So I had a kind of a freak accident mountain biking on Sunday last week that required getting medevacked out of the trails. I had a pretty bad laceration to my shin and initially thought I broke my femur. Luckily nothing ended up being broken, the laceration from my pedal didn’t hit anything critical (although it was very deep and large, can post a pic if anyone is interested), and I ended up getting sewn back together. Fast forward a couple days and I have pretty much zero pain and can walk normally. I did a short ~18mile road ride on Tuesday pulling my daughter and didn’t have any issues. However, I’ve been started on some antibiotics due to risk of infection and my wife, who is also a doctor, advised not riding for a day or two more to make sure the increased blood flow doesn’t spread a possible infection.
I’m anxious to keep my fitness I’ve worked hard for since I have an enduro race coming up at the end of June but also don’t want to make things worse. Prior to my injury I was riding ~3 days with Trainnow workouts, 2-3 outdoor rides (mix of mtb and road) per week, 2 days lifting, and had a rest week coming up next week. Does anyone have advice or suggestions to getting back into training once I get the ok to ride? I’ve had my share of injuries but nothing quite like these circumstances.
Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll end up doing. I’m thinking that it probably makes sense to just treat what was supposed to be my last week of the training block as my rest week. Was just wondering if anyone recommended easing back into it in any particular manner or if I should be fine to resume training as normal.
Just remember that it’s easier to bounce back to a previously achieved fitness level (within a reasonable amount of time) than to get there for the first time.
If you haven’t done so, listen to last week’s podcast! Or maybe it was the one before where they covered this.
Also, you won’t loose a lot in a week, if anything you’ll be fresh for the last couple of training weeks before you taper. Maybe you won’t need as much of a taper…
I’m quite a fan of a rest week followed by a normal week or two before an event. I find I race well when I’m in full beast mode so find putting a race in week 2 or 3 of a training block very effective.
I also am a huge fan of taking a break whenever ANYTHING is wrong, be it mood or physically. I’ve been racing for over a decade now and have learned that a slightly less fit me in good spirits will anhialate a super fit but worn down version of myself. You need to go into a race feeling hungry for suffering and risk taking.
I haven’t listened to it yet. As I’ve been trying to get more outdoor rides in lately I haven’t been listening to the podcasts as much. Thanks for the suggestion!
I think I’m pretty lucky that the injury hasn’t really caused any real damage to muscles etc. I think I’m struggling more with the mental aspect of things. I came out of my last block feeling really strong and the 2 weeks leading up to the injury I felt like I could do anything I set my mind to. It’s really hard for me to keep myself from riding right now. Fortunately the ego check I received didn’t end up worse.
You and @grawp are probably right that I’m better to just cool it right now. @grawp I agree and have noticed that I feel stronger when I’m still in the middle of a consistent training load. I grew up racing xc and dh then took about a ~10 year break from racing after college. I just started getting back into it over the past couple years. I’m kind of refiguring out what works and honestly enjoying racing more than I ever did when I was younger…doesn’t mean I don’t still do dumb things and push when I shouldn’t though.
Take it easy! Like some other said, a week won’t do anything, if anything, enjoy it and see it as a forced break. Think back to this time when you had to rest…
I had 2,5 weeks off after breaking my elbow, mainly due to not being allowed to sweat under the plaster incase the wound got infected. That was a very long 2,5 weeks haha.
But one week, enjoy it with the kids and get mentally ready to work hard once you get back
Like some other said, a week won’t do anything, if anything, enjoy it and see it as a forced break. Think back to this time when you had to rest…