Cracked Ribs

The official report is "yes" I have some cracked ribs. Best guess is 3 to 6 weeks for recovery and I should be taking it easy during that time.

So let's define the word "easy". Okay, maybe before we defined the word "easy", we should define what it means to be "normal". My definition of "normal" is the carrying out of one's ordinary daily activities at their expected levels of effort.

Therefore, for me "normal" means usually running anywhere from 7 to 20 miles in the morning followed by bike ride or swim in the evening. The run miles could be hills, intervals, fartlek, or tempo. The bike miles are usually with a group and almost always are considered intervals for anywhere from 30 to 60 miles. On the swim days it is usually in the pool with my daughters. They almost always want to race across the pool. This is what "normal" means to me

Now that we have a working definition of "normal" what is the definition of "easy" mean.

Well, "easy" means that I still run just a lot slower. Since I cannot draw those deep breathes, the hard running is out so there are no intervals, tempos, or fartlek running

Ironically, the bike is the least affected by my cracked ribs. As long as I don't stand while riding or hit a lot of bumps in the road, the ribs don't hurt. Now, I cannot ride as hard because it still hurts to draw those deep breathes but at least I can still get in a pretty decent workout.

My daughter tells me that is always a positive side to every situation. The positives that I am drawing from this situation are that it is making focus on keeping my upper body more relaxed. Because of the pain, I would tend to tighten up in the upper body. Now, I focus the start of every run on keeping my head, shoulders, and chest as relaxed as possible. And, in all honesty I really didn't want to start my marathon training until sometime in August anyway. This gives me a good reason to make that happen. The other positive is since I cannot run hard or ride hard, I should not be as tired when I near the middle of my Twin Cities Marathon training.

Well there you have it what "normal" and "easy" means to me. Every person has their own definition of "normal" and "easy" and I suspect like myself it has a lot to do with how much pain that they are willing to endure. In the end, however, I suspect is all about how much you love doing something that determines how much pain is acceptable.

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner