From The Med Tent

Top 10 Things You Can Do While Wearing an Air Cast

10. Write to your pen pal in Singapore
9. Pose for a life-size statue carved from marble
8. Play Frankenstein for your girls.
7. Lay on you back in the front yard, yelling "Why, God? Why?"
6. Learn to knit
5. Fold 100 origami cranes
4. Build a scaled replica of the Millennium Falcon out of toothpicks and chewed gum
3. Yell obscenities at runners and cyclists from the front porch
2. Pretend you are Brendan Frazer in the movie With Honors
1. Finally finish that kitten puzzle you've been working on

As you can see I chose the second choice of tri season or a doctor and the winner was not me. The diagnosis was acute tendonitis and possibly a minor tear in my Achilles. The upside… it makes me much more satisfied with my marathon time, considering the injury. However, this will undoubtedly hamper my ability to race in the Ironman this season, which is obviously disappointing, but only a setback.

Officially, I am immobilized in an air cast for the next 4 weeks and I am not allowed to run, bike or swim, at all. Did you hear that? I just spontaneously combusted. The doctor said I could start to swim after 10 to 14 days and then in 4 weeks we would start wean me back to training, unless there is still pain and then we will be doing an MRI.

Unofficially, I got back in the pool today and had a good swim workout with little to no pain. The good news is that with the drugs and cast for the past four days the swelling has been substantially reduced and I can actually see my Achilles tendon again. There is still some pain when the cast is off and when I get up in the morning, but it seems like it is going the right direction. Maybe in a couple weeks I can ease my way back on a trainer and bike. Then hopefully, after my next visit, slowly rehab the run. Until then I will probably grow gills and spend as much time in the pool as I can.

I also have a new race schedule planned that I will put up in couple weeks. The schedule will still most likely include a half-ironman – maybe two, depending how everything proceeds.