Cycling / Running - Logs, Stories, & Pictures (any fellow cyclists or runners here?)

Thanks for the well wishes.

It's actually unbelievable that I drove 8 Km with a completely broken collar bone. When I arrived at the hospital the pain already caused cold sweat and shaking knees. But it was the quickest way to get to the hospital during the evening rush hour.

Yesterday the head physician recommended a surgery. But for now I refuse it. A surgery doesn't include less risks than a conservative therapy (wearing an arm sling) in my point of view. There would be a huge scar. And possibly deadness in parts of the arm or shoulder for years. Not to mention possible inflammations due to the metal/screws. Either way, the shoulder/collar bone won't look as it did before. But I can live with a small visible "step" in my collar bone, since the two parts will grow together upon each other anyway. However, if the two parts won't grow together properly (i.e. build a pseudoarthrosis for example) I still can chose a surgery. The next 2-3 weeks will show the outcome I guess. My shoulder will be checked once a week.

Meanwhile I feel relatively fine. As long as I don't move my right arm and shoulder at all, and sit in my comfortable desk chair, I'm painless most of the time. I can sleep between 6-8 hours almost without any pain, as long as I don't move (lying only at the back the whole night). During the first night I could hear and feel the two parts of my broken collar bone "touching" each other whenever I moved my shoulder (which I actually shouldn't). But this is decreasing, which I consider a good sign. I did measure my shoulders today. Both measure about 18 cm. And both collar bones measure about 15 cm. If it keeps going that way, then the right shoulder shouldn't look too much different in future, I hope. But let's see...

Considering that this is a usual biker injury, and that I do (did) ride for 20 years without any injury, my personal statistic is still good I think. This is my first bone fracture.

Regarding the damn streetcar rails: I crossed them for 15 years without problems. But in future I will take the byroad. It's only one fall, but it's already enough to change the route in future. Asphalt feels so unbelievably solid at about 30 Km/h. But luckily I have a rather high pain threshold. Only wiping is an issue, with only the left hand available (if you are a right-handed)... :lol: ;)

This event shows me once more that one should enjoy every second of life whenever possible (even the challenging moments/times). It can change or be over within only a fraction of a second and you can't do anything...
 
I would reconsider the surgery. First of all, the technology for surgeries changed a lot in the past ten years. Scars are much smaller now and a good surgeon can even conceal scars good enough that you would need to know where they are to find them. Second, the complications from the conservative therapy can also be much worse, depending on how your fracture is like. A step in your bone might sound like a minor problem, but it could easily hinder your usual arm motions or cause other bone related problems in other bones. Just an arm sling is only rarely a choice for a complete fracture of the collar bone.

Get to a second doctor and get a second opinion, maybe a third, if this doctor still recommends surgery and you still don't like it. But get it. Don't ruin your health and the fun in sports by choosing the therapy yourself.

And if this is your first fracture, one reason more to not underestimate it. I had a tiny capsule damage in my big toe after sports and ignored it, even by the advice of my mother (who is a former nurse). Now it is good again, but it meant years of discomfort and pain until it was fully healed again.

PS: If you think asphalt can feel solid at 30 km/h, try dry grass. It gives pain a new dimension.
 
I would reconsider the surgery. First of all, the technology for surgeries changed a lot in the past ten years. Scars are much smaller now and a good surgeon can even conceal scars good enough that you would need to know where they are to find them. Second, the complications from the conservative therapy can also be much worse, depending on how your fracture is like. A step in your bone might sound like a minor problem, but it could easily hinder your usual arm motions or cause other bone related problems in other bones. Just an arm sling is only rarely a choice for a complete fracture of the collar bone.

Get to a second doctor and get a second opinion, maybe a third, if this doctor still recommends surgery and you still don't like it. But get it. Don't ruin your health and the fun in sports by choosing the therapy yourself.

And if this is your first fracture, one reason more to not underestimate it. I had a tiny capsule damage in my big toe after sports and ignored it, even by the advice of my mother (who is a former nurse). Now it is good again, but it meant years of discomfort and pain until it was fully healed again.

Thanks for your advice so far.

I have seen pictures, taken after recent surgeries, which look nasty. The problem is that the skin above the collar bone is rather thin. You'll see a scar for the rest of your life on it. Not to mention the metal plate. And if you should fall again with that metal plate (never say never), your collar bone will look like breadcrumbs. The plate will be removed after one year however, but it will take another 6 month until the holes of the screws will be filled with new bone tissue. And the metal plate can bend if you do sports. But the worst thing would be deadness of the skin.

So I don't really know if I should undergo a surgery or not. Maybe I'll get a second opinion...

PS: If you think asphalt can feel solid at 30 km/h, try dry grass. It gives pain a new dimension.

I never really plaid football :)
 
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Ouch!! Sorry to hear about this news mate. I hope you heal up quickly. Broken collar bone is a common cycling break for sure. It's scary to think how you can get hurt doing something you love, but I guess we just have to continue living our life to the fullest. In my case, I could be out of work with an injury like that which makes it even scarier.

I would opt for the quickest and surest way to heal it. If that's surgery, then I'd do it. I'm a guy, so scars don't worry me. :)
 
I never really plaid football :)

Football? I decided to eject from my out-of-control bike away from the asphalt and experienced a really hard landing. :lol: It takes some shaking to knock me out and landing head first in deep dry grass was one way to achieve this.
 
Ouch!! Sorry to hear about this news mate. I hope you heal up quickly.

Thanks.

Broken collar bone is a common cycling break for sure. It's scary to think how you can get hurt doing something you love, but I guess we just have to continue living our life to the fullest.

If we would stop doing what we love because of accidents, there wouldn't be airplanes and rockets, and lot's of other stuff. I see it as a chance. In future I will chose a different route and therefore increase my safety.

In my case, I could be out of work with an injury like that which makes it even scarier.

Well, I'm out of work for at least 8 weeks. But it's not a big issue.

I would opt for the quickest and surest way to heal it. If that's surgery, then I'd do it. I'm a guy, so scars don't worry me. :)

I'm a man as well :P


A more painful and longer healing progress doesn't worry me. But I still might chose a surgery if it doesn't work properly though...

---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------

Football? I decided to eject from my out-of-control bike away from the asphalt and experienced a really hard landing. :lol: It takes some shaking to knock me out and landing head first in deep dry grass was one way to achieve this.

Sounds nasty. I thought you meant football.
 
So, I've set a fitness goal for myself. Try and meet the "Excellent" area of the Covington Police Department's fitness standards. That's running 1 1/2 miles in 10 minutes, 43 pushups, and 51 situps. Help me...:P
 
That's a pretty brisk running pace, but very do-able for such a short distance. The pushups would be more difficult for me, never liked them. 51 situps, no problem.

Good luck with the challenge, you can do eet! :)
 
Running is not my department. But 43 pushups and 51 situps are no problem (as long as I don't suffer from a collarbone fracture). I do 30 pushups in the morning (before having a shower and breakfast), and 30 in the evening. I can do 50, but I think 30 is enough (I do them slowly and precisely). And I do the situps like some US Marines do, with legs in the air (no pedestal or any other kind of help). At least I saw them doing it this way in a documentary. Now it turns out that doing this kind of situps for years was rather useful. Because with my collarbone fracture, getting into and out of the bed painlessly only is possible by using my abdominal muscles only; i.e. no hands.

By the way, the initial pain after getting out of the bed now is changing to a painless feeling of pressure in my right collar bone (which I think is due to the reduction of swelling) :)
 
By the way, the initial pain after getting out of the bed now is changing to a painless feeling of pressure in my right collar bone (which I think is due to the reduction of swelling) :)

Good to hear! :thumbup:
 
I am more in the running and swimming department... I feel at home in the water (This is likely why I can never become a seaman - not enough fear of getting wet). I can swim for quite a while before my caffeine addiction causes trouble and also dive a good distance (25 meters while staying at the floor of the pool, exactly measured was 20 meters with a underwater turn halfway on the other side of the pool, I am no apnoe diver who could reach 150 - 213 meters)

Not sure of situps and so on... didn't do it much yet, while in the army, the 30+ numbers had been no problem, today I can be happy to do 1 push up without collapsing I fear. Should start doing so, now that the days really get colder and darker.
 
Today I had my first check in the hospital. I talked to a rather friendly orthopedist and his assistant. It was a detailed counseling session. But he sounded different than the other doctors last week. He said that such a kind of fracture was generally treated nonsurgical until 1-2 years ago (at this hospital), i.e. just with a special bandage (which I am wearing). There is a trend for 1-2 years to recommend a surgery in such cases, but it is not a necessity. It will, likely, heal nonsurgical. They wouldn't fix the collarbone anyway. They would just close the gap between the two bone fragments by simply screwing it together with a metal bracket (on top of each other). So I don't see a need for a surgery if the bone will look like a step either way.

So, another 5 weeks until I can pull off my bandage. I won't be able to fully put weight to my right arm by then. But I think I will be able to cycle again...
 
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I just ran/walked 1 1/2 miles in 16 minutes and 15 seconds. I guess the goal is to shave 6 minutes off of that.
 
I can't manage to get my times any better.

I did pull off a sub 7 minute mile a few weeks ago, but on longer stuff my pace usually isn't better than 10 minutes.

I've been running 10k semi-consistently since May but I'd like to do it in under an hour. My current record is around 1:03.
 
Today I had my first check in the hospital. I talked to a rather friendly orthopedist and his assistant. It was a detailed counseling session. But he sounded different than the other doctors last week. He said that such a kind of fracture was generally treated nonsurgical until 1-2 years ago (at this hospital), i.e. just with a special bandage (which I am wearing). There is a trend for 1-2 years to recommend a surgery in such cases, but it is not a necessity. It will, likely, heal nonsurgical. They wouldn't fix the collarbone anyway. They would just close the gap between the two bone fragments by simply screwing it together with a metal bracket (on top of each other). So I don't see a need for a surgery if the bone will look like a step either way.

So, another 5 weeks until I can pull off my bandage. I won't be able to fully put weight to my right arm by then. But I think I will be able to cycle again...

FADEC, out of curiosity, how much your treatment would cost you in Germany, should you choose doing surgery or not?
 
FADEC, out of curiosity, how much your treatment would cost you in Germany, should you choose doing surgery or not?

I don't know.

It's paid by the employers liability insurance association, because the accident happened after work, on the way home (you are insured from the moment you leave your home in order to go to work until you return home). So I don't have to pay anything.

Otherwise, if something like this happens during my spare time, my health insurance would pay the surgery as well as almost anything else. Except drugs for example, if I don't get them from the doctore but have to buy them in a pharmacy.

If you are unemployed, the state pays your health insurance in Germany. Even life-long if necessary.

Some Obama opponents would call our system socialism. I call it a rather good health care system, which really takes care of everyone. Of course it's not a perfect system. There are injustices between public health patients and private patients (especially waiting periods for surgery hours and certain examinations). But I think it's among the best health care systems, if not the best, in combination with top-quality medicine available.
 
Just ran about a mile in 8 minutes and 28 seconds!:woohoo:
 
Just ran about a mile in 8 minutes and 28 seconds!:woohoo:

Congrats! Feels good to get a faster time.

I'm proud of my achievement today on the bike. I took 1st place on the biggest climb in all of Houston, the Fred Hartman bridge, which crosses the ship channel. It's around 170 feet, average grade 3.6%, max grade 7.1%. The segment says its 133 feet, but it's using barometric pressure, so going by actual road data, it's more than that.

http://app.strava.com/segments/865226

The guy in first had an average speed through the climb of 23.0 mph. Today I was 5 seconds faster, with an average speed of 24.1 mph. We had a nice north wind that helped, but it was still really tough.
 
I've recently gotten into running 30 minutes a day before I go to bed, mostly because college has been somewhat stressing me out, so I've been running to be able to sleep better at night.
 
I've recently gotten into running 30 minutes a day before I go to bed, mostly because college has been somewhat stressing me out, so I've been running to be able to sleep better at night.

It works, though I prefer morning or afternoon. I'm too amped up to sleep right after.
 
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