In 2007 at some point in Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) I developed some left ankle issue that basically I just chalked up to a serious overuse injury between that and Ranger school I had logged a lot.... a lot of miles under a heavy rucksack. The pain went away as I lightened up my workouts afterward. It would come back during rough times in the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC).. but it was never something that was debilitating.
After a few years in Special Forces I decided to take my career a step further and wanted to try out for another unit. So at this selection I ended up tearing my miniscus and the pain was definitely back in full force (again I could still move with it so it took the knee injury to take me out of the game). I healed my knee and stayed in Special Forces until the present time where I am on my way out of the military.
I don't know how but I caught the Tri bug with a seriousness. This is odd as I was a heavy lifter, I was heavy into CrossFit etc... and have always HATED running. Nothing would fill the void for a challenge though until I found triathlon. I never wanted to "compete" in CrossFit as it has always just seemed like an odd "sport" to me. Tough Mudders and the rest of the "Challenge Runs" have never appealed to me either as I have always believed that if you wanted that type of a challenge.. mother earth provided plenty of it if you just went to the mountains and decided to do a route for a few days I'm sure that would give you a much better sense of accomplishment than a artifical (man made) obstacle course..but I digress.
So I am heavy as hell at the moment (220ish). I'm not fat by any means, I've just packed on a lot of muscle over the years. So getting back into running the ankle pain has returned. I finally got an MRI and apparently I have multiple torn tendons and ligaments. I haven't seen the orthopedic Doc yet but the last I heard from the pain management side... they were talking about a fusing type of surgery which did not sound like something I wanted at all. This is depressing as I have signed up for a ton of sprints and my A race being an Olympic in Columbus Georgia in August. I could press through it but I'm trying to get out of the who cares about the pain mentality as it has always come back to haunt me (and I don't want to eventually be immobile on the foot).
I've somewhat come to the conclusion to cancel the "season" and work solely on the bike and swimming. Maybe try to look for bike races in the Pensacola - Gulf Coast area, but put the work in on those aspects.. especially to grind away and drop weight to put me in a better position to pick up the running in the offseason and come back next season. Does this sound like a solid plan? Is anyone else from this area? Likewise do you know of any bike races or swim-bike duathlons?
This is mostly a venting post - So I apologize for that, but it's depressing.
Although I must say - since buying a Tri bike, getting on trainerroad, and training peaks.. I haven't really WANTED to do anything but be on the bike. With that.. and I've looked this up and have tried to understand the value system but what is a respectable FTP goal? My current FTP according to 8 minute tests is around 200 - 220. So I want to get down to around 180 pounds this season and obviously increase my bike and swim FTP. What is a respectable or very good number for an athlete in the 180lbs range? (FTP and FTP/Kg)
Also if what Im talking about seems incredibly off, please let me know.
Finally, I hate to say this due to the foreseen stoning.. but I have attended a CrossFit Endurance seminar. I'm not sold on the programming..aka I don't believe that barely SBR-ing and doing massive amounts of CrossFit will produce a goodTriathlete. I was however intrigued by learning to do and teach Pose running. I'd really like to hear people's opinion on the Pose subject.
I know this post is all over the place so forgive me for that... these things have just been swirling in my mind so I kind of wanted to just throw them out there to the ST community to fire back at. Thanks for everyones time.
After a few years in Special Forces I decided to take my career a step further and wanted to try out for another unit. So at this selection I ended up tearing my miniscus and the pain was definitely back in full force (again I could still move with it so it took the knee injury to take me out of the game). I healed my knee and stayed in Special Forces until the present time where I am on my way out of the military.
I don't know how but I caught the Tri bug with a seriousness. This is odd as I was a heavy lifter, I was heavy into CrossFit etc... and have always HATED running. Nothing would fill the void for a challenge though until I found triathlon. I never wanted to "compete" in CrossFit as it has always just seemed like an odd "sport" to me. Tough Mudders and the rest of the "Challenge Runs" have never appealed to me either as I have always believed that if you wanted that type of a challenge.. mother earth provided plenty of it if you just went to the mountains and decided to do a route for a few days I'm sure that would give you a much better sense of accomplishment than a artifical (man made) obstacle course..but I digress.
So I am heavy as hell at the moment (220ish). I'm not fat by any means, I've just packed on a lot of muscle over the years. So getting back into running the ankle pain has returned. I finally got an MRI and apparently I have multiple torn tendons and ligaments. I haven't seen the orthopedic Doc yet but the last I heard from the pain management side... they were talking about a fusing type of surgery which did not sound like something I wanted at all. This is depressing as I have signed up for a ton of sprints and my A race being an Olympic in Columbus Georgia in August. I could press through it but I'm trying to get out of the who cares about the pain mentality as it has always come back to haunt me (and I don't want to eventually be immobile on the foot).
I've somewhat come to the conclusion to cancel the "season" and work solely on the bike and swimming. Maybe try to look for bike races in the Pensacola - Gulf Coast area, but put the work in on those aspects.. especially to grind away and drop weight to put me in a better position to pick up the running in the offseason and come back next season. Does this sound like a solid plan? Is anyone else from this area? Likewise do you know of any bike races or swim-bike duathlons?
This is mostly a venting post - So I apologize for that, but it's depressing.
Although I must say - since buying a Tri bike, getting on trainerroad, and training peaks.. I haven't really WANTED to do anything but be on the bike. With that.. and I've looked this up and have tried to understand the value system but what is a respectable FTP goal? My current FTP according to 8 minute tests is around 200 - 220. So I want to get down to around 180 pounds this season and obviously increase my bike and swim FTP. What is a respectable or very good number for an athlete in the 180lbs range? (FTP and FTP/Kg)
Also if what Im talking about seems incredibly off, please let me know.
Finally, I hate to say this due to the foreseen stoning.. but I have attended a CrossFit Endurance seminar. I'm not sold on the programming..aka I don't believe that barely SBR-ing and doing massive amounts of CrossFit will produce a goodTriathlete. I was however intrigued by learning to do and teach Pose running. I'd really like to hear people's opinion on the Pose subject.
I know this post is all over the place so forgive me for that... these things have just been swirling in my mind so I kind of wanted to just throw them out there to the ST community to fire back at. Thanks for everyones time.
Last edited by:
trIInfected: Apr 1, 15 5:51