night. I can usually fall right to sleep, but at some point I wake up, and then I'm wide awake for 1 or 2 or 3 hours. Last night was 3 hours. So today I was dragging @ss most of the day, which made me procrastinate to get this done...but....
I did this at a wave current pace (forever now will be known as "wcp") of 1:57/100 yards and I really worked the legs. I have to. I have not been able to road run for 3 weeks now and I worry my run fitness is slipping away. The good news is my leg and knee have gotten to the point that they feel pretty close to 100% while running in water, and that's why I am upping the strength effort on these tub trots. And, I've figured out why my neck and shoulders are so sore! It's not from upping the difficulty of the swim sessions....it's from upping the effort while running as I noticed I am tensing my neck and shoulders while really working it. !!
Actual run: 60 minutes of tub trotting
Trainer
I hopped on the Cat immediately after the tub trot and I spent 60 minutes spinning with care as to not aggravate anything. Unlike 2 nights ago on the Cat, I actually broke a sweat with this one.
Actual trainer: 60 minutes of cautious spinning
I hit the mat all by my lonesome and did some creaky stretching and painful foam rolling.
Swim
This was just an early evening recovery swim to shake out the day. I set the wcp to a very slow and relaxed 1:30/100 yards...and after a few minutes of slow-mo stroking, I got a wild hair and flipped over and started doing backstroke.
Ah....the good old days when this was what I shined at. It was fun...but because I couldn't tell how close I was getting to the front of the pool, I routinely hit it with my hands. No biggie though. So, I swam some free, then some back, and then I even tossed in a bit of breast stroke, but I had to be very careful of my knee with breast. Knee seemed to do okay, but the frog kick definitely unearthed soreness in my quad that I thought was long gone. Wrong!!
Actual swim: 30 minutes of mixing it up fun-style for approximately 1,800 meters0 -
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Sunday, March 8th, 2015
We lost an hour of sleep last night with that spring forward thing, and today has felt like a very long day....so this will be as brief as I can make it!
Run plan: 2 hours on the water treadmill
I did this as sort of a progression run, upping the wave current pace (wcp) every 30 minutes - 2:02 to 1:57 to 1:52 to 1:48. I have never gone beyond 1:52 before, so this was a small little breakthrough for me. Solid effort - legs (and entire body) knew they were doing a bit of work here, but the Green Day channel on Pandora provided me with a take no prisoners attitude that only enhanced the entire aquatic experience. Oh...and just to add a whiff of raw to the situation, I had both garage doors up to allow the brisk air to waft in. This was all business.
Actual run: 2 hours of quality on the water treadmill
Trainer
It was me, the Black Cat and the boys of the Paris-Nice prologue battling it out for first place in today's initial race. I can't really remember the fella's name who won the stage (Tony Martin was third!), but I do know it definitely wasn't me. However, this was another good spin. I eased into the effort, constantly keeping my leg/knee in mind.
Actual trainer: 60 minutes of spinning
There was a bit of stretching and foam rolling that took place when I hopped off the Cat. I've still got some pockets of pain in my left quad. Wow. 3 weeks now!
Field Run
Okayokayokay.....it was just so damn gorgeous outside, and it's been 6 days since I last tried to run on land, so I had to see what would happen if I tried running in the field. My goal was one loop around, and I had promised myself to do no harm. !!! Long story short....it was no good. Nope. Not really even close. I made it one time around (in the snow), but it was pretty ugly. Looks like it's another week of tub trotting madness!!!
Actual field run: one time around, or .7 miles, of ugly running shuffling
Swim
A nice, slow recovery swim to bring it all down a notch. 30 minutes at 1:30/100 yards...and I mixed it up with free, back and a small amount of breast. Loving the backstroke...and if I do much more of it I'll need to up the pace as I keep banging into the front of the pool with my arms. And I had this crazy thought while I was swimming on my back...how cool it would be to get backstroke flags. !!! The whole concept got me pretty tickled.
Actual swim: ~1,800 meters recovery0 -
Monday, March 9th, 2015
Run plan: 30 minutes easy
This was a little sneaky lunchtime splash and dash at a wcp of 1:57/100 yards. Running in water is funny - even at a lower intensity wave current, you can work it if you want to just by moving the arms and legs a little faster and more deliberately, thus creating greater resistance. Note to self: stay away from the Green Day Pandora station while doing easy sessions.
Actual run: 30 minutes splashing around with Green Day
Swim
After two days of recovery swims, I wanted to infuse a bit of quality into tonight's session.....and I think I did just that.
30 minutes @ wcp 1:24/100 yards
@ wcp 1:16/100 yards - 2 x (5 x 50 strokes, 1 x 100 strokes, 10 seconds rest) w/1 minute rest between sets
@ wcp 1:15/100 yards - 1 x (5 x 50 strokes, 1 x 100 strokes, 10 seconds rest)
15 minutes w/pull buoy @ wcp 1:21/100 yards
The 1:16 interval pace seemed a bit more manageable this evening than it did last Friday, which was good for me since I had decided to push the number strokes by adding a 100 stroke interval to the end of each set. In fact, I felt good enough tonight during the 1:16 stint that I made the executive decision to up the pace to 1:15 for the last set. But the icing on the cake that had my arms hanging off me was the final 15 minutes w/pull buoy at 1:21. I was done at that point. Arms were done at that point. And, due to all this endless pool action, I think I'm starting to see the beginnings of some gun action. Bring on the sleeveless tanks!
Actual swim: ~3,900 meters in a tub of water0 -
Tuesday, March 10th, 2015
Running in water plan: 30 minutes easy, am....60 minutes easy, pm
Ah, up nice and early at o'dark-hundred for this first little splish splash. GOOOOD MOOOOR-NIIIIIING!! Wave current pace was a mere 2:02/100 yards, but that was enough for a sleepy head like me.
The second tub trot was done at high noon at a wcp of 1:57/100 yards and was much livelier than the earlier trot. Nothing too remarkable with either of these runs, but both were quite enoyable.
Actual runs: 30 minutes easy, am...60 minutes, pm....both done in the tub
Trainer
I decided to give my upper body a break this evening (swimming + running in shoulder deep water = tired upper body) and hopped on the Cat for 60 minutes. I'm still being cautious with these spins, but hoping to bring a little quality into these sessions very soon....and who knows, maybe even take it to the road! Fingers crossed.
Actual trainer: 60 minutes of sweaty spinning
There was a little stretching and foam rolling going on post spin. I am still freakin' amazed at the pockets of soreness still in my left quad. I cannot decide if it is residual soft tissue damage from running with muscle cramping at Donadea, or if it is radial pain from the knee caused by the Ballyhoura bike injury. Whichever it is, it's quite impressive! :eek:0 -
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Okay....well....I have a fractured femur. (wft??) Yep, my left femur is fractured. :eek:
:eek:
F*ck.
Cue the strange thoughts that pop in my mind....
Can the title of this chapter of my training life be:
"The Ballyhoura Bike Ride that Broke the Biggest Bone in My Body"
...since I have maintained for the last 3 and a half weeks that the "knee" injury occurred when I fell off the mountain bike and wrenched it to the point that I heard and felt a pop which was followed by severe pain? Still very plausible. The pop could have been the bone breaking, no doubt...and the orthopedist agreed with this.
But the orthopedist also asked some questions that have me wondering if the title of this chapter of my training life might more accurately be:
"The Donadea 50k and the Femur that Fractured and Fecked my First Ever DNFinish"
???
Thinking back to the race....was the pain (starting at 20k) in my hamstring that moved to my quad and then to my IT band and finally to my knee actually my femur fracturing and not muscle cramping and related pain? Was my knee buckling at the start of the 5th lap a warning of my bone breaking? Was the fact that ecoli had to carry me to and from due to the severe pain I was in a sign of something more serious than soft tissue damage? And then when I fell off the bike at Ballyhoura the very next day and heard and felt that pop, was that just the final straw that broke the camel's back, and the icing on the cake? And there was something ecoli and I were managing but I never mentioned on my log - I had been dealing with an issue with my right leg in the weeks prior to Donadea. The issue resolved, but I would imagine that while dealing with the issue I was adding stress to the left leg - the leg with the fracture. Had I compromised/stressed the left leg prior to the race?
Any way. Just my thoughts.
As far as how I proceed, the radiologist has recommended immobilization of my leg and me on crutches. The bone is not displaced and he wants it to stay that way. The orthopedist, however, does not necessarily believe I need immobilization or crutches...she reasons that I have been dealing with this fracture for 3+ weeks now, and that as long as I behave myself it should heal just fine. How does she define "behaving myself"? Basically not doing anything that causes me any pain. She has given me the green light to swim, spin, and run in the tub ONLY if I have no pain. Hmm. Pain. Some close to me are already questioning my ability to recognize and acknowledge pain. But I will behave. I've already got 3+ weeks of bone healing behind me....and I do not want to go backwards now! As far as how long I can expect the healing process to take, I was told maybe 6 to 8 weeks. I go back in 3 weeks for a follow up x-ray, and I'll probably know a lot more then.
When I woke up this morning, I never in a million years thought I'd be told my left femur is fractured - I was worried about a torn meniscus. However, in some ways maybe this is a better diagnosis - no surgery if I behave, and no joint with all its moving parts to fret about. In retrospect, this diagnosis makes sense - it fits. Now I have answers....clarity.....and an inconvenient opportunity to try and turn this obstacle into my advantage. As some would say around here, onwards and upwards! 0 -
Christ I haven't popped in here in a while...OK I'm going to say something you won't like, stop training!!!
I'm very surprised about what the orthopedist has said, you have picked the advice you like the most (we all would) but I would go for something in the middle. Stop training, rest and let it heal. You have nothing to gain by continuing to train on it. Swim in the tub a bit but anything else would be out for me, cycling and running are a no no. At least rest up for 3 weeks until your next x-ray...make sure the advice that time isn't to immobilise. If it is then, you'll be immobilised for 6-8 weeks THEN and you'll have lost 3 weeks!
P.s I reckon it was dancing with tunney that did the damage 0 -
Wow! Dory does not do things by halves that's for sure!!!
Fair play though. You've been using a fractured femur pretty much as normal for three weeks and haven't caused any displacement ..... a feat in itself. I bet none of your prehistoric ancestors were eaten by wolves
Hope you heal quickly 0 -
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RacoonQueen wrote: »
P.s I reckon it was dancing with tunney that did the damageAbsolutely. Blame tunney
Look I admit it - I should have expected what happened. I had a few drinks and I didn't expect it and the alcohol dulled my reactions. I just couldn't catch her when she swooned as we went up to dance and she landed awkwardly on her leg.0 -
this is old school ....
dnf a race mountinbiking the next day ....
( had to say it and you know why )
ps a good lesson to learn and seems like you were luckyOkay....well....I have a fractured femur. (wft??) Yep, my left femur is fractured. :eek::eek:
F*ck.
Cue the strange thoughts that pop in my mind....
Can the title of this chapter of my training life be:
"The Ballyhoura Bike Ride that Broke the Biggest Bone in My Body"
...since I have maintained for the last 3 and a half weeks that the "knee" injury occurred when I fell off the mountain bike and wrenched it to the point that I heard and felt a pop which was followed by severe pain? Still very plausible. The pop could have been the bone breaking, no doubt...and the orthopedist agreed with this.
But the orthopedist also asked some questions that have me wondering if the title of this chapter of my training life might more accurately be:
"The Donadea 50k and the Femur that Fractured and Fecked my First Ever DNFinish"
???
Thinking back to the race....was the pain (starting at 20k) in my hamstring that moved to my quad and then to my IT band and finally to my knee actually my femur fracturing and not muscle cramping and related pain? Was my knee buckling at the start of the 5th lap a warning of my bone breaking? Was the fact that ecoli had to carry me to and from due to the severe pain I was in a sign of something more serious than soft tissue damage? And then when I fell off the bike at Ballyhoura the very next day and heard and felt that pop, was that just the final straw that broke the camel's back, and the icing on the cake? And there was something ecoli and I were managing but I never mentioned on my log - I had been dealing with an issue with my right leg in the weeks prior to Donadea. The issue resolved, but I would imagine that while dealing with the issue I was adding stress to the left leg - the leg with the fracture. Had I compromised/stressed the left leg prior to the race?
Any way. Just my thoughts.
As far as how I proceed, the radiologist has recommended immobilization of my leg and me on crutches. The bone is not displaced and he wants it to stay that way. The orthopedist, however, does not necessarily believe I need immobilization or crutches...she reasons that I have been dealing with this fracture for 3+ weeks now, and that as long as I behave myself it should heal just fine. How does she define "behaving myself"? Basically not doing anything that causes me any pain. She has given me the green light to swim, spin, and run in the tub ONLY if I have no pain. Hmm. Pain. Some close to me are already questioning my ability to recognize and acknowledge pain. But I will behave. I've already got 3+ weeks of bone healing behind me....and I do not want to go backwards now! As far as how long I can expect the healing process to take, I was told maybe 6 to 8 weeks. I go back in 3 weeks for a follow up x-ray, and I'll probably know a lot more then.
When I woke up this morning, I never in a million years thought I'd be told my left femur is fractured - I was worried about a torn meniscus. However, in some ways maybe this is a better diagnosis - no surgery if I behave, and no joint with all its moving parts to fret about. In retrospect, this diagnosis makes sense - it fits. Now I have answers....clarity.....and an inconvenient opportunity to try and turn this obstacle into my advantage. As some would say around here, onwards and upwards!0 -
Wow, I con't believe that you've been training with a broken Femur, look at your log since you got back from Ireland, you've been doing as much and more than us unbroken peeps - you're a machine. You must have an incredibly high pain threshold, which is great but I guess you have to listen more closely to your body to hear it scream when a bone breaks.
It's fantastic that you're taking the positive from it though, it's a great attitude to have. Listen to the advice of the rest of the gang on here, they're speaking from experience. Put your feet up, keep giving me great advice, take the time to plan your events for the rest of the year and you'll come back stronger and more determined 0 -
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PS. I was getting a very painful calf kneading from a physio this morning, which only stopped when I told him your story. "A fractured FEMUR?!!? And she's been exercising ever since?!?" He reckons you must have a massive pain threshold. And then he went back to work on me twice as hard and told me to stop crying, it wasn't like I had a broken femur or anything 0
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I have seen her laugh getting needling done. I think she has that synesthesia syndrome where people smell colours and stuff, but she confuses pain with tickles or something.Kurt Godel wrote: »PS. I was getting a very painful calf kneading from a physio this morning, which only stopped when I told him your story. "A fractured FEMUR?!!? And she's been exercising ever since?!?" He reckons you must have a massive pain threshold. And then he went back to work on me twice as hard and told me to stop crying, it wasn't like I had a broken femur or anything0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »PS. I was getting a very painful calf kneading from a physio this morning, which only stopped when I told him your story. "A fractured FEMUR?!!? And she's been exercising ever since?!?" He reckons you must have a massive pain threshold. And then he went back to work on me twice as hard and told me to stop crying, it wasn't like I had a broken femur or anything
Legend
Best of luck healing Dory, there will be a lot of us sending karma your way.0 -
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Thursday, March 12th, 2015
Run plan: 30 minutes easy in the tub, am....60 minutes easy in the tub, pm
Like the optimistic, glass half full, rose colored glasses, never say die, and nothing is impossible kind of gal that I am, I popped out of bed at 4:45 and happily trotted downstairs to the pool to get this first session done, satisfied in the belief that even though I had a fractured femur, and confident I could still continue with my current training trajectory. Whoop whoop. Swim, spin, and pool run. I love my pool running...and secretly I've been thinking that it's sort of like this cool and interesting experiment to see how much running fitness a person can maintain while running exclusively in water. I've also been seeing some appealing physical changes to my body from running in water, and I believe my core is benefiting from it as well. So....life as I knew it at 4:45 this morning seemed pretty good, under the circumstances. Yay me with the broken leg. Woo hoo!
Cue the boards' replies above. :eek: Cue an email from ecoli. :eek: Cue my call to the radiologist. :eek: Cue a conversation with the orthopedist. :eek:
F*ck. Well, there goes tub trotting for the next 3 weeks.
Actual run: 30 delusional minutes in the tub, trotting happily to happy thoughts about how well I'm doing
(P.S. - Thank you everyone for your wise words above. When you think you're unbreakable, it's hard to see the obvious.)
Swim
I just felt like swimming. I didn't want any clutter...I didn't want to think...so I just swam...at a faster pace than I normally swim at....but I suspect I'll be pushing myself more in the pool....starting....now.
The first 30 minutes were at a wcp of 1:21/100 yards....the second 30 minutes were with the pull buoy and at a wcp of 1:19/100 yards. The last 10-15 minutes of this was a push as I'd get behind the pace periodically and then have to claw my way back.
I have a new pool toy coming tomorrow. A digital pace clock (that is submergible! (not that I'll submerge it...but...)) so I can start doing swim sessions that more closely mimic conventional swim sessions. I'll still be doing plenty of long swims, but this clock should afford me the option of some nice interval work. Fingers crossed the clock is as good as I hope it to be!
Actual swim: ~4,050 meters in the tank0 -
Ok almost feel new to these parts I've missed so much but, hold on..
Fractured Frickin' Femur :eek: FFS I thought I was being silly training with a fractured patella last autumn but a Fractured Freakin' Femur FFS..
You have gone to whole new level of chocolate covered brazil nuts girl!
Jeez, between this and Oryx's log... Our hoochies are just Chuck Norris Hard 0 -
Can't believe the injury, the grid rolling on the injury and even attempted runs with this injury but then you weren't to know up until very recently and you were doing all you could to help recovery based on what you'd been told. Thankfully the medical advice you've had recently and your own common sense prior to that means that they're happy that what you've been doing to some extent has not caused further damage or slowed the healing process. 'Moving about' and 'Keeping active' may be a tenuous stretch from your training in last 4 weeks but hey ...
The endless pool and treadmill within has already paid for itself ! Eat well, rest well, plan well and mind yourself as you go about it 0 -
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Don't mind those soft pansies Dory - out you go for some trail running!
And you f*cking took me mountain biking on a fractured femur!
(Radiologist told me yesterday that images indicate this started as a stress fracture...so, the Donadea theory it is! Which in some twisted way makes me feel better about my dnf.)0
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