BarryJo

Spinwax, I can totally empathize with you and what you're feeling. And it sucks the max.
I don't claim to have put in the work you have, nor do I believe I'm anywhere near the race condition you're in right now. But still I've been putting in the hours on the trainer to reach my goal of upgrading from 5 -> 4 this season.
I'll be having surgery sometime in March, 6-10 weeks off the bike.
With any luck I'll be back to doing the tuesday night B ride sometime around July. C'est la vie.

Hang in there, MDcatV's advice is good, focus energies on the positives during your downtime to help pass the time quickly.

ridethecliche

Ex,

I think some of the things going on with my body, i.e. new issues are just the aftershocks from the crap my body went through post crash. The same parts that I have tons of scars on are hurting now.

I would also advise the OP to be careful with tendinitis because sometimes it won't hurt right away and activity might actually might make it feel better, but soon after it will swell right back up again and you'll be at square one...

Nickel

I would just take the year off and do some other stuff so you aren't constantly worried about getting back into shape quickly. Yeah it will definitely suck but it will be better for you in the long run (like everyone else has said).

I couldn't play my final rugby season because I had such terrible tendinitis in my back and my hips. I never knew what it was like to have joints be so absolutely on fire. I took 2 months off and it still hurt so I started rock climbing. I think it took over 5 months plus some resistance training to build up muscle where I could run again without pain. Too late for rugby so I started cycling. I definitely missed it but at least I had other things to keep me active so I didn't focus on it too much.

ridethecliche

This is what I was going to say, but I didn't want to depress the OP. I'd rather recover fully from an injury instead of having it nag me forever. Tendinitis is one of those things.

OP, did the doc give you a cortisone shot?

spinwax

I will take as much time off as possible, but I just don't see myself staying away from the bike that long. I am just hoping it is a minor case. Odd that I don't have any swelling like many others have had. It is not sore to the touch either. It is just pinching pain all the time, but not killer unless I just go out and blast it on the bike.

umd

John, I'm really sorry about this, I felt bad when I read about it on facebook. Are you going to use your downtime to help Mike out with running SNSR or would it be too depressing to be around the whole scene?

chadteck

That sucks man. Do you think it was spending too much time, too soon on the TT bike that did it or do you think you would have had problems no matter what?

waterrockets 

It sounds like your best bet is to get the chronic pain to subside by staying off any activity for a while. Once you're neutral and don't have any pain when you're just sitting or walking around, then you can start to see where you stand with other activities. Let the pain be your guide: if it hurts, don't do it.

Unless of course DR and PT tell you differently, but I imagine this is the direction they will go.

Note: I didn't/don't have any swelling or tenderness either.

spinwax

Thanks man. Unfortunately that is life.

I will go and watch. Daly is taking some photos. I have lots of friends racing that I want to help out and hopefully give some advice too as well. Watching from the outside and knowing the race, I should be able to give some good insight. We will see.

Good luck out here man. My best friend is racing in your category. He is fast, so keep an eye on him!

semaj

I bet it's too much too soon.

Although I have not had knee surgery like the OP did, I was in the same position as the OP in that I was never an athlete prior to bike racing and I started about a year or two ago.

I started up with a coach and during the winter training program perscribed about 700+ TSS weeks combined with strength training / core training 3 days a week. I think my body just took a sh*t on me from being pushed too hard too soon (along with fit issues) so my left VMO started to ache every time I got on the bike.

This was starting early November and now I'm here about 10 lbs heavier (all fat I bet) and completely detrained. I started my new training regimine with a new coach and hope for the best, but like you my early season races I was planning on doing well on are out of the question.

ted ward

I had a bone bruise Jan 5 last year and wasn't able to race until the beginning of March at the UCSB crit. It was awful but forced me to rediscover my other hobbies and when I returned to the bike I was super-motivated. It's not all bad.

ok_commuter

"current" spouse?

procrit

I would be in the swimming pool 5x a week doing laps until your leg is healed.

Also try 400mg of Aleve 2x a day. Best otc anti-inflammatory around.

Hocam

Have you tried eccentric loading? Step up on a chair with both legs, lower with the injured one. Or maybe it's the reverse, I forget.

spinwax

No, but I am going to ask about it tomorrow. I start therapy tomorrow. They are including ultra sound sessions as well. Supposably this really helps in recovery.

Caad 8

Do PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma. Google it, its what the PRO's do if they're injured. It costs $1,000 and it isnt covered, but it should fix it for life.

spinwax

Soooo, lots of positives today. My PT was the best. She has been doing it for 35 yrs and had more knowledge than you could imagine. She even put me on the bike to look at a safe leg extension for me. She commented right off the bat it my prob was cause from too low of a saddle on my TT.

We talked about a lot of things including eccentric loading as mentioned above. She did a tendon release technique that literally got rid of any pain I had when I when I went in. She said I will be hurting a little tomorrow but she wanted to see how it will work on me in the long run.

I will be seeing her 3 times a week. She said she will have me spinning on the bike within a week or so.

I am super excited to have some info. What really surprised me, is she said NO swimming and we will get to that later. It seems to me it can cause some twisting motion on the knees that will cause them pain.

Just thought I would keep everyone posted. I appreciate all the feed back.

Nate552

Awesome news!

spinwax

Cortisone administered through electro pulse therapy. Weird. Great news though. I can spin for up to 15 mins a day on the trainer. She said I should be able to get on the road in the next 2 weeks training lightly.

waterrockets 

Good to hear. That's some weird tech though.

merlinextraligh

Better get the TUE

spinwax

Dumb question, what is a TUE?

jwible

Therapeutic Use Exemption.

Doper.

spinwax

LOL. I didn't know that cortisone was against USA Cycling rules. What can you do? It will be July before I race again. I will have to look up Iontophoresis for banned use.

spinwax

Oh well, what can you do? It will be July before I race again; I am not too concerned.LOL.

BTW, I was told it is called Iontophoresis. Interesting stuff.