Half-Ironman Training - September

It's amazing how things turn around so quickly.  I was going from a nearly sub-20 minute 5k performance to planning the 2012 season as my Boston Qualifying season.  My Half-Ironman training was ramping up pretty hard.  I was feeling great... feeling like a svelte runner/triathlete.  I was ready to finish the remaining two months with confidence.

Then some kid took a dump in a pool.

I took September 1st off from work.  One reason was actually triathlete related, but I'll get to that at a much later time.  I knew I could get a good workout in.  I decided to ride my bike to the gym at 5:30am for a swim and then do a 25 mile bike ride since the sun would be out to light my way; however, the gym's pool was closed due to Cryptosporidium.  I took off on my 25 mile ride anyway.  To make a long story short, I wrecked my bike.  6.5 hours into the month of September and I was in trouble.

The rest of the month of September pretty much sucked.  I skipped 90% of my workouts due to various reasons.  My goal was to still get in my long workouts and I was successful with that.  The midweeks workouts stopped.  My knee was really scrapped up and took a couple weeks to look decent.  I stayed out of the pool due to my knee and also because the ribs were sore enough to make body rolling painful.  I tried to keep midweek runs in and trainer rides but work was also getting in the way.

I did visit the doc early on and he gave me some medicine to help with swelling.  It was still sore all the way to September 30, so I went in for x-rays.  The phone call came and the verdict was a fractured rib.  It's been over a month and still a fractured rib!  Well, at roughly 5:30pm on September 30 (6.5 hours left to go in September), I was sitting in traffic when I felt a "pop" in my back.  Within seconds I had a wave of a nausea and lightheadedness.  Something wasn't right.

I was meeting up with TKB and Heather for dinner before they went to a play and decided to call TKB to come get me as I pulled over in downtown.  Heather arrived first and then TKB arrived to take me to North KC Hospital.  I was concerned it was fully broken.  I could feel every bump in the road.

So here we go, ANOTHER set of x-rays for the day.  And the results?  A fractured rib 7th rib on the right side.  Duh.  I already knew that.  I'm just not sure how bad it is compared to earlier that day or back on September 1.  My plan is to call the doc on Monday and see what his thoughts are.

So, what are my race plans?  Unchanged but I'm willing to adjust.  As I texted my half ironman training/race partner, Joe VI: "It may mean I just start drinking 6 hours before you." I do have a half-marathon training race on October 15 that I might cancel.  I'll make it a race day decision.  As long as I can a get a good run in next weekend, I'll still go for it.  My real concern is getting my mileage up for Rock'n Roll Las Vegas Marathon.  We'll see.

So, let's review:

Swimming: 0 meters ->  This may be a big issue for Beach2Battleship.  Thankfully I can just ride the current in my buoyant wetsuit for most of the swim :)
Bike: 125 miles / 8 hours, 19 minutes
Run: 48 miles / 7 hours, 27 minutes
Volleyball: I think I only made it once this month.  Probably going to put myself on the PUP list.
Weights:  Why do I even bother putting this on here?

Overall I probably missed 50% of my planned miles due to making most of my long runs/rides but missing the planned speed work.  I will say that I likely used my back/rib as an excuse to spend some more time in front of the computer as I have started working on my long planned iPhone/iPad app for a website I help run.  (OK, I said in my opening post that I might geek out in non-athlete stuff... don't worry, I'll keep it at a minimum).

Well, we will see how the month of October turns out.  It is my favorite month of the year, plus it's our 10th Anniversary month!