Training back to 70.3 distance with 2 herniated disks - possible?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hello all,

Kind of a newbie here. Was actively on the board about a decade ago, then left the sport. Happy to be back on.

Here seeking stories, advice, random thoughts from anyone out there with herniated disks, or who deal with back issues professionally.

5 years ago, I had a cycling accident that left me with herniated C7 and L5 vertebrae. The injury left me paralyzed down one side of my body for 2 years and in chronic pain for another 3 after that. Every time I tried any training, it was only a short matter of time before being debilitated again. I only last month got the pain under control and have started back with light running (6k max currently) and walking. The pain is back again, but I control it with lots of on-my-back rest after exercise. Can bike about 40k, but again, infrequently with long rests in between sessions. Have not started swimming again as yet.

So, my question is this? Is it possible to come back to the sport and the distance, given this situation? Anyone else out there do the same and if so what was your path? Is there a pharma solution? Steroid shot? Experiences with those?

I saw an excellent spinal doctor here awhile back and he says the problem I have versus the usual herniated disk is that, typically people will have a direction they can move in and direction to avoid. Therefore, they can craft their training accordingly. Me, all directions of movement irritate the disk and cause pain/inflammation. Even easy yoga bothers me and starts the nerves in arm and leg tingling after a few workouts in a row. He said that ideally, he’d just have me lie still on my back for long periods of time - but acknowledged that’s not feasible.

So. Enough backstory. I’m kind of yearning to come back to the sport and would like to focus on the 70.3 distance again. Realistic?

Since people normally say “dependent on previous background, etc,” here’s my palmares, prior to injury: about 40+ tri’s of all distances, 2x Ironmans, 4x 70.3’s, UCI podium in cycling, various marathons, etc.

Cheers.

2

Sorry for your misfortunes. I also suffer from back pain but on all accounts it’s a lot milder than what you are experiencing.

I have a friend who also has a herniated disk. He used to downhill ski competitively during his college days. Now he is a pretty competetive triathlete. He pretty much podiumed in all the local races (Olympic, Half) and also raced in Kona this year. In fact, this is only his third year in the sport. He is considering turning pro next year.

Now I was driving him and myself to a local race one day, and watched him contort himself on the passenger seat around a big pillow trying to alleviate the pressue on his back. Heck, he could hardly walk like a normal person when his back acts up.

When it comes to racing, however, he is strong as hell. I guess he has an unreal pain tolerance when he needs it.

He also told me that his back doesn’t really bother him when he’s in the aero position, since a lot of weight is bore by upperbody and not your back.

So, he is a living proof that it is possible to race in a 70.3 and in face, do quite well. Heck, he even ran a 2:41 marathon. Of course, people are different and his disk issue may be different from yours; but I believe it is possible. Just think of all the people who have gone through much worse (cancer, near death crashes) and came back.

Good luck.

3

I’m recovering from L5 S1 surgery that put my training off for a year, missing ironman WI along with a ton of local races. Surgery has helped but I think I’m in the same boat, I’ll probably never be where I was prior. My surgeon has assured me that with more time/healing I’ll see more improvement but having sat out a season, gained 20+ pounds and have had to stand bye as a spectator has been extremely depressing.

I did physical therapy for 6 months, two steroid shots, and then finally pulled the trigger on surgery. My symptoms were only brought on while sitting/biking. If I were in your shoes I’d see another surgeon, maybe two or three. Also read “The Long Run” if that guy can return from injury, anyone can. As for a comeback, anything is possible, just be realistic with your goals. My first 70.3 goal (prob next year ) is to finish, nothing more. Then hopefully back to full ironman in 2014/15. Good Luck

4

I’m not seeing you’ve had an operation? Are you still running around with the herniated disk?

I had a huge L5-S1 blow out in 2006. I had a micro disceptomy to remove the herniation and basically gut the disk. Up to that point I was a 50-60mpw runner. Yes it hurt and at times real bad before the surgery. The weeks prior to surgery I lost most motor control of my lower right leg and right hamstring. It scared the heck out of me.

So today 6 years later I’m one year into Triathlon. I still have issues and my L5-S1 is THIN…real thin. Pretty bad degeration. I have nerve issues and some pain for sure. If I knew the rest of my life would be like this I’d have no problem. What scares me is the unknown about how much worse it could get due to the training / active lifestyle. As I sit here I have muscles in my leg twitching away.

I have no pattern to my pain / tingling. Sometimes swimming, sometimes running, sometimes biking seems to flare it up. I’m NOT uncomfortable on the TT bike. Lots of unknowns here.

This summer was my first full summer of Tri and I did about 10 hours / week. In AG rankings I’m FOP. I never know when it might be my last race so I enjoy it while I can. I think about having another procedure every day.

Good luck.

5

This is interesting reading for me, I just had a microdisectomy at L5/S1 a little over two weeks ago. My follow up appt is on Monday and I am hoping to get clearance to start PT and maybe some swimming.

I was dealing with sciatica in the left leg for the last 3 years, always believing I had piriformis syndrome. I tried all the hip related stretches, yoga, deep tissue massage, flossing, ART, etc… The symptoms were never severe enough to keep me from training but car rides were becoming increasingly difficult. While building up my training this spring I started to have some tightness/discomfort on the bike and my morning walks with my dog became very uncomfortable. Oddly enough, it was easier for me to go for a morning run than to take the dog for a walk. About four weeks out from Vineman 70.3 I started to notice some loss of strength in my left leg and some numbness in my left foot when standing for long periods. Believing I was still dealing with a hip issue I decided to go ahead and race at Vineman. I managed to finish but it was not pretty. Quit running and biking for about a month after the race, just swimming and core work, sciatica just continued to get worse. Eventually I could only sit for about 20 minutes at a time until one morning in Sep I was on the floor, flat on my back wondering what happened to me. Couldn’t sleep, stand or sit comfortably. MRI indicates large herniation at L5/S1. Two surgeons gave me the same recommendation, best option is spinal decompression surgery of the S1 nerve root. The concern was the loss of strength in the left leg.

Surgery went well, sciatica is gone but I still get some tingles occasionally. Lower back still aches but this should improve with time. My hope is to start training towards the end of the year.

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My experience was all similar. I ran a marathon 4 months before my surgery and it was all down hill from there. AFTER I backed off the running is when things really headed south in a hurry. I always simply thought it was tight or pulled muscles. I had no idea it was a disk blow out until I got an MRI.

I have good workouts and bad. It SEEMS that the less intense / longer stuff is better than short and hard. I really enjoyed the experience of a low intensity HIM this summer. Speedwork on the track at mile race pace is tough on the back.

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I like to think all things are possible with the right approach. I am 57, was a top 10 AG duathlete a few years ago, but severe sciatica from a degnerative grade 2 spondylolisthesis on my L5/S1 forced me to stop running in 2009. One opinion said multi-level fusion, the other said no surgery before you try everything you can to get out of pain & get stronger first. I opted for the latter of the two. Took a couple of ESI’s in 2010 to calm the nerves, started taking a non-narcotic pain killer called Tramadol, and got with a great PT in my city who assesed me and built an exercise program to give me a chance at controlling the outcome. Oh yea, regular massages too. I started back running on a Woodway treadmill and worked my up to trail running. Running on asphalt is still rough, so I only do that on race day. I had to learn to run all over again, this time doing it natural, chi, pose, newton, whatever you want to call it. My ego had to get over running much slower, but I looked at it as a blessing to just be running at all. Two years later, I am back competing and ran my first ultramarathon last week. Back pain was no problem, though the spine still looks like this:

http://i47.tinypic.com/r721yx.jpg

Point of all this, hang in there. The road back for me was a multi-legged stool - get out of pain, PT exercises, massage, moderation, common sense and even prayer!

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HOLY CRAP! I have never seen anything like that in an MRI. Mine shows a bit of offset between vetabrae, but I’m talking a quarter inch or so…not 1/2 the bone.

What a great story thanks for sharing!

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Hey all,

Thanks so much for the responses. Apologies for late acknowledgement. Just reading these today.

No, I haven’t had surgery - yet. I’m in Canada and due to a clown show of misdiagnoses and long wait times for services, after 18 months of runaround I finally got the answer, “If we’d know at the start what the problem was we would have operated, but now you might as well just heal on your own and see what happens…” Well, shine that…!

All of your input has been useful because you’ve armed me with the possible options and language to go back and start the process again with the medical community. Just as important were your stories of overcoming the same. It gives me hope and fight. And that MRI pic??? Made me choke up. If you can get on with it in that condition then I am just making excuses. Thank you very, very much for that!!!

Just did my first swim in 5 years the other night. 1,000 meters. Felt wonderful :slight_smile:

See y’all out there.

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Okay, that’s gotta be Photoshopped! :slight_smile: even after 3 herniations and 2 surgeries, i can’t imagine a back like that. How the hell do you even walk?

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herniated L5 S1, had 2 steroid shots over a yr ago. Used to be a 50-60 mpw runner also, now I am still too afraid to run! Can manage a short jog but feels really jarring. Biking actually seems to fix my back when it acts up, and long rides actually help it. But sad to not be running like I used to.

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It gives me a great feeling of purpose to know that my story helps your outlook. I am not cured by any means, I just refused to accept having something taken from me (the ability to run fast) which has been a part of me for my entire life. A couple of times over the last 3-4 years I just stubbornly forced myself out there to start running and the results were terrible, making the sciatica worse. The real path back started super slow on a cushioned treadmill. After each 45 minute workout, I assessed: did it hurt while running, did it hurt afterward, did it hurt the next day? If answers were no,no & no, then I kept going.

You may have a different set of conditions than I live with, but conservative management can work when you realize that it is a multi-legged stool consisting of things like regular PT exercises specific for you, massage, pain killers that you can live with (or on), and above all common sense.

Best of luck to you!

Rich G
Charlotte, NC

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I am like a car with no struts but really good shocks!