Post Ironman Injuries and Doctors

The first business day upon my return from the full Ironman, I had a pre-scheduled appointment for some minor, in-office surgery to remove an extremely deep plantar wart in a toe on my left foot. I was left with a gaping hole and about 1/3rd of the meaty part of the toe's interior was now gone. It was numb as I left the office, but MAN did that thing start to hurt a few hours later!! It was extremely slow to heal and bleeds and drains daily, even a month later! I am still limping and wincing in pain with literally every step.

I went for my first post-Ironman run about two weeks ago. This was a deliberately-slow run over my Cal State Long Beach 5-mile loop, a course I know well. To force myself to go very slow, I brought our Border Terrier, Billy The Kid, along for the run; this was a first for both of us.

About 3 miles into this very easy, very slow jog, all of a sudden, BOTH "IT Bands" adjacent to my knees began to painfully rub on the outside of the knee joint. I could not run at all. I was wobbling from side to side and could barely walk.

This happened to both knees literally within minutes of each other. The only other time I had serious IT Band issues was during the full Ironman race. We traced this problem back to incorrect seat height following the frantic rush to replace my bike following the accident where I was hit by a car.

But for both knees to go out at the same time, that is really perplexing and I simply cannot explain it. I'm stumped!

My coach, David Warden, has me now seeing a Physical Therapist and that is going quite well. I am excited about the exercises and the stretching and am hopeful that this treatment may lead to solutions with the myofacial pain syndrome/trigger point in my left upper trapezoid and also with my deep hip socket pain as well as the IT Bands. Only one session so far.

I found a new Podiatrist to check on my theory that perhaps one leg is shorter than the other. Why else would all of my problems and injuries consistently be on my left side? Also, it was the left IT band that went haywire on the bike, and that made perfect sense! If my left leg was shorter than the right, then it would be forced by the bike's crank arm to travel further on the downstroke, stretching that IT band more and more with each successive pedal rotation.

The Podiatrist performed several tests and measurements to conclude that the left side of my body is in fact shorter by about 3/8ths of an inch. But note that I said the left side of my "body" is shorter..not just the left leg. It seems that I am extremely taught/tight in terms of inflexibility. I may also have some vertebrae that need to be popped back in alignment in my upper back. All of these issues may be in collusion to be causing these problems. A small shim was placed into the bottom of my left shoe. I find it very uncomfortable but am going to give it two weeks and see if I notice any changes. It is very painful on the left heel, as if all my weight is bearing on that one heel. Is the pad too thick? Hummmm. Perhaps they have over-adjusted.

The Podiatrist also cut the "cap" or top layer of skin off of my one-month old toe surgery as the surface of the wound had formed a very tough "pudding skin" but there was no healing going on inside that gaping hole, so he opened the wound all over again! There are days when I honestly think that I'd like them to hack off the offending appendage just to relieve the constant throbbing and the limping.

Limping, by the way, causes all kinds of additional problems: it's the law of unintended consequences. I place more weight on my right side and the outside of the right foot in order to relieve the constant pain on the left foot. Now it seems that the right foot has three cracked metatarsals or acutely strained tendons.

The foot has 26 bones, 107 ligaments and 32 muscles and tendons It is an extremely delicate piece of equipment. Limping or favoring one side over the other is just asking for trouble.

I also made my first visit to a Urologist to check things out. No more hemmrohoids (whew!) which I believe were caused by so much time in the saddle on those long weekend rides. Everything checked out perfectly, so that is one area that is doing fine.

Finally, and stop here if you are queazy...

The last of my toenails have either fallen off or I have yanked them out. It sounds absolutely horrible and shocking, but the truth of the matter is that the toenails are FAR FAR more painful to leave in, than when they are removed. Sure it hurts at first, but once the entire nail is removed and the skin heals-over, there is nothing to cause any pain.

My toenails have had serious problems since the Bulldog 50K Ultramarathon run in the Malibu mountains. Ever since then, my nails have been black and blue from banging the front of my shoes on the steep downhill portions of the three-loop, 31-mile run. Then, running the marathon portion of the Ironman last month was the final straw, and most of the nails are now all removed.

But I am relieved and happy to say that there is no pain whatsoever in those toes, except for the gaping hole from the plantar wart removal procedure.

The hip is not as painful, the trapezoid gives me daily reminders but is tolerable, and the IT Bands do not hurt at all when I am just walking around.

The real test of the IT Bands will be doing some easy 2 - 4 mile runs with my son Connor, over the Holidays.

My Coach and Equipment

My Coach:
I am very priviledged to be working with the world's leading researcher on Tri-Specific training issues, the #1 Podcaster and incredible coach for triathlon, David Warden.

We share a very strong interest in researching the facts and numbers and science of training. David works very closely with Joe Friel, the father of all Triathlon training and the author of nearly all leading Tri-specific training books, including the best selling Triathlete's Training Bible.

Our Relationship:
David is not a cheerleader coach, rather, his coaching is based on science and tracking the data.Recording the Workouts:I record every run with a heart rate monitor and GPS (Garmin Forerunner 405). The pace, HR, distance and all other relevant data is forwarded to David every day. I record every bike workout with a PowerMeter (Powertap 2.4 wireless by CycleOps). The watts produced by my cycling, along with my cadence, heart rate, speed and all other data, are recorded and sent to David for detailed analysis. Progress is monitored and tracked. New workouts are developed based upon my recent results.

My swim workouts take place in my Endless Pool (www.EndlessPools.com). This is a 9' x 12' above ground pool with an extremely powerful hydraulic motor that creates a current of up to 3 mph. I swim in this current like a salmon swimming upstream. I typically swim at about 2 - 2.25 mph in this pool, but I don't know how that will equate in open water. It's an incredible piece of engineering and we also use the pool on the weekends as a huge hot tub/spa. The pool was extremely expensive, and in hindsight, may not have been worth the expense. But I will say that it is definitely better than a lap pool because there are no walls to kick off; you are swimming in the current the entire time.

While I have some of the world's finest bikes and equipment, it won't make me any faster; speed is up to me.

I Won't Be Bullied or Pressured to Wear His Uniform!

My coach's company recently mandated that all athletes are now "required" to purchase and wear the uniform which prominently displays his company name and its sponsors. So beginning in 2008, all athletes must wear the company race uniform. Ostensibly, this change is so that we can feel like we are part of a team, but the requirement and mandate felt so heavy-handed and obviously one-sided that I made the extremely difficult decision several hours ago to end my wonderful coaching relationship with Amanda. Amanda has been great and she coached me through a broken ankle and other mishaps to ultimately record a PR in the Carpinteria Triathlon. My time was so significantly better than my best case scenario that I was stunned. She is awesome and did a terrific job.

I do feel terribly about losing my coach, and it's no fault of hers at all. While I do respect the decision of the small business owner to change his policy and require athletes to purchase and wear his company-branded race uniform, I disagree so vigorously with his demanding style and approach to charge his athletes to be his literal billboards on the racecourse, that I can no longer affiliate with his company. Philosophically, and on so many other levels, I just completely disagree with his business approach.

I signed up for a coach, not to be a sponsored athlete; I want to make my own choices about whose gear I wear or whom I decide to represent. And my choice is to represent my great friend Tom. But according to my former coaching company, I would be breaking my contract with them if I were to wear his "TomStrong" gear during a race, and that is completely unacceptable to me. Please see Tom's story and link to the right, in "My Support Team."

Of course, now I have no coach at all, and no real prospects. And so I begin the search to find someone that can help me stay focused through the long months ahead as I work toward my first big test which is the Hawaii Ironman 70.3 Triathlon on May 31, 2008.