After my last long bike for IMLOU on August 4th I had major pack pain so choose to skip the next day’s last long run in order to heal. Visit to the Dr. reveals a buldging disk, inflaming the performis, and pinching the sciatica nerve. Treatment has been meds (anti-inflamatory, muscle relaxers), with aggressive physical therapy a sport physical therapist. The plan is to reduce as much swelling and discomfort as possible by race day which has meant NO RUNNING, NO BIKING, none, zip. I may get to ride and run this weekend, but basically the taper will end up being a sudden and abrupt halt to all training 3 weeks out. The thought of this makes me want to puke! Anyone else ever have a zero activity taper for an IM?
I can’t help you on the cold turkey taper but I can offer you the advice that if you are dealing with a bulging disc you may want to go to a PT who is trained in the MacKenzie Method. I know, I know…trust me I’m very skeptical of quackopractors, accupuncture and all that stuff. But I can say without question that the MacKenzie Method put me back on track with some real simple exercises that have relieved a ton of back pain.
I feel ya bro. F’d my IT band three weeks ago after spending Feb-May without any running because of the same issue. My first run in August will be at IMC. Been getting massages, ART, rolling 5x a day, etc.
Crossing my fingers for both of us.
-Crichton
After my last long bike for IMLOU on August 4th I had major pack pain so choose to skip the next day’s last long run in order to heal. Visit to the Dr. reveals a buldging disk, inflaming the performis, and pinching the sciatica nerve. Treatment has been meds (anti-inflamatory, muscle relaxers), with aggressive physical therapy a sport physical therapist. The plan is to reduce as much swelling and discomfort as possible by race day which has meant NO RUNNING, NO BIKING, none, zip. I may get to ride and run this weekend, but basically the taper will end up being a sudden and abrupt halt to all training 3 weeks out. The thought of this makes me want to puke! Anyone else ever have a zero activity taper for an IM?
Well unfortunately I have to say I beat you on the taper… I have not been able to run now for the past 5 weeks due to a partially torn Achilles Tendon, heck I have probably spent more time during the day icing, heating, and having therapy on the dam thing than I would have spent running. But as this is going to be my 15th Ironman Canada race and my last one I am determined to do this dam race one more time, call me stupid or what but I have tried to keep positive and maintained the swimming and biking up… I know I won’t be going out with a time any where near 10 hrs which I did on my better days but I am sure to soak up the day, as no doubt it will be a dam long day, especially the run or hobble bit 
… Like my buddy said, as I usually get in off the bike at around 7 hours into the race that leaves me 11 hours plus to see the sites of Penticton… wonderful Keep positive Brian that’s all the advice I can offer as I have never been in this position before my self and I have 20 plus Ironman races under my belt… but never injured so far out and still can’t run with just over a week to go… Cheers Rob
My IMLOU taper began by getting hit by a car at Vineman and not being able to do anything for weeks, so I feel what you are sayin ;-(
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I spent 2 weeks with zero training, and drinking a significant amount of beer and eating wings a few nights/week for the taper for my first IM. had wine the night before the race as well (mind you, I had beer this year before).
sometimes, taking time off due to injury is a blessing in disguise…esp. for IM.
you’ll lose a bit of that neural edge, but really, you’re not working out in that exertion zone anyway, so unless you plan on doing 100m repeats, i wouldn’t stress too much. you’re not going to lose aerobic fitness (at least anything noticeable) after 2 weeks. rest, relax and recover, and go in fresh.
I’ll play. I’m doing IMC on the 26th. My last long ride was the Triple Bypass on July 14. I had been suffering, on pretty much a weekly basis, from some nutrition/heat problems on my long rides all summer. The Triple Bypass must have been the last straw, because I had complete and total burnout immediately after that. At that point I was 6 weeks out from IMC. I told my coach I needed a mental break and she literally cleared my calendar. I kept running, for the most part, but stayed off the bike and out of the water. A week later I was still burnt out. Still ran, no biking or swimming. I considered dropping IMC. But the following week I resolved to get back on the horse and finish out this race. What happened next? I got sick. There went another week (I get bronchitis at the drop of a hat, so colds take me out of training). So I’m doing what I can now, two weeks out from the race. I consider this a 6-week taper with bare minimum effort.
This will be a true test of the value of a strong base. I took very little time off training after IMC last year, and had a good race in Brazil in May, so the base is there. I am going to be leaning on it heavily. We shall see.
You, my friend, are not alone. Broke my little toe a week and half ago and it’s kept me from any decent running. Biking was okay but now the lake water here in Chattanooga is so freakin hot it’s miserable to swim in, and my sports club’s pool is outdoors so it’s basically a big jacuzzzi now. As another poster said, maybe this is all a blessing in disguise.
I’m not so sure this is as bad as you think. I remember finishing a national champ and not doing anything for 2-3 expect maybe JOGGING once or twice. jumped into a road race and posted my PB ever. I remember warming up and saying to my husband-jeez-my legs feel like springs-i wonder what’s the problem-the problem was that they had NEVER been rested like that! go with what you got and you will probably be very surprised.
I’ll second the post on the Mackenzie trained PT’s. My wife is a PT. She’s not Mackenzie trained but she worked at a clinic that had PT’s that were. She says they were very good at helping back problems!
Good Luck!
MacKenzie Method
**I’ll second this. **
Hope back gets better soon. Wouldn’t worry so much about the taper being affected; I pulled my calf muscle two weeks out of IMLP.
If you can, get into a regular daily stretching routine though I’d imagine you’re PT includes this anyway. That’s what I did and I think it actually helped not working out and loosening up a little running up to the race.
The whole thing will likely take the pressure off a little and who knows, you may even enjoy the race
June 22th, a Friday night. I wish I could say it was a dark and stormy night, but it wasn’t. It was nice, I was in Philly, just ate sushi and had a couple of Kirins, walking back to the hotel. You know those squares cities cut out of sidewalks, to plant trees and then put in mulch or grates? Well, apparently Philly can’t afford mulch or grates, only the trees. As I turned to say something to the people I was with, I rolled my left ankle into one of those holes. It popped, and I immediately started shaking and shivering.
Last week, ankle finally feeling strong, go out for a run and finally pain free and strong. Rolled my right ankle over a root. Another weird story. So, for the last 7 1/2 weeks, little or no running. IM LOU in a week and a half.
Can you swim? Keep your aerobic fitnes up with swimming.
Can you go to the gym? Seated leg extensions and calf extensions would be good to keep the legs strong. I imagine that doing hamstring work would be almost impossible.
Taper down the caloric intake as well.
A goal may be to make it to your last peak week (last 1 weeks before race week), able to complete your workouts. And the only way to do that is rest.
You’ll do fine in your race. With all the rest, you may be setting yourself up for a PB if you can get your back into shape.
I was in a bike accident and didn’t do any biking or swimming for almost 2 weeks and the day I was able to get back on the bike I had one of my best days of this season, which also happens to be my strongest season ever on the bike.
Assuming that you have a few years of solid base training under your belt, I really don’t think you will lose all that much fitness in 3 weeks. Just keep your food intake under control so you don’t gain a bunch of weight. You will probably be better off than most people as the tendency in endurance sports is doing too much rather than too little.
I had good results with McKenzie physical therapy for my disk issues. Good luck.
I haven’t been able to run for 3.5 weeks and can only bike keeping hr under 120 for last 2 months because of ITB syndrome going into IMLouis. I have basically come to the realization that unless a miracle happens i’ll be walking entire marathon so i’ll see you out there and maybe we can gimp along together:)
I must say I’m very surprised at ALL the injuries out there. Man talk about increased anxiety. Good luck to you guys and heal quickly. How many of you all have been on a coached training plan? Just curious. I have been this year. I have always overtrained in the past and had nagging injuries throughout the season. This year, I don’t think I’m running as quickly as I have in the past (first race 10 days out) but my bike and swim fitness is up. Biggest benie has been following a plan that has not produced any aches/pains/nagging injuries. If I go into a race fully recovered and repaired I’ll give up a tad on the run.
Very similar story to mine. Last year, 1 week before IMCDA my back got tight and I had major back spasms that put me out. After an MRI, they confirmed my nerves are getting pinched from the narrowing of the canals that lead out of my lower back and I had a slight bulging disk, which isn’t that uncommon. Unfortunately, before I got diagnosed, I tried swimming and riding easy thinking it would “stretch” my back out. In hindsight, I would of been better off laying on the couch, icing my back, and taking NSAIDs. I was using heat and that was making it worse.
Everyone has an opinion, but mine is to let it rest and show up at IMLOU.
A three week taper of doing nothing will not change your overall performance. Stress and trying to get one more workout in when your injured will only set you back. Take some Aleve or Ibuprofen and relax.