Retirement from IM - Triathlon

Bionic Ironwolf pirate

pirate

06/03/2012 at 19:47

Say hello to the bionic woman! On 20th June I will receive a titanium hip implant - I'll spare the gory details but the op should take about an hour. 1 week in the clinic, plus 3 in rehab. 6 weeks before I can swim, 6 months before run training can start - 5km and 10km, no more marathons. Guess I'm now officially forcibly retired from IM.

The day after my release from rehab, I'll be on a plane to England to support OH's Channel relay swim - wonder if my implant will set off the alarm at the airport security gate???

M.ister W

06/03/2012 at 19:56

You're going for titanium? Lots of people prefer carbon, which gives a more compliant ride, but titanium will last a long time.

Hope it goes well

Bionic Ironwolf pirate

pirate

06/03/2012 at 20:19

Thanks. I wasn't given a choice actually. Bit down this evening and OH is away for work until Friday so I bought a large bar of chili chocolate and a bottle of red wine to cheer myself up a bit! Still, OH has a titanium Litespeed which he really loves so that's encouraging.

I was offered the choice of having the Chief of orthopaedic surgery and Chief anaesthetist, so I said yes. It will cost me 2800 Euro to have them in charge of my surgery but I figured what the hell, I can afford it at the mo so why not take the best.

Edited: 06/03/2012 at 20:24

Little Ninja

06/03/2012 at 20:22

I'm sure it's gutting to have the retirement choice taken out of your hands Wolf but I bet with your fitness and overall good health, you'll recover well.

Edited: 06/03/2012 at 20:24

WildWill..... pirate

pirate

06/03/2012 at 20:25

Hope all goes well IW .. And your recoverly is swift

Bionic Ironwolf pirate

pirate

06/03/2012 at 20:27

Thanks LN and Will. I'm generally upbeat but it's just the initial shock of the news that got me. I was expecting to be told they could do an arthroscopy to fix me.

Edited: 06/03/2012 at 20:28

Little Ninja

06/03/2012 at 20:36

I'm sure it is a shock, especially when IM has been a big part of your life for so long. It was weird for me having to stop even before I got to my first start line. I didn't expect my body to give out on me. I hope you can find some other/more activities to fill that gap and maybe I'll see you on the sidelines at a race somewhere

Edited: 06/03/2012 at 20:43

seren nos

pirate

06/03/2012 at 20:43

I think the shock must be the worse thing...........but the positives is you will still be able to take part at a shorter distance level.....good luck and as said above.i'm sure your fitness will help you in a speedy recover

Bionic Ironwolf pirate

pirate

06/03/2012 at 20:59

Ta seren - I'm just about to email the people in Cologne and ask them to swap me into the 12km swim instead of the 2km swim/14km run I'm entered in. It's the weekend prior to my op.

Crash Hamster pirate

pirate

06/03/2012 at 21:30

Wubya

IW, I hope it all goes smoothly, you recover quickly and come back stronger than ever before! It's a shame about the IM, I know it's horrible to have something that's such a big part of your life taken away from you...

so you're just going to have to come back to kick some Olympic Distance ass!

Soup Dragon

06/03/2012 at 23:28

Good luck Wolfy. Heal strong and l look forward to hearing about you kicking ass at that oli distance.

JD.

pirate

06/03/2012 at 23:35

Good luck IW - wishing you a swift recovery.

O.rangeCannon.... Extravalanza here I come! pirate

pirate

07/03/2012 at 00:46

Hope you recover well and can keep on runningwiththose monster dogs
IM is just one event.......i amsure there are equally silly things / events / challenges that you can set yourself in the future.

Ridgebackmax

07/03/2012 at 03:24

Retirement for now UIW but i am sure the return will be iminent

take it east heal fast and come back stronger......and bionic!

PSC

pirate

07/03/2012 at 05:13

are these sort of bionics performance enhancing?

Recover strong Wolfie... you can then kick some serious age group arse at the middle distances.

Trogs.

pirate

07/03/2012 at 05:59

You're going to have to change your name Wolfy - Titanium Wolf sounds like a step up to me

All being well you'll come out the other side of rehab with the potential to race stronger than you've been able to for years

fat buddha

07/03/2012 at 11:32

good luck with the op and recovery IW - these things are pretty routine now so you should be fine. early in my career I had the pleasure to meet Prof John Charnley who pioneered total hip replacements - his work formed the basis of what is now a £multi-billion global business.

don't think of it as retirement, think of it as the 1st step into a new sporting direction. you might have to give up marathons and IM but there are still plenty of new things to try that don't impact on the hip.

popsider

07/03/2012 at 11:34

Good luck with it Ironwolf - sounds like you are in good hands anyway and you seem to have the character to take it in your stride.

FerrousFerret

07/03/2012 at 11:41

Fingers crossed everything goes well for you.

Bionic Ironwolf pirate

pirate

07/03/2012 at 16:54

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone, you're a great bunch. I'll have to learn to love the 10km, it's always been a good reason for me to do an IM instead of an Oly! Emailed the Cologne folks today and had no prob changing my entry over to the 12km swim - new challenge eh?