Monthly Archives: April 2015

Gonna Try Running Now

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It has been pretty much exactly 10 months since I crashed and broke my hip.  It has been a slow process getting back up to speed.  Last week I rode a little over 400 miles and it only bothered me a little.  Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the dangers involved in the sport and I’ve decided that I’m going to put cycling on the back burner and give running a try.  Competitive running.

I met a guy in Del Mar, California last year and he knew a lot of numbers.  He was telling me that Floyd Landis holds the Strava record up Torrey Pines.  He went on to say that he was really a competitive runner and that he specialized in the mile.  He knew all the mile world record times, for each age group.

He went on to tell me the times and said that I would “only” have to run a 4:35 to hold the world record for the mile in my age group.

That got me thinking.  I haven’t run a mile for a few years, but I used to run one a year, on the track, just to make sure I could run under 5 minutes.  It wasn’t a jog, but I could pretty easily run under 5 minutes without any training.  I know that wouldn’t be the case now though.

I got the thought that the reason the time is so slow is by the time most good runners are in the 50’s, they have destroyed their knees and joints enough that they can’t run.  So it makes sense that there aren’t too many guys around that can run super fast that have a running background.  So, a cyclist would be the perfect athlete to run, because we haven’t destroyed our legs.

After breaking my hip, I could barely walk, yet alone run.  But walking Bromont the last couple weeks, I’ve ran up  a hill by my house and think I can manage it.

So, today I’m planning on running to Lawrence on the River Road.  I know, 35 miles might be too big  a chunk of mileage to start off with, but I’ve ridden the road pretty much every day the past week and know it like the back of my hand.

So, I’m going to put in some earbuds and just go for it.  I only have some hiking boots, not leather, but light, so I figure that they will give me some stability, which I’ll need.

I just want to get enough of a base to start track workouts.  I figure the longer I run, the higher chance that I’ll have to injure myself, so I’m going to limit my workouts to the track.

I plan to do the  Mile World Record Attempt  by Memorial Day, the 12 month anniversary of my hip fracture.   Nice way to come back from an injury.

 

Obviously my running form is stellar, so at least I have that going for me.

Obviously my running form is stellar, so at least I have that going for me.

Ten Months in – Broken Hip

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Like I posted yesterday, it has been pretty much exactly 10 months since I fell in Quad Cites and broke my hip.  I have to admit that I am pretty surprised about how this last 10 months have went.

Historically, with injuries, I can usually jump the “doctor’s gun” and get back at it in about 1/2 the time that I’ve been told.  But, this has been different.

This has been a learning experience.  It’s not the bone that was/is the issue.  It is all the soft tissue they  cut through to get to the bone.  Having a 12 inch incision completely through my IT band wasn’t anything I had experienced before.  I’m not even sure what an IT band is, but whatever it is, it is an important part of leg function.  And that is the problem.

It was really slow going initially.  I have a very hard time believing that I raced the Chequamegon MTB race a little over 3 months after surgery.  That seems nearly impossible 7 months later.

I’ve only done two races since the break.  Chequamegon and then a team member of a 24 hour MTB race in February.  Looking back now, I am much better than I was in February.

The last two months, I‘ve had a lot of improvement.  I get pain when I ride, but only when I do an abrupt movement.  Something like my rear wheel slides out on sand and I have to do a quick response to stay upright.

Standing on one leg to put my jeans on has been impossible.  The last couple months, I’ve been doing one legged squats, while standing in the shower, and I think that has helped a ton.  I can now balance well enough to dress standing up, which is more important than you’d think.

And, yes, I plan to start running some.  Just for life.  I want to be able to do everything I did before breaking my hip.  Riding a bicycle is important, but it isn’t everything.  Running is something that has to be available to do when I don’t have a bike or just don’t feel like riding.  It might be a bit before I can go out and do a 5 minute mile again.

I plan to get back to racing pretty soon.  I was sick a lot the last month and missed all the early season training races around here.  This weekend is Easter, so there isn’t much racing going on.

Last night, on the evening ride, everyone seemed pretty animated.   I’ve been riding gravel the last week and it was really nice getting back on my road bike.  The lack of resistance was a pleasure.

The ride was fast.  And pretty hard.  The wind was blowing from the Southeast at about 25 mph.  That isn’t that usual for Kansas in early spring, but it still was a 25 mph cross/headwind going out.

Anyway, my brother Kris, started going hard maybe 10 miles from “the sprint”.  And it really didn’t slow down from there.  I was trying to keep a few guys on, that were getting dropped on hills, etc., so I was in the wind a lot.  I was surprised how out of shape I am for going fast.

I’m not sure why that surprised me so much.  I haven’t raced and don’t really do intervals, so what wouldn’t I be out of shape for riding over 30 mph.  Acutally, I was okay pulling, just the changing of speed when rotating to the back was hurting me.

So, I think I’m fit enough to race some.  There is a 100 mile gravel road race in Lawrence next Sunday, that I think I might do.  I might look around to see if there are any other races around that might suit me better.  I don’t need to be doing criteriums.  I need a hilly road race or circuit race.

Anyway, I think I am 80% of the way recovered from this whole broken hip thing.  I have to thank all the people that helped me.  All the doctors, plus friends.  But really all the emails and contacts from other riders that have had this same problem.  I got so much valuable information from other cyclists.  It kept me focused and gave me insight to what to expect, realistically.

I was told, many times, that it would be 12 months, or more, before it would feel natural.  That seems to be timeframe I’m on.  Wonder what I’ll be doing Memorial Day Weekend this year?

Lots of guys have had the hardward taken out.  I have no idea how you make that decision.  Hopefully it won't be one I have to figure out.

Lots of guys have had the hardward taken out. I have no idea how you make that decision. Hopefully it won’t be one I have to figure out.

The soft tissue trauma was the real issue.

The soft tissue trauma was the real issue.

My doctor from University of Iowa, Dr. Karam.  He is a very good orthopedic surgeon.

My doctor from University of Iowa, Dr. Karam. He is a very good orthopedic surgeon.I was very lucky crashing near him.