Ah, so that was the cold then!
2 Likes
I wondered about that too. Makes the result even more impressive
2 Likes
I thought you took an LFT and it was negative?
Or did Covid positivity manifest itself post-race?
Fuxsake Matt, I turn my head for the weekend! I hope the recovery is going well. Talking of whichā¦
What happened to channelling Chrissie? 
4 Likes
Right, @Matthew_Spooner - Iām not sure what they have you at A&E or at the specialists, but it seems to have affected your mental well-being 
You now have one arm and still intend to swim 3.8km?!?!
Being unable to extract yourself from a sleeved wetsuit?
People die in IM swims. Regularly. 
What are you going to do if you get into difficulty?
Letās say you do manage to get through it, I reckon youāre gonna be closer to 2 hours. And as youāve not done much swimming over an hour, youāre gonna be knackered. 
The bike and run will then be an absolute chore. 
Seriously, Iād reconsider doing Roth. As in, can it.
Focus on recovering, rehabilitation for the arm, then focus on Kona. 
6 Likes
Luckily youāre never more than about 10m from dry land.
2 Likes
Iām with @Poet on this.
Finishing Roth in your current state would certainly qualify you for LEGEND status, but is there actually any benefit from putting your body through an IM swim, in a big race at the moment?
Sitting here 4 weeks after my crash with my arm still in a sling, I reckon I could probably test my broken collarbone out on the bike now because it feels āOKā now, but Mrs W would go mental if she thought I was doing anything that prolonged my recovery time or worse still risked doing further damage.
6 Likes
I turned up to IM Wales with a shoulder injury, was tempted to do a 1 arm swim and admittedly its a different prospect, a rough Welsh sea swim, but I bottled it after a short training swim as it was a risk not worth taking just to āfinishā a race
3 Likes
@Matthew_Spooner - OK, I have no place on an IM thread, let allow a sub-9 one, butā¦
I did actually think of @Poet when I read about your injury (which is gutting BTW).
Back in TT1.0 days I remember @Poet picking up an injury during a race.
He then decided to finish the IM run with only one leg working properly.
I seem to remember what seemed like a good idea at the time did a lot of damage.
@Poet - Care to correct me if Iām wrong or filling in the details?
@Matthew_Spooner - Whatever your decision, Iām sure you will have TriTalkās full support. 
Good luck, Paul. 
6 Likes
Oh, yeah! Iād forgot about the details 
I was āparalysedā for two weeks.
Basically got tennis elbow, but in the hip.
Completely unable to move my leg.
I arrived in A&E on the Monday in a wheelchair and it was pretty horrific. I was unable to walk for about a week.
They gave me a shed tonne of painkillers and I was drifting in and out of lucidity for that time.
I then had crutches for a few weeks afterwardsā¦
ā¦although, it was the last two weeks of Tour de France, so got to watch that. Plus, I also learned how to swim as part of my rehab 
That was my first IM and I was only 26, so pretty elastic still. I also had BUPA who thoroughly sorted me out - the physio was actually based in the gym which was across the road from the office 
OOH! Also forgot I nearly lost my left leg to an infection.
I came off my BMX, shredded my shin pretty bad, but just cleaned it and bandaged it myself. It then got infected, my leg went massive and it was actually my boss at work who mentioned one trouser leg looked shorter and tighter than the otherā¦I showed her my leg and she told me to got to the walk in centre immediately.
Once there, they said it was beyond oral antibiotics and hooked me up to a drip. I then had to have a cannula put into my arm and go back every day for a week to get an IV 
Yeah, so, donāt do the race
8 Likes
I think @Matthew_Spooner, for what itās worth, that you should review how you feel in a week. āDie Hoffnung stirbt zuletztā as we say over here, but be prepared to pull the plug before or even during the event when you notice itās doing more harm than good. 
1 Like
Fairly sure I can recall a chap on TT1.0 who went to Kona - think he got hit by a car and fractured both forearms - think he still intended to race for the next few days and was trying to bike/swim etc but thought better of it. Details sketchy, anyone remember this?
1 Like
I appreciate all the support and reality check.
I am planning to swim tomorrow to assess what the situation is. If i can swim a reasonable distance slowly but without significant discomfort or undue effort then i still plan to continue. If it is clear that the swim is not practical i am out.
I am getting more and more movement in my shoulder.
At Roth i will be able to bail out of swim safely at any point. Its really shallow in Roth, maybe if i keep close to edge i will be touching the bottom
10 Likes
Putt Putt iirc
2 Likes
Itās less than 2 weeks to Roth now; isnāt that basically taper time anyway? Great reason to take it really easy, WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY! Surely a swim can wait until a week after the accident at this point?
Did you nail that 15k swim week btw?
1 Like
Yes swam 17k last week
I have not done any exercise since sundayā¦ you are probably right that i could wait until next weekā¦ however i am pretty keen to swim, even if it is just 500m
2 Likes
If you have a massage gun, I found it really good on my sprained ankle; was back running inside 2 weeks iirc.
I would totally leave the test swim until next week if you can.
1 Like
Yeah same. I get why you want to, youāre itching to find out. But I simply cannot see any physiological benefit to testing this week. In fact could be the opposite.
Youād be better served with some gentle, land based exercises to keep it moving, promote blood flow etc.
4 Likes
Solid constitution you have Matt 2 weeks out from a long race I am looking for any half reasonable excuse to bin it.
Love training hate race day morning with a passion!
2 Likes