Pre-Ironman Training and Bike Shopping
I believe that I can officially say that I will be competing at Coeur d'Alene Ironman in August. While I kept it hopeful prior to and immediately after surgery there was still that part of my mind that was didn't want to get my hopes up too much in case recovery did not go well. Since it has become apparent that recovery is going very well it is safe to say that on August 21st just one week prior to our one year anniversary I will be standing there with 1000s of other age groupers to make the journey to 140.6 miles and becoming an Iron(wo)man. That puts me in the pre-ironman training stage (which is what I am calling the last part of my road to recovery). I have not been cleared to bike or run just yet but I can swim and do strength training for my legs and LOTS of walking.
Training
I hopped in the pool twice this week for 40 mins and then 55 mins. Due to not being cleared to kick I am using a pool buoy for the duration of the swim, which is actually helping my form; I have a tendency to relax my abs when I swim which causes my hips to drop and rotate.
My husband got me an Audio Flood iPod for Christmas which has been a BLESSING. My biggest issue with swimming had always been how bored I got with it. I usually only lasted about 30 mins before it felt like the seconds were crawling by. Now with a little music blasting through my mind not only do I have more energy but it makes the time go by so much quicker. I just clip it onto my goggles and away I go!!
I am still not officially cleared to hop on the bike and not cleared yet to run, however I am contemplating self clearing myself this next week to hop on the spin bike and begin spinning with light resistance. It is becoming much more difficult for myself to maintain the patience I have kept during the recovery, and let me tell you I have been so good!! The main reason for not being cleared to ride the bike is due to still having some residual irritation in the joint capsule. During the surgery part of the repair was to shave off a bit of the femur head and the labrum in order to make a smooth surface between the two this procedure caused trauma to the joint capsule that is still healing. The idea behind not hoping on the bike is to prevent more irritation due to the repetitive motion of being on the bike. What it boils down to is that if I can get the joint to calm down to a point where I can stretch it out and/or get it to relax on its own I will be cleared before the surgeon officially clears me.
In place of no running or biking I am walking every day and an incline, and doing strength training for my hip and leg.
Here are some of the exercises I am doing: Hip extension and flexion with tubing Hip abduction with tubing Squats with dumbbells (no loading on my back) Leg extension with machine Hamstring curl with machine
Bike Shopping
Probably the best part of the pre-ironman training is the bike shopping :) Previous to this year I have been on a beginner tri bike with an aluminum frame and it is time for an upgrade. The two bikes that we (I say we because while I'm the one riding it really my husband is doing the shopping) are looking at are Giant and Qunitana Roo.
Giant Liv Envie Advanced Tri 1
This weekend we went to a local shop, Cycle Metrix ,where I tried out the Quintana Roo and I immediately fell in love with it. For someone who has very little flexibility in both my hips and back one of the issues I had with my other bike was a lot of tension in my back which made the transition from bike to run more difficult, and on the Quintana Roo there was very little tension on my back. The owner of the shop was really awesome in not just having me hop on the bike and spin it but making sure that it fit me properly before giving it a try.
We haven't made a full decision just yet but I can't wait until one of these two bikes shows up at my door!! Going and trying out bikes made it seem all that more real that I really can do this. I am looking forward to seeing how my splits improve not only from the new gear but from my body being a point in which it is healthy and not always fighting it self.
Until you face your fears, you don't move to the other side, where you find the power
-Mark Allen