Thursday, September 1, 2011

Ouch

I've been pretty busy this week.  You know, it's football season so Fantasy Football Leagues are in full effect... tons of drafts going on.  Uh.. I mean, work has been picking up and other commitments have moved up in priority list.  So I haven't been able to get to a couple posts that are way over due (Week 9 HIM Review and my North Face Endurance Challenge Marathon Relay Race Report).

In addition, this week and next week will probably be my highest volume of training miles/time of my 18 weeks.  This week I've actually shirked on a couple of them.  I moved Friday's rest day to Monday to recover from a full weekend of activities and events, a couple at race pace.  Since I had today off, I thought I'd try to get a couple in this morning.

I decided to bike to the YMCA (2.5 miles from my front door), swim, and then get in a 25 mile bike ride.  Once the gym opened I noticed a sign that said the pool was close.  It was because of all the nasty stuff going around right now that has been effecting the water.  This was sign #1 that I ignored about the training.  The good thing about Triathlons, is there are three sports (need any more definitions?).  I decided to get the 25 mile ride in and then my 50 minute run that I skipped.

8 miles in I got warning #2.

I was going around a traffic circle when I must have taken the circle a little to wide.  This became apparent as I was in a section of the circle where there was an entrance into the circle from another road.  Due to the angle, I was right where the curb from the road met up with that of the traffic circle.  Not the curb wall but rather where the curb met up with the asphalt. The concrete curb was an inch higher than the asphalt and I think it just took my wheels out from under me.  While I landed on the non-street side of the curb, it wasn't lush grass but hard dirt.

Maybe this picture will help (doubt it).

Picture from the sky.  Some bird probably had a good laugh.
So I was heading to the curb at a good angle.

A view from a worm, also still giggling.

And then it just took my wheels out as if someone slide a 2x4 at the bottom of my tires at about 12 mph.

It went quick.  There was no chance to correct.  No wobbly riding hoping for a recovery. It was me riding  and then not riding.

I took a systems check right away.  My first thing to do was grab my right calf and it was as hard as a rock.  Whether it cramped up or prepared for impact, I'm not sure.  TKB described it as whiplash of the calf.  Shoulder hurt, ribs hurt, knees hurt.  Dirt everywhere.  I got up and walked around to ease up the calf and it turned out just sore and a little tight.  My knees got scrapped pretty well.

Bloody Stump

The good news was I was ok and my bike survived.  The bad news? I was literally at the furthest point of my ride.

I decided I could manage OK.  The bike was in good shape, so I took off for the rest of my 25 miles.  My mindset was that I could probably get in my 25 miles and my 50 minute run but I wavered until about mile 18, at which point I decided there was absolutely no reason to continue getting in miles that weren't going to be beneficial.  My heart rate was low, as well as my speed.  I don't need 3 warnings signs, as it may be the last. So I got home and cleaned up.

As scraped up as I am, I decided I should probably stay out of the pool, which is good because all YMCA pools are now closed thanks to cryptosporidium (the reason I couldn't get my swim in today).  So the open wounds now have time to heel and I won't feel guilty skipping those swims.  I AM looking for open water swim opportunities though (something I was looking for before today).  If anyone has any ideas, please comment below.

I am going to test my legs tomorrow morning to see if they are OK but that will be an extremely easy run.

I took my bike in and my rear deraileur is jacked up, so they are going to replace it and do a good look over of the bike.  I've put 1000 miles on it since the last checkup, so it's probably due anyway.  Fortunately I should have it back on Friday!!!  Go Cycle City!


3 comments:

  1. Sucks about the rear derailleur. But could of been much worse. I here carbon frames would probably have cracked...

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  2. Bummer about the bike but good thing you were not hurt worse. Have a great weekend!

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  3. oh damn. I've had a very similar crash in the past. I was actually riding on a sidewalk (before I was a real cyclist) on the way home from work. I went into the grass to get out of the way for someone, then tried to come back on and hit the edge. I lost control and went flying over my handlebars. Two things made that extra magical: 1) it was along a busy street 2) my handlebar hooked into the wasteband of my shorts on the way down and actually pantsed me. It was awesome.

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