I will start. In 2012 I was found to have HCM. In my cardiologist office during a ultrasound I went into AF at over 200 beats a minute. He was able to stabilize my heart rate and sent me to a hospital. I had open heart surgery to repair the damage to my heart including a difibillator to monitor my heat rate going forward. Three months later I was back at work. In 2020 I was hit from behind in my bike lane by a drug addict. I was air lifted to a tramua center. Head to toe road rash which required plastic surgery, including a new right hip, pinned right ankle and a tricuspid heart valve repair. After extensive recovery Zwift provided me the ability to enjoy my bike training but I really enjoyed two times a week meeting with my cycling mates to ride in safe areas on the road. This is what I miss most. Nothing beats being outside but the roads today makes me panic from time to time. More importantly I am graceful for my cycle mates trying to protect me keeping me toward the front of the peleton.
Worst injury is an easy one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_EYlIHP08d/?igsh=bW1mYXhvNnRldnF6
Save the click:
Grade 3 AC separation, 2 (ish) broken ribs, 2 (ish) torn back muscles, Back sprain(s), Fractured femur, torn labrum
The comeback is a WIP. Going well so far. Trying to salvage one MOP pro season out of myself before I call it quits.
im suffering this out of commission phase currently. instead of cartoon world zwift, I am using rouvy to explore areas I never traveled
Those sound like good friends! We have had a few people in our club who have been hit or had other crashes that we get protective of too.
I am fortunate that all my injuries have been relatively minor in my 45 yrs or so of cycling. I did have a crash on a mountain bike where the bike impacted my calf and caused some muscle damage and a bruise that went from my foot from to my lower back, my leg swelled up so much it looked like a big tube. Fortunately once the swelling went down (after about a month) I was mostly back to normal.
My worst injury is a double achilles tear. couldnāt walk on my toes. Had to get up to my apt on 3rd floor backwards on stairs. Took 6mo to heal.
See my thread on āReturn to tri after a strokeā. Not technically an injury, but having finished my first (Sprint) tri a few weeks ago, I classed that a win for me, even if I didnāt trouble the podium.
Oh, a couple of gnarly ankle ligament tears (separately on each side with reconstructive surgery, and even worse the tendon reconstruction on the right).
On the road back from non-displaced fractures of C3, 4, and 5. I will let you know in September
I was in a car wreck the summer of 2015 that resulted in a severe concussion. I had did my first 70.3 a few months before the wreck. I got my first overall 5K win the week after the 70.3. I had plans to compete in a competitive fall Triathlon which I was NOT able to do after the wreck. My goal was to take the necessary baby steps to make it back to a spring triathlon the following year. I donāt remember all the milestone for the safe return-to-play protocol for a concussion, but know that pushing myself was the opposite of what I needed. After about two months I was able to start light aerobic workouts but no weights and nothing over Z1 intensity. If I ever got head aches I would have to end the workout immediately and dial thing back in the next workouts. If I was able to make it through the workout with out any problems I could try adding a little bit to the next work out. I was able to get back for a spring 70.3 the following year. By that point I was only getting head aches at high intensity workouts over 90 minutes long. I was able to do full training after about 6 months from the wreck but continued to get head aches on the high intensity workouts over 90 minutes for the first few years. I now only get head aches when my nutrition is off. So, I have to take care of my hydration and calories to hit the high intensity. I was able to get right back into winning running events. I stared a 3-year winning streak taking first overall at every local race from 5K-15K with participants up to 800 people. I progressed in triathlon every year and when there was a canceled swim at a fall triathlon in 2019 got my first overall Tri win. In 2020 the only races in my area that were not canceled due to Covid were duathlons so I did my first duathlon in 2020 and was the over all winner at one of them. I got another overall Duathlon win last year (breaking a course record). I did NOT try to āget backā to where I was before the wreck. My goal, especially in the first year, was to be able to do more this month than I was able to do the previous month. I couldnāt focus on where I had been because pushing myself to be back there could have resulted in long term complications that could have sidelined me for life. I just had to do what I could do each day and not compare myself with where I had been.
Exactly you have to define what a āwinā is as an individual.
You are a true champion. Wishing you all the best in your journey.
They are great friends. Thanks for your insight. Thank you for sharing your journey in your recovery. Keep moving forward and enjoy your rides, runs, swims and anything else that makes you happy. All the very best to you and your family.
Curtish,
You are a champion. Coming back from your injuries and winning several races is a gift. Wishing you continued success in your endurance training and racing.
OMG!! Using your toes is amazing! My god the pain! You are a champion! I hope you at some point this will be a bad dream and you will be rewarded for your preseverance.
Not an injury per seā¦
Had open heart surgery for quintuple bypass in February of 2020, while participating in the 100/100.
After recovering from surgery, I Spent the summer of 2020 participating in the great virtual race across Tennessee. Ultimately completed 1300 miles or so by September 1st.
Thread below.
Tom,
You are a champion. Coming back with 1,300 miles is a testament to never giving up and winning again. All the best to you and family.
Appreciate that! Hoping to be an actual champion of some mid tier races before I chase the MOP pros around trying not to be BoBOP by the end, lol. One more yearā¦ almost looking forward to āretiringā into ultras (if my labrum tear allows it).
Tom Hampton you are amazing. Quintuple bypass!!! I only had three bypasses and the hospital room was calling me the Ironman dude bringing MD residents to try to understand how a fit athlete goes off the rails. You are the true Ironman man with an undershirt that reads āSupermanā.
Iām pretty sure once they crack open the chest and start pulling veins from your leg to put your heart back together, 3 grafts is about the same as 5. Heart surgery sucks a d the recovery from it is little changedā¦ Except to say that it is a different journey for us all.
Congrats on coming back from your own cabg.
Nice work! Well done! Thatās a big win
This worst injury took some coming back from. Inspired