The Doctor's Journey

Not So Nimble

• By admin
• January 26, 2014
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No one ever said that the road to Ironman glory was going to be all rainbows and puppy dogs.  Ironman more correctly is like a gravel trail prone to flash flooding and with unleashed pit bulls at every turn.   My first set back of the season occurred during a training session this past week with my triathlon team, Terra Tri.   The highlight of the day’s workout consisted of perfecting our flying bicycle mounts.  This technique is pretty standard in the world of triathlon, and pretty much just means hoping onto your bike like the old time cowboys would jump onto their horses.  The only problem is if you’ve never done it, you’re a little gun-shy because missing your bike seat may mean no little nimble doctor bambinos ever.  Yikes!

Here’s an example of my coach and pro triathlete Dan Tigert making the move look easy.

Flying Mount

So although I don’t have the video, the nimble doctor was looking just like Coach Dan and the future bambinos were no longer stressing about singing soprano.  Then it happened.  We were wrapping up our drills for the day, just one last run through.  I remember it like it was yesterday (okay it was only 5 days ago).  I was like the Lone Ranger, his theme song playing loud in the soundtrack of my mind, me striding in slo-mo alongside my carbon stead (bike).  I make the leap. I swing the leg over.  Success, as I feel leather meet Lycra between my legs.  Then my epic scene turns into a Dumb and Dumber clip.  So nervous about landing the mount, I miss my pedal, stub my toe, and then spastically struggle to keep myself from falling off of my damn bike.  This was classic nimble doctor in full effect.  The aftermath is documented in the pictures below.

Injury Day

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

The final verdict was a mildly displaced intra-articular fracture of the left first distal phalanx…uh I broke my big toe.  Although it may appear that the nimble doctor has Wolverine-like healing abilities based on the pictures above, it will be another 4 weeks before I can think about serious running.   So for now my training will focus hitting the weight room, pool time and ironically enough, the bike.  Thanks for following along and until next time.   Please don’t forget to check out the donation page and remember what this journey is all about.