One week after the crash - One week to go until race day

I am almost exactly half way between my crash on the road bike and Ironman USA. I have to say it has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster but for the most part I have been pretty down in the dumps.

Not training at all after intense exercise for many months is a strange feeling that can leave the endorphin addicted athlete a little moody to start with, add to that the constant worry that maybe you have blown your one big race and you have a very grouchy individual.

Monday I could only hobble. Tuesday and Wednesday I started to get some movement back but my left groin was still badly swollen. I was getting pretty nervous by Thursday with the race only 11 days away. Thursday night I managed to get in the pool for 30 minutes. I took it very easy with a pull float and I was relieved to find that my back, shoulders and arms were all functioning well with only one minor isolated pain in my tricep. I did however find myself bending at the waist to avoid pulling on my groin and I was not fully extending my arms as it would cause pain in my lower abs.

That day I had also googled Chiropractors and found one in Arlington called Capital Rehab. I chose them as they had 3 positive online reviews and they worked with a few track and field teams and seemed to be very sport orientated. I made an appointment for the following day with Dr Booker.

I arrived at the Chiropractors not knowing what to expect and met with Dr Booker. We had a chat and he asked me how important the race was to me. After I explained
what it meant to me he got his partner in and we agreed that I would see them Fri, Sat, Mon, Tue and Wed. Wendy and I had originally planned to leave for Lake Placid Tuesday night but to maximise treatment we have decided to fly up on the Wednesday.

He put me on a e-stim (tens type machine) for 10 minutes which had my leg jumping all over the place and then worked on realigning my hip and the damaged tissue in my groin, which hurt, a lot. He told me to take some herbal joint relief pills and omega capsules and agreed that I could do swimming and cycling but no running. I did feel better for having the injury worked on and I got a good impression from Dr Booker and Dr Beck. The proof will of course be in the pudding but I feel far more optimistic for the race.

I have managed to get out on the bike for 50 minutes last night which did not feel too bad. I cannot cycle while aero but I wasn't too sore this morning and it was a big psycholigical boost to get back on the bike. Today I did 15 minutes aqua-jog and then a 1500m swim. I also met with Dr Beck who continued to work on the damaged tissue which still hurt, a lot. I felt a bit daft aqua-jogging and I actually blistered my feet on the pool bottom but the exercise itself was good. It is hard to get your heart rate up but it is good resistance work for the muscles.

Tomorrow I am hoping to get in a slightly longer ride and then it will be back to chiropractor on Monday. I have put in a picture of the discolouration near my groin. The dark blue area must be where the stem or handlebars caught me and I have drawn a line around the extent of discolouration. I feel a lot better now the swelling has gone down and hopefully the pain will continue to ease off.