Coming back from broken collarbone and surgery
THURSDAY, JULY 09, 2009
At Ironman Canada in August 2005 - my 6th IMC in a row - my front tire rolled off the rim while I was descending at 30 mph and I was launched over my handlebars. I awoke in the ambulance and enjoyed great Canadian medical care in the hospital and then as an outpatient at our hotel for the following week. I shattered my right collarbone and broke nine ribs (ouch!), punctured my lung and required stitches in my head (thank god for my helmet!) and in the arm. The punctured lung had to resolve itself before I could fly home. While in the hospital I was a bit loopy from the drugs, which I stopped as soon as I could as I do not like being on drugs, even when they are prescribed. The pain was there, but I could cope and over time it abated.
Back home here in suburban Chicago I had surgery from a great athlete/surgeon. I now sport a titanium collarbone screwed in. (It's low mass metal so, no, it does not set off the metal detectors at the airport. But they do call me Ti Man!)
A few weeks after surgery I started riding a spin bike - one-armed; I was the talk of spin class! I began running about 6 weeks after surgery - the first short run was accompanying my buddies for a bit as they were running the Chicago marathon, which I was going to run with them) and a couple of months after surgery I began to swim - lots of one-arm drills to start.
I did physical therapy for 8 months. I was very diligent on doing every bit my therapist prescribed. The normal course would have been 6 months, but my therapist and I decided I could regain a few more degrees of range of motion by working longer. I did regain more range. My surgeon calls me his "rock star" for how hard I worked to get back to form and the great results I achieved...
The following March 2006 I went to my Coach Mike Plumb's training camp in Carlsbad, CA, and started to ride seriously again. I was a little shaky on my first descent but no worries. Over time I regained my biking confidence (but make sure my tubular tires are well glued!). In April I ran the Boston Marathon and I competed in tris that summer, including Ironman Canada in August. My run and bike times were soon coming back down...
As for my swim times, they have taken four years to get back to about where I was pre-crash. That's because I do not have full range of motion on my right side. I have gotten my times back down by training more than before and working very hard on my form. I am still slow, but it's the same slow as it was pre-crash.
Since my crash I have completed 4 IMCs, maybe 6 half IMs, maybe 10 marathons and countless other races. I've won my age group or placed in various races - and done less well in others. The end of the story is that I'm still the same old me, enjoying working out and racing, despite like many other older athletes fighting minor injuries such as the achilles tendonitus I am currently dealing with.
