Broken Rib should do IMFLA?

[Blarrain]

Hello all,

I am contacting several folks to get objective input regarding whether doing IMFLA, 12 days away is
realistic or I should cancel and try to get my money back for airline tickets, lodging etc.

Yesterday as part of my taper thought I would just ride over to watch the cyclocross race at
Alpenrose as I've never been to one & it was a beautiful day. Saw a friend who enticed me to doing
it with his cyclocross bike. I thought it might be fun & went into it conservatively and just to
finish & stay out of the way. Well, during the 3rd lap or 4th time around one of the leader pack
passing the came up fast from behind and decided pass me on the right even though I was already off
to the right side to stay out of the way and rammed me fast, hard & squarely into my lower back with
enough force to knock me off the bike. I had immediate sharp pain but got up and continued for
another 2 laps thinking I could shake it off. Then trying to lift the bike over a barrier the pain
became too sharp to handle and I had to immediately lay down in 1 position. So I spent 6 hr. in the
ER getting x-rays and a CT to assess possible liver damage. Definitely have a broken 10 rib. I will
be having follow up today on some internal fluid they not sure what the cause is. They also gave me
an instrument to keep me breathing deeply to avoid pneumonia. The rib pain is really strong and
terrible. Movement is pretty much impossible.

So wondering what other triathletes would do in the same position. I have competed in 8 IM 3 IMH
(with 2 finishes) and 5 IMC. I was hoping to do well age group wise & try to quality for IMH.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.

Barbara Larrain

 

[Tom Henderson]

[email protected] (BLarrain) wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Hello all,
>
> I am contacting several folks to get objective input regarding whether doing IMFLA, 12 days away
> is realistic or I should cancel and try to get my money back for airline tickets, lodging etc.
>
> Yesterday as part of my taper thought I would just ride over to watch the cyclocross race at
> Alpenrose as I've never been to one & it was a beautiful day. Saw a friend who enticed me to doing
> it with his cyclocross bike. I thought it might be fun & went into it conservatively and just to
> finish & stay out of the way. Well, during the 3rd lap or 4th time around one of the leader pack
> passing the came up fast from behind and decided pass me on the right even though I was already
> off to the right side to stay out of the way and rammed me fast, hard & squarely into my lower
> back with enough force to knock me off the bike. I had immediate sharp pain but got up and
> continued for another 2 laps thinking I could shake it off. Then trying to lift the bike over a
> barrier the pain became too sharp to handle and I had to immediately lay down in 1 position. So I
> spent 6 hr. in the ER getting x-rays and a CT to assess possible liver damage. Definitely have a
> broken 10 rib. I will be having follow up today on some internal fluid they not sure what the
> cause is. They also gave me an instrument to keep me breathing deeply to avoid pneumonia. The rib
> pain is really strong and terrible. Movement is pretty much impossible.
>
> So wondering what other triathletes would do in the same position. I have competed in 8 IM 3 IMH
> (with 2 finishes) and 5 IMC. I was hoping to do well age group wise & try to quality for IMH.
>
> Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.
>
> Barbara Larrain
>
>

Sounds like you still don't know the full extent of your injuries, so I'd make sure you understand
that first. The other thing to consider is that if you do the race, it will no longer be to qualify,
it will just be to do something because you've invested so much time training in it.

If you fall on that rib again, it may move around and do some real damage. My guess would be that
it's a really bad idea. You might recover fairly quickly and be able to do the race at a
conservative pace, but you definitely shouldn't go out there with your original goal of qualifying
in mind. If that's the goal, this may not be your year. If you push too hard, you may never have
that year again.

Tom

 

[Phillip]

[email protected] (BLarrain) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hello all,
>
> I am contacting several folks to get objective input regarding whether doing IMFLA, 12 days away
> is realistic or I should cancel and try to get my money back for airline tickets, lodging etc.
>
> Yesterday as part of my taper thought I would just ride over to watch the cyclocross race at
> Alpenrose as I've never been to one & it was a beautiful day. Saw a friend who enticed me to doing
> it with his cyclocross bike. I thought it might be fun & went into it conservatively and just to
> finish & stay out of the way. Well, during the 3rd lap or 4th time around one of the leader pack
> passing the came up fast from behind and decided pass me on the right even though I was already
> off to the right side to stay out of the way and rammed me fast, hard & squarely into my lower
> back with enough force to knock me off the bike. I had immediate sharp pain but got up and
> continued for another 2 laps thinking I could shake it off. Then trying to lift the bike over a
> barrier the pain became too sharp to handle and I had to immediately lay down in 1 position. So I
> spent 6 hr. in the ER getting x-rays and a CT to assess possible liver damage. Definitely have a
> broken 10 rib. I will be having follow up today on some internal fluid they not sure what the
> cause is. They also gave me an instrument to keep me breathing deeply to avoid pneumonia. The rib
> pain is really strong and terrible. Movement is pretty much impossible.
>
> So wondering what other triathletes would do in the same position. I have competed in 8 IM 3 IMH
> (with 2 finishes) and 5 IMC. I was hoping to do well age group wise & try to quality for IMH.
>
> Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.
>
> Barbara Larrain

When you cough or God help you if you sneeze, then you will know the answer. You won't want to do
that twice if your ribs are broken.

Phillip