OneTriGuy

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Finally Had My Plate Removed

The plate that was installed to help fix my clavicle fracture was a mixed blessing. On one hand, the plate served an important purpose—to fix my broken clavicle in the correct position for proper healing. This, it did quite perfectly. I can happily say that my shoulder is back to its pre-crash state, minus a little muscle toning, which will come in time. On the other hand, the plate was in such a position that any pressure on top of it caused a fair amount of pain. It got in the way (read: hurt) when wearing a seatbelt, hoisting a backpack, and worst of all, playing rough with my two young sons. Clearly, it had to go. Thankfully, our bodies heal quickly, and once the bone was mended, the plate served little purpose. It didn’t take long for me to ask my doctor if he  could take it out, which he…

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IRONMAN Shift Data Analysis

Shifts on Map

After waiting most of the summer to update my Di2 system’s firmware, I finally stopped by Endure It to have Erik update my system. With this update and the D-Fly module I am now able to record shift data within my Garmin fit files. There are many training benefits from having this information alongside my heart rate, power, cadence, and speed data. Unfortunately, Garmin has not decided how they want to deal with this data, so you’re stuck figuring out to do with it on your own. Enter Di2Stats.com Thankfully a professor at Samford University has built a website (Di2Stats.com) that helps us visualize Di2 shift data in several helpful ways. Without Brian’s help, I don’t think there’s a consumer facing way to do anything with this valuable data. While this site is still in “project” mode, according to Brian, it is complete enough to help me see several errors I made during my first IRONMAN. What follows…

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Why buy a bike when you can build it?

As I’ve fallen more and more in love with the sport of triathlon, it’s become clear to me (though perhaps not my wife) that I was in need of a triathlon or TT bike. It was also clear to me that I was not going to drop $5000-$10,000+ on a brand name bike built of a Chinese-made frame and off the shelf Shimano components. While these brand name frames are undoubtedly very slippery and of high quality, until I get my dental certificate, I’d prefer to buy a frame inspired by the name brands, for a fraction of the cost, directly from China and bolt on the same components myself. So, I started looking on Alibaba and stumbled upon the MC-095 from Miracle Bikes. I contacted “Jenny” and we began talking about the frame. She sent me CAD drawings with dimensions and I compared the frame to my body dimensions. As best I could…

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I’m back at it.

The sling officially came off this past Thursday! I celebrated with a slow 5k around the neighborhood in the rain. On the bright side, the run was not as bad on my legs as I had expected. On the less than bright side, my abs were screaming. Something about avoiding using my abs for 6 weeks while my broken ribs healed. The next day I pushed it a bit harder and did 5 miles in the heat and humidity. Barring the annoyance of the heat/humidity, my body was feeling good all around. Though Sunday felt like a post-marathon day, with each stair an exercise in pain tolerance. Good pain tolerance. I missed that pain. My shoulder is feeing significantly better. Basic movement is of no annoyance. Only lifting up as if signaling a touchdown and to the side as if signaling to turn left are issues. Thankfully, this is just the…

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And the x-rays are in

I must admit, I am very pleased with the work done by my surgeon, Dr. Stephen Chudik. My clavicle went from a 120° angle to arrow straight. Through an open reduction, internal fixation procedure (ORIF), Dr. Chudik was also able to stitch the bone back together perfectly, giving it the best possible chance to heal correctly.     The before and after surgery x-rays are even more impressive. It’s clear that this “elective” surgery was only barely elective. (Give them a click below to see them larger.) Had I chosen to let the bone heal naturally I can’t imagine that I would have regained full function of my shoulder joint. This break would have, at minimum, severely impacted my swimming, if not everything else in my life.     My new jewelry is just over 2.5″ long and the long screw is ¾” long. It’s quite obvious that something is there under my skin,…

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I refuse to slow down

After my brick session last night it occurred to me: I refuse to slow down. I worked hard to get where I was before my crash, and I don’t want to lose my conditioning because of one mistake. I had set a goal at the beginning of the year to exercise at least one hour a day. Despite holiday delays and one two-week Dr. ordered rest period, I was beating my goal handily before my crash. In fact, I had not done less than one hour a day since the middle of February when I was cleared to resume training, banking a nice buffer of time in the process. I think I may have set my goal too low. Nevertheless, I jumped back on the elliptical after taking a two day break following my crash, where I broke my clavicle, scapula and two ribs. I also mowed the lawn one handed a…

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TrainerRoad kicks your ass

Let’s face it, I’m a bit of a wimp. There’s no way I’m going to take my bike outside when it’s below 40°, but I also will not allow myself to slow down in the offseason. I’m also cheap. I don’t mind spending money to help achieve goals, but if there’s a way I can spend less to achieve the same goals in mostly the same way, even if it requires more work on my part, I’m going to less expensive route. (I think my wife thinks both routes are too expensive.) TrainerRoad allows me to achieve these goals in the comfort of my own pain cave, I mean basement. In case you’re one of the uninitiated, TrainerRoad (TR) is a subscription-based online service that pairs your computer with your bike, allowing you to take on hundreds of power-based workouts, or as TR puts it, “TrainerRoad picks up live power, heart rate,…

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Garmin thinks I’m fast

Apparently my Fenix 2 thinks I am a way better athlete than I really am … or I have yet to live up to my potential. I prefer to think that these race predictors are based on being chased by a rabid dog or an armed, jilted woman. As I’m way behind in filling out my blog, I’m not going to waste my time, or bore you, with a review of a 2 year old, last version watch. I will add this, the “ignore this screen,” screen:   There’s no such thing as a three day rest for a triathlete.

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I’m officially bionic

I may not be the Six Million Dollar Man, but I am now artificially enhanced with the addition of a plate and five screws in my clavicle. After walking up “triathlon early” to make my 5:45 am appointment I had my clavicle transformed from a “worse than expected” (according to the doc) break angle to nice and straight once again. The entire process went pretty smoothly. It helped that I was the first surgery of the day. After stripping down and changing into the bare-assed hospital gown, I was given a nerve blocker to stop all nerve messages from my arm/shoulder making it to my brain. The nerve block process was pretty interesting. An anesthesiologist used an ultrasound machine to find a vessel upon which the nerve sat. I was able to watch the ultrasound screen as the device was guided under my skin through my shoulder/neck area. Once the…

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The 2014 Batavia Triathlon

It’s nice to finally know what to expect at a triathlon. You know transition, the course is familiar (giving you a good way to judge the gas pedal), you recognize faces, if not names … it’s no longer the first day at a new school. This year’s tri was a chilly one, but I had a new secret weapon – a wetsuit! Instead of being too cold to warm up in the water (my body takes a long time to open up and reach full potential), I was able to wade on in and get a few laps down before lining up for the staggered start. Plus, I just look good (or not, according to my wife). It’s a Orca Equip Full Sleeve Triathlon Wetsuit, in case you were wondering. It’s a nice mix of thicker (5mm) neoprene for buoyancy and thin stuff in the arms (2mm) for flexibility. Even though the swim…

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