Ironman? No, its broken man.
As the title says…
After having as many injuries/accidents as I’ve had in the past, I’m more than well aware of my body and how it reacts to pain. I’m no stranger to knee pain specifically. About 2 years I was involved in a skiing accident in Wyoming which resulted in a fractured Tibial Plateau, a partially torn ACL, and a torn meniscus. This was all on my right knee. The specialist I had at the time told me I’d most likely never be able to deep squat or run the same again. I was determined to be the outlier, and so it began. I spent 7 months doing rehab and became a maniac for flexibility and mobility training to recover my knee. It was the first time I had a major injury take place, and it scared me straight. I was unsure if I could climb, run, and be active the same way I was ever again.
Eventually, I returned to my normal routine. I was training to climb again and my knee felt great. It was honestly a very accomplished feeling to feel my knee mobile and healthy after months of slow, painful rehabilitation. Well, fast forward a few years, my right knee hasn’t given me an issue. It has riddled me just with other injuries that follow me like a puppy.
Towards the end of 2023, I took a semi-long hiatus from climbing something I believed my body needed, but also mentally. I’ll make a separate post about that. Anyway, I wanted to try out something new and explore what my body was capable of physically and mentally. After about 10 minutes of research, I made a crazy decision to train for the next few months and attempt to finish an Ironman race. If you aren't aware of what they are, well look it up, I'll just say they are hard. It's been about 3 months into training, with lots of swimming, cycling, and running being instantly injected into my daily routine. Everything was going quite well with some growing pains here and there, but nothing that was sidetracking this whole process too much.
It was Monday, so it called for a run. I decided I was going to shoot for a cruiser 8-mile run. I felt good, strong, and healthy. I cruised the first 2 miles until suddenly a sharp pain shot through my left knee, which in hindsight is supposed to be my good knee. I stopped immediately and knew something was wrong without a thought in my head and I turned back and began the walk back home. I was nervous, and I knew something had just happened. It felt like my meniscus had just been sliced and the flexion movement, the bending of the knee that is, felt like a sharp pain. I tore my meniscus on a 2-mile run. I got home and began icing it and stretching. I hoped that maybe the next day I would wake up and the pain would be gone, but it stayed and became worse. Unable to run, not even jog, I knew this was something serious.
I've decided for my sake and health to pull out of the Ironman race. It's heartbreaking due to the fact I've spent hours training and spent a good chunk of money on gear and resources. It’s not the outcome anyone would want, but maybe the one that needed to happen. That’s the way I'm trying to see it. My body is speaking to me. I'll be taking most likely the month off of any fitness-type activities and most likely the next few months until I leave San Diego this summer.
I'll be focusing on recovering and resting. Trying to get my left knee back into shape and pain-free running, which might be longer than I expect.
I guess it's time to hang up the running shoes and buy a yoga mat.