Just found out this AM that I broke my collarbone. Not displaced so not too bad. Dr. said I can still bike and run if I can tolerate the pain. He even said that I could swim but he would wait a few weeks. Any thoughts on my chances to get ready for the IM swim part in a couple of months or less? Prior to the accident I was swimming at least 3X a week with the Friday swim being the IM distance.
Collarbones are weird injurys i broke mine at the sternoclavicular joint and it dislocated backwards towards my throat. It hurt like hell when i did it. But after a couple weeks i was fine and lifting. at about that time i had to have surgury because they finally figured out it was broken. But pain wise it was nothing unbearable after a couple weeks.
Grant
After a month, I was getting back into stuff okay. 3 months out, you may have some pain, but you should be able to race.
But, make sure you get it a few good weeks of nothing, or it can take longer to heal. I know it took me over a year
before the bad pain stopped during running.
Dave
I would focus on riding a trainer for a few weeks and stay off the bike outside–there are just too many instances where you will jar your collarbone riding on roads.
Run just to maintain and as the pain allows. You should switch to hill workouts to get more out of each arm carry–meaning that if your trying to run fast to get to threshold on the flats, for example, your going to be moving your arms a lot more than if you just take a slower pace up a long steep hill. As far as swimming goes, I can’t imagine being able to swim at this point, but you know your bones best.
How did you fx it? I’m assuming cycling…
Anyway, make sure you’re getting enough calcium and vitamin D so it heals. You can absorb <500mg of Ca at a time, shoot for 1500-200mg/day. Fx heal well if you are nice to them.
Good luck… I hope you’re not in too much pain, and that you can train a little too 
sucks not to be able to swim though. You must be devastated.
Man, my doc said no running, swimming, or outdoor bike riding. Anything that would jiggle it, or risk another fall.
So, I did the bike trainer for a few weeks, even though I could not hold onto the handle bars, too painful.
I did some aqua running. And I then get after a while big into DDR.
Dave
I broke my clavicle (distal third) and coracoid process (top part of the scapula) on April 7th one week before IM AZ after I went over the bars into the side of minivan. That was 8 weeks ago. I wore an immobilizer for 3 weeks and then a sling for 3 weeks. The orthopod cleared me for riding on the trainer after 3 weeks. Running after the 6th week. I’m up to 25 miles a week running, including a half marathon. I have another half this Sunday. I ride more on the trainer than outside, but have been outside for my long rides. Staying in the aerobars is uncomfortable after an hour or so, so I sit up on the bars. Each day it’s getting easier. Still no swimming, due more to lack of range of motion than limitation at the fracture sites. My ortho said no restrictions in two weeks. Being dumb, I signed up for IM UK two days after the accident, which is on Augus 19th.
Your break sounds a bit odd. With most clavicle fractures, the pain is too intense the first 2 weeks or so to do much of anything, especially running. As others have said, let the bone heal without movement as much as possible. In the long run, you’ll make up a lot more in being able to train full-on than pussyfooting around not knowing if you’re overdoing it.