First of all, about me. Fat guy, MOP, turning 40 in Feb. 5 years of triathlon experience. 5 70.3's but no 140.6.
I have always thought that 140.6 would be in my future someday, but probably a 1-and-done'er. I'm more than "just finish" category, but I'm not chasing KQ or anything like that at all. I race against myself.
My wife just did IMLou and after spectating her, I definitely felt the bug bite. I want to do this.
I got into this sport after knee reconstruction 5 years ago: ACL reconstruction, MCL repair, medial meniscus repair.
I just left my orthopedic dr. after having an MRI from my knee flaring up. I have consequential medial meniscus tear again. It can be repaired/trimmed with a scope. I also have some surface meniscus damage and arthritis in that knee.
When I ask the doctor: "after surgery when can I start running long distance again?" he explained that running is never going to be good for this patched together knee. That long term, I will continue to see damage. He did not say that I can't run, but rather explained (quite reasonably) that I need to weigh my love for running against the long term consequences. (What I am also thinking is: what are the long term ramifications of not running to the rest of my body? I'm already a big guy and I do love the sport of triathlon. Even though I'm not very good at it, I enjoy the lifestyle of training for events and putting forth my best effort.
My question is this: how realistic is it to have this surgery, recover and begin running again with a target of competing in my one and only 140.6 at the end of 2017. At that point, shut down the running significantly and only do short distances.
Part of my thinking is that if I wait 2-3 years, is my body ever going to be "more" ready than it is today (? My meniscus/cartilage is not going to grow back. It's only going to deteriorate more ove time.
I know of several people that did their first IM on long runs that didn't exceed 14-15 miles. It seems that if upped my bike training and baby'd the running....maybe I could manage it with some grace?
Or, am I just being an idiot and just need to forget about running altogether?
I have always thought that 140.6 would be in my future someday, but probably a 1-and-done'er. I'm more than "just finish" category, but I'm not chasing KQ or anything like that at all. I race against myself.
My wife just did IMLou and after spectating her, I definitely felt the bug bite. I want to do this.
I got into this sport after knee reconstruction 5 years ago: ACL reconstruction, MCL repair, medial meniscus repair.
I just left my orthopedic dr. after having an MRI from my knee flaring up. I have consequential medial meniscus tear again. It can be repaired/trimmed with a scope. I also have some surface meniscus damage and arthritis in that knee.
When I ask the doctor: "after surgery when can I start running long distance again?" he explained that running is never going to be good for this patched together knee. That long term, I will continue to see damage. He did not say that I can't run, but rather explained (quite reasonably) that I need to weigh my love for running against the long term consequences. (What I am also thinking is: what are the long term ramifications of not running to the rest of my body? I'm already a big guy and I do love the sport of triathlon. Even though I'm not very good at it, I enjoy the lifestyle of training for events and putting forth my best effort.
My question is this: how realistic is it to have this surgery, recover and begin running again with a target of competing in my one and only 140.6 at the end of 2017. At that point, shut down the running significantly and only do short distances.
Part of my thinking is that if I wait 2-3 years, is my body ever going to be "more" ready than it is today (? My meniscus/cartilage is not going to grow back. It's only going to deteriorate more ove time.
I know of several people that did their first IM on long runs that didn't exceed 14-15 miles. It seems that if upped my bike training and baby'd the running....maybe I could manage it with some grace?
Or, am I just being an idiot and just need to forget about running altogether?