I’m about a week and a half out from my A race for the summer, a stand alone HM that I’ve raced several times before. It’s a fast course and I’m hoping to drop a couple minutes off my HM PR. I was doing pretty well with training until Last Monday night when I took a puck to the ribs playing hockey. X-rays are negative and doc doesn’t think it’s fractured, but I have the typical bruised rib symptoms (moderate to sharp pain when I cough, sneeze, breathe deeply, etc.). Running is pretty uncomfortable so I took last week off, although I was able to get in a few TR sessions on the bike with no problem. Tried to run on Monday and it didn’t feel very good so I cut it short.
Am I better off avoiding running and letting the injury heal as quickly as possible knowing that I can’t really gain any fitness in the next 10 days anyway? Or should I HTFU, get back on my training schedule, and push through a little bit of pain knowing that I might slow down the healing process a little bit, but it will eventually heal regardless? There have been plenty of threads in the past about bruised/broken ribs so I have a general idea how long the healing process takes, and it sounds like no matter what I do it won’t be 100% healed before the race. Three weeks of no running heading into the race seems like a bad idea, but maybe I’m better off to let the healing progress as much as possible?
I raced a triathlon just 2 weeks after cracking a rib in a MTB crash a few years ago. Swimming hurt a lot, running a bit. Took some Tylonol pre-race and got through it fine. I think for that kind of injury you should HTFU. That said, depending on how much you like to taper (I like a good taper), you likely won’t hurt your race performance that much by backing off some of the running. Sometimes being ‘over-rested’ can help more.
If the ribs aren’t broken, I think this is a HTFU situation. I’ve trained through similar for a marathon. And HM. It sucks, but you won’t do any damage, and it is unlikely to be healed by the race so you might as well get used to running with it.
as you said, you’re not gaining a whole lot of fitness in the last 10 days. I would maybe do some light short runs to test it out but I why bother putting yourself through more pain if you’re it’s not really benefitting you for the race.
I raced a triathlon just 2 weeks after cracking a rib in a MTB crash a few years ago. Swimming hurt a lot, running a bit. Took some Tylonol pre-race and got through it fine. I think for that kind of injury you should HTFU. That said, depending on how much you like to taper (I like a good taper), you likely won’t hurt your race performance that much by backing off some of the running. Sometimes being ‘over-rested’ can help more.
Did you train during the two weeks between the injury and the race?
The reality is that if you don’t heal well before the race, you are likely going to hurt like a mofo if race pace = really pushing yourself… you are just as likely to have a good race by taking the time to let the ribs/intercostal muscles heal a bit vs. continuing to train and stressing the healing area. My $0.02, from someone who has had bruised ribs before that took weeks to heal (fortunately in the off season!). And remember, its JUST a race that will be there again.
Coincidentally, I took a puck to the ribs 13 days before an open marathon earlier this year. Coughing, sneezing, even deep breathing hurt like hell for a couple of days, but by race day had pretty much gone away. Pretty much the same symptoms you have. If it’s not cracked, it’s a pain tolerance thing. HTFU.