"Things Are Going To Start Happening To Me Now" - Navin R. Johnson

 

It's time to make a bigger plan; a plan that will get me in position to train for Ironman Coeur d' Alene in June 2012.  I say "into position" because I'm nowhere near that right now.  I've been doing some research, have cross-referenced some of my training plans from the past and have come up with the following.  This is just the macro-level plan.  It could be disrupted by injury or other unforeseen situations - but we don't want to discuss that now. 

Regarding the current state of my fitness:  Dr. Rodney Roof, my good friend, triathlete and foot surgeon from Ohio said, "You built a massive aerobic base leading up to 3 days before the Ironman in June when you broke your foot.  Your aerobic engine is likely pretty solid right now but it's going to try to write checks that your legs can't cash."  In other words, my legs are considerably weaker than my heart and I need to give them time to catch up.

Objective:  They key objective is to be prepared on October 31st to begin the Endurance Nation OutSeason 20 Week plan.  This plan is the high intensity work that is necessary to prepare for heavy Ironman distance volume in February through June. 

Here's my current status in each category and what I need to do to be prepared on October 31st.

Swim:  This is where I need the least amount of focus.  At this point I could just flop around in the water 1X per week and be fine.  I will stick to swimming 2X per week and mixing it up with some endurance and intensity.  The #1 goal is to just maintain a feel for the water.

Bike:  I can make some big gains in four weeks on the Bike with very little work.  I estimate my Functional Threshold Power to be around 245-250 watts (down from 275-280).  With 2-3 Threshold workouts per week I can bump that back to near peak levels by October 31st.  Weather-permitting I will add some volume to this as well (get in some 2-3 hour rides, etc). 

Run:  This is the wild card and the area most prone to setbacks along the way.  I am currently at a 10 minute run and I'm running nearly every day.  My pace, on average, is about 9 minute miles.  Pre-injury I was holding 6:45 minute miles while doing threshold work.  I got a long way to go.  Dr. Van Boerum cleared me to experiment with pace when I am ready.  But at this point I simply want to progress the run time up to 25-30 minutes before I start doing any intensity.  So I'm conservatively setting the goal for running to two things: #1 - progress the time to 60 minutes in duration and then #2 - experiment with some speed/pace work.

Nutrition:  I'm fat.  I've put on 10 pounds.  I am soft around the middle.  I need to drop some weight in October.  It will start coming off naturally as I ramp up my workouts but I need to pay attention to what I am eating and then just exercise some self control. 

Equipment:  My TT bike fit is still a bit off.  I am working with a guy in Rhode Island (virtually) to get it dialed in.  This needs to happen before October 31st.  

The plan is clear.  It's time to execute.  

13.5 Week Update - Bottom Line...I'm Healed

A lot has happened in the last two weeks.  Jenny and I were in Maui for a week and while there I started running again.  I slowly progressed my walking schedule up to a 60 minute walk.  On Monday, September 19th, I ran for 4 minutes during my walking "workout".  Wow!  Everything hurt: knees, quads, hips, ankles.  But my fractured foot was fine.  I've been running the last 8 out of 9 days and it's been great.  I've progressed from 4 minutes up to 10 minutes.  The goal this week is to get to 15 minutes on Sunday. 

Yesterday I had a follow-up appointment at Dr. Van Boerum's office.  X-rays look great.  Still a small notch in the cortical bone that needs to fill in.  But the fracture line can't be seen anymore and with some of the views you can't tell it was broken.  The doctor said I have "graduated" and there's no reason to come back unless I feel pain.

On the pain front things get better every day.  No joke.  I can tell a difference from day to day.  The walking/running is helping to strengthen the bone.  I can go full gas on the bike now without any issues.

More Bike Threshold Work

This morning 2 X 8' @ 258, 263 watts respectively.  Heart Rate was in a more manageable zone.  No issues.

Walking is up to a 31 minute walk.  I'm convinced that this is the single most important thing I am doing.  I feel like I get stronger everyday and my foot discomfort is less and less.  Should be able to run in less than two weeks. 

3K Swim tomorrow.

Back on Wasatch Doing Intervals

My friend Dr. Rodney Roof, a foot surgeon/ortho and Ironman triathlete from Ohio, told me last week I could probably go out and give some 5 minute intervals @ full gas a try.  The goal here is to be able to baseline or at least get a sense of where my Functional Threshold Power is.  From that number I can begin to do some focused training on the bike to build fitness.

So...this morning I rode up to Wasatch on my Cannondale.  Did a few 1 minute warm-up intervals to test the legs and more importantly, test the foot.  No issues.  Did 3 X 5' @ full gas which turned out to be 272, 271 and 271 normalized average power.  Not too shabby.  Zero foot pain...maybe a little stiffness but no pain or nothing telling me to back off.  Heart Rate was sky high - a whopping 182 bpm.  My HR hasn't been that high in years.  A true sign that fitness needs to be rebuilt. 

Based on this information I would SWAG my current FTP @ ~240 - I'd say that's conservative.  If that's the real number then I'm pretty happy.  I'm confident that in about 5-6 weeks of focused work I could build that back to 270+.  

But before I begin working on rebuilding my FTP I need to be able to handle a full 2 X 20' test.  The 2 X 20' is a very taxing workout (even for someone who's not returning from injury) and so I will wait until I see Dr. Van Boerum on Sept 26th before I attempt it.  Need to see solid signs of radiographic healing before going full gas for a total of 40 minutes.

Total ride this morning was 83 minutes with 207 average normalized power.  I haven't been at that level on a ride in more than 3 months.  Legs hurt.

Boot Burning Party!

This is the day I have been looking forward to for a long time.  I admit that I kind of hung onto the boot a little longer than necessary...just in case I needed it.  But I realized after a week of freedom from it that I wouldn't be needing it any longer.  I hope I never have to see one of these again.

As a result of our great heritage in pyrotechnics my kids are all natural-born pyros.  I doused the boot with gas and then Jake and Nick simultaneously threw matches on it and "POOF" it was on fire!  A well-executed cremation I must say.  All that was left was a charred, dead carcass of melted plastic. 

Things are progressing, very slowly I might add, on the workout front.  But bottom line, it feels good to do something and know that even easy movement is contributing to the rehab process.

Summary of Workouts:
Swim - No issues with kicking except feeling a little drag and cadence/beat of my kick is off.  Doing two swim workouts per week right now. 
Bike - Still Road bike only, haven't tried out the new TT bike yet.  Keeping it around 60' per workout, although on Saturday Jenny and I went 75'.  Watts are around 50-55% of pre-injury FTP.  No standing, no hills, small chain ring only.  Yesterday I got a little aggressive and pushed the watts up around 61% effort and paid for it later.  Foot was pretty achy after that.
Walk - Up to a 17' walk.  Progressively increasing daily.  On or about Sept 19th I will attempt to run for 4' during a walking session.  Truth is, I'm terrified of running right now.  Before I do my first run I will get it pre-authorized by Dr. Van Boerum.