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how to complete an Ironman without running or walking?
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Long story short, torn everything in my knee and will never be allowed to run again.
I have completed multiple marathons, half, half IM.

I have one IM distance race (Roth) on my bucket list and have the ok to swim and bike (non-impact is ok) and have been training with no issues. I need to do this race emotionally and mentally.

How can I finish the run portion of this race without running, walking or crawling.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Sad about your knee.

You can race as a paratriathlete.

Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [mortysct] [ In reply to ]
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mortysct wrote:
Sad about your knee.

You can race as a paratriathlete.

do you have to be certified for that or do they
allow anyone to do the run in a racing wheelchair?

Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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find a cool weather IM
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [pattersonpaul] [ In reply to ]
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pattersonpaul wrote:
mortysct wrote:
Sad about your knee.

You can race as a paratriathlete.


do you have to be certified for that or do they
allow anyone to do the run in a racing wheelchair?


ITU has a complete certification process. I don't know if WTC does that as well, but it's pretty laid out. I don't think the OP would qualify, as they list "below the knee amputation" as a "moderate" impairment.

http://www.triathlon.org/...Regulations_2012.pdf

Why can't you walk the marathon? Or possibly do it as part of a relay?

John



Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |
Last edited by: Devlin: Oct 29, 14 15:46
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [winchester] [ In reply to ]
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winchester wrote:
find a cool weather IM

What????? He said Roth and how does cool weather help?
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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ski_babie wrote:
Long story short, torn everything in my knee and will never be allowed to run again.
I have completed multiple marathons, half, half IM.


I know you feel you need to do this emotionally and mentally, but at what cost physically?

I may be the bitter naysayer in this It feels like you are neglecting 2/3 of what a triathlon is. Have you done any shorter distance triathlons? In your condition right now, would you be willing to do a 1/2 marathon or a full marathon? If not, do you feel that you could do it after 112 miles of bike riding?

Honestly, I would stick to something that your doctor would recommend. An iron-distance triathlon is not that. Many peoples' real abilities are crushed by their pride.
Last edited by: lifejustice: Oct 29, 14 15:58
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Hello ski-babie and All,

How about a space age leg brace (carbon fiber and titanium of course) that transfers the pressure from your foot directly to the trunk of your body ..... and then walk it.






Cheers,

Neal

+1 mph Faster
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Can you walk? Why not walk the IM marathon? Is that a physical thing or just a personal embarrassment thing (ie it's not cool to walk?).

I don't know your situation, but if you can walk, but don't want to for embarrassment reasons, then find another sport. I see that being like being afraid of heights, so not trying to take up sky diving.

If you can walk (day to day) but walking a marathon would cripple you, how about using crutches to allow to you get the marathon done? Even just using them to take pressure off your bad knee could be enough to get you through to a finishers shirt. Walking in IM can be an embarrassment to some (me, when I walk, I see myself as a failure, but I keep going anyway), but with crutches, that earns cred for HTFU! Go with crutches.

My sister has MS (not too bad most of the time). She also loves running. She suffers horribly from long runs but she wanted to do a marathon. Her solution is to only train and race in the cold (high core temperature is a big trigger for MS episodes). She trains in cold and races only fall or spring races. During the race, she has to monitor her pace not only for getting to the finish line, but also for the MS backlash she will have to suffer. She now knows for example that if she races at her fitness potential, she will risk up to 3 weeks off work with essentially paralysis, and being wheelchair bound! So, as she runs, she adjusts her pace based on the tingling and numbness in her extremeties. If her hands, or legs up to her knees go numb, she walks. With this strategy she's manage to get her marathon time to just a tick over 4 hours. Not fast but damned respectable considering.

You might want to consider a similar approach. Walk the first half of the marathon then have crutches at the special needs station? Just a thought. Remember, that we can all only do what we can do, and that we are all limited in some way. Do the best you can, and be happy with that.

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [nealhe] [ In reply to ]
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Space age? Yeah, it does look like a contraption from the 70s. Surely there's something modern that would work.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [tridork] [ In reply to ]
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Props to your sis - she sounds hard fucking core. And for some generally good advice outside of her situation.

Next races on the schedule: none at the moment
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [alex_korr] [ In reply to ]
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yeah, she is hard core.

She was originally a dancer but mysteriously began stumbling from time to time. There went her ballet career. Then at uni she taught aerobics part time. The occassional stumbles were easier to hide, but the tingling and numbness got worse and worse until she spent almost 3 months in hospital, paralyzed, undergoing all sorts of tests (House would have figured it out in a couple of days, but real doctors took longer :-)

Luckily she is Canadian so the government covered all the costs. As high core temp is a trigger, they paid for A/C in her house (including the electicity bill for it) plus A/C upgrade in her car, and even pay for personal A/C if her workplace doesn't already have it! (they realize it's cheaper to do that than pay for long hospital stays).

She is a very healthy person, eating all the stuff I don't eat lol. She goes to elaborate lengths to maximize her participation in life at the lowest MS cost she can get away with. Annoyingly, her marathon PB is only 4 minutes slower than mine! Thankfully we are both getting older so I think I will remain the family champion until my son learns to pace his marathons properly!

I have huge respect for her and her attitude.

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry about your knee :/

One thought, and I doubt and competitors would begrudge you... pogo stick the marathon at Roth :) Do it quick enough and maybe you'll have a world record.

Swim, bike, pogo. Could be a new race format.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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If you can swim and ride a knee brace might save the day. Is this cartilage or ligament damage? Need more info on your injury??

Swim - ( x ) All good ( ) In the shop
Bike - ( x ) All good ( ) In the shop
Run - ( ) All good ( x ) In the shop
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [tridork] [ In reply to ]
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Where in Canada is she? I swim with a lady who has MS here in BC. Short story: swam as a kid, stopped as a teenager, went through life generally being unhealthy (smoking, drinking, bad eating habits etc), got diagnosed with MS, went downhill pretty quickly, got back in the pool, symptoms started regressing and her swimming took off. Her symptoms have reversed so far that I had been swimming with her for over a year before even realizing she had MS.She just did a 70k open water swim this summer to raise money for MS. She is an incredible woman and great lane mate.

Here is an article on her if your sister is interested in other athletes with MS: http://www.vicnews.com/news/245274891.html

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]
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BCtriguy1 wrote:
Where in Canada is she? I swim with a lady who has MS here in BC. Short story: swam as a kid, stopped as a teenager, went through life generally being unhealthy (smoking, drinking, bad eating habits etc), got diagnosed with MS, went downhill pretty quickly, got back in the pool, symptoms started regressing and her swimming took off. Her symptoms have reversed so far that I had been swimming with her for over a year before even realizing she had MS.She just did a 70k open water swim this summer to raise money for MS. She is an incredible woman and great lane mate.

Here is an article on her if your sister is interested in other athletes with MS:http://www.vicnews.com/news/245274891.html[/quote[/url]]

Thanks for the link. I will forward it to her.

She was in Ontario. She has moved to Missouri to do a PhD. She can't run in summer there but does get some running indoors but has to monitor her temperature carefully. That's easily done as her PhD is pretty time consuming.

Yes it cost her a squillion to get health insurance in the US, given her 'pre-existing condition'.

She is an incredibly positive person. She is a lot like me in that she decides what she wants to do, and rather than looking at the stumbling blocks along the way to her goal, she looks for ways that she can achieve what she wants, or as close to it as she can get. Luckily, through careful management she has been pretty much episode free for 8 years now. She knows to stop when she gets the numbness or bad tingling to limit the extent of the episode, get her core temp down, and other measures of whatever she can do to limit/contol it.

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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You could try using a walker that people use for achilles tendon injuries. Just Google "Knee Walker" or "Hands Free Crutch". Either of these could work. Not ideal but I think you could get to the finish line.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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This is going to sound harsh but I'd get over your "emotional and mental needs" and find a substitute for your bucket list.. there are so many options to you that would be so much better than what's going to be a compromised IM.. move on.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Ironman Wales - Richard Webster did the "run" on crutches.
There's probably plenty of footage on Youtube as the event was televised.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/wales/29150580

Dont complain about the results you did n't get from the training you did n't do.
Last edited by: DavidUK: Oct 30, 14 8:58
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Wishing you all the best to meet your goal despite the circumstances. One option, whether it'd be a replacement or just a confidence booster might be to consider a full aquabike (2.4 mile swim / 112 mile bike).

Off hand I can think of that being an option at Redman, Vineman, Rev3 Cedar Point, Mi Titanium, ChesapeakeMan, Great Floridian, and EPIC Dartmouth.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [nealhe] [ In reply to ]
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nealhe wrote:
Hello ski-babie and All,

How about a space age leg brace (carbon fiber and titanium of course) that transfers the pressure from your foot directly to the trunk of your body ..... and then walk it.






Cheers,

Neal

+1 mph Faster

somebody needs to invents something like that for swimming so I can do Ironman. But a raft would work too I guess.

Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [pattersonpaul] [ In reply to ]
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You need one of these:


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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [aw3] [ In reply to ]
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‎

Thanks for all the insight guys. ‎


I have torn the articulate cartilage on my femur and tibia. My surgeon gave me the ok to do as much swimming and biking as I want to and said that we would reevaluate the walking 42.2km closer to 2016 when I do the race. I just want a back up plan. After having 3 knee surgeries in 2 years (1st acl, 2nd mobility and scar tissue remover, came back to do PB's in half im, 1/2 marathons and a marathon in this time, 3rd surgery was a microfracture) and being told I can never run again (BTW I am a 31 year old female who has been highly active my whole life and LOVED To run and had signed up to do IM Mt Tremblant 2014 this year) and can never do anything that involves impact and pivoting, you can see that my choices for sporting activities are quite limited now. (golf as 'non'impact as it is twists your knee quite a lot and isn't even an option)

For those who say than hey don't understand why I an 'sacrificing'my health, until you have had something like this happen, you wouldn't understand everything that goes along with it. It would mean so much for me to do one last IM distance race. It's been such an emotional year and I have had to change my life so much already that being able to do this would help solidify that I can still 'move'. And to top it off 12 of the people I train with are doing this trip as a group.
‎
I wonder if a brace would do the trick to decrease the impact‎. That's a question for the doc. I know originally he wasn't keen on me walking a marathon (which I have no problem walking it), however, I have progressed quicker than he has ever seen anybody with this type of injury (and my injury was one of the worst he has seen), perhaps his mind will change while pairing me with some Hoka One One's. Or even the crutches.
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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [ski_babie] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry, I will join the crowd of why. This is what I see in so many who do long distance stuff. It is worse than a drug. They cannot let it go. So you are 31 and having issues? Do you want to walk if you live to lets say 60?
Sorry, if this really is so important, that on your death bed if you do not do it this will be all you are thinking about, well, I offer you might have others issues to think about.

The worst folks I have seen dealing with getting older and injuries are runners. They just do not understand most cannot run forever. But so many try and then end up with hip replacements, knee replacements, etc.

SO many more important things to do in life than an IM.

Good luck.

.




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Re: how to complete an Ironman without running or walking? [tridork] [ In reply to ]
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tridork wrote:
So, as she runs, she adjusts her pace based on the tingling and numbness in her extremeties. If her hands, or legs up to her knees go numb, she walks. With this strategy she's manage to get her marathon time to just a tick over 4 hours. Not fast but damned respectable considering.

You might want to consider a similar approach. Walk the first half of the marathon then have crutches at the special needs station? Just a thought. Remember, that we can all only do what we can do, and that we are all limited in some way. Do the best you can, and be happy with that.

Amazing story, I don't have any impediments and would struggle to hit 4 hours, doing that with MS is massive.
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