The Aftermath

Loooooooooongtime readers may remember that I once tried to be a triathlete.  Remember this post?  It was a very short-lived career because I hated cycling with traffic and I hated open water swimming.  Running may break your bones but it probably won't kill you.

When I dismounted my bike at my first triathlon back in 2008 I had no clue that I wouldn't sit on it again until 2013.  Poor Ferdinand has been sitting in my bedroom the last five years collecting dust.  Literally.

I thought about selling him a time or two but decided he was a sunk cost and it might be nice to have a bike one day for casual bike path rides.  I had been flirting with the idea of buying a bike trainer on and off the last five months.  But every time I came close I'd think that I'd probably be running again in a week or two and I'd put it off.  As soon as I got official word that I had a stress fracture, I bought the injured runner's white flag:

My new best friend

The above turns my carbon road bike into a glorified spin machine.  I like to say I've been cycling the last few weeks but it would be far more accurate to say I have been spinning.  I have no plans to venture into the great outdoors with Ferdinand.  The last thing I need is to break a collarbone while recovering from my stress fracture.  I even replaced my fancy clipless pedals and bike shoes for regular pedals I can wear running shoes with while riding.

I was not really looking forward to spinning but I have to say it has been strangely satisfying.  I treat the rides the way I treat runs -- fartleks, intervals, easy days, long runs.  I work up a sweat and I get my heart rate pumping.  I deeply regret not getting one months ago.  There is a good chance I may continue with this even when I return to the roads.  I have a sad feeling I have spent almost as much time on Ferdinand the last few weeks as I did when he and I were actually training for events together.

I also bought this:

My personal trainer does a lot of TRX with me and I bought my own system.  I love working with her but it is a huge financial luxury to have a personal trainer and it is not one I can stomach indefinitely.  I can pay for a year's worth of yoga with the same amount of money that will pay for six weeks of working with her the way she would like to see me.  I can't do Bikram at home but I can do strength training at home.  I wanted to find a way to make this training change a permanent one.  I am going to try to phase in my home-TRX as I segue out of personal training the next month or so.

One thing I have learned through all of this is that I have a lot of muscle imbalances and weaknesses. I used to think my ganky running form was just the way I ran.  I now know that a lot of it stems from my body trying to compensate for my inability to hold itself together when I am running.  Strength training is the solution and it is another takeaway from the stress fracture that I intend to continue working on long term.

Overall I have to say my spirits are strangely high.  In the end the knowledge there was an end to this did far outweigh the bummer of not running for X more weeks.  A part of me is even a little happy I have some time to work on my muscle weaknesses before I dive back into running.  Before the stress fracture diagnosis I viewed all of my strength exercises as things that were just not working to fix my problem.  I did hundreds of single leg squats and clamshells and my damn leg still hurt.  Now I view the things I am doing as things that are going to make me stronger and better in the future.  This change in my viewpoint has drastically improved my attitude towards everything I am doing.

In the past few weeks I may have cornily told my husband more than once, "You know, once I ran so far and so fast I broke my pelvis."  And when he asks me what I am doing I like to respond, "Building bone."  We've found the humor in the situation.