My Bike Wreck and Lessons Learned

Dear Fellow Bikers, Triathletes and HEAT Friends,

The good news is . . . I got selected from the lottery, and God willing, will be in the NYC Marathon this November. Oh yeah! The bad news is . . . I just had a painful wreck on my bike. No, No, No! Yep, I had a bike wreck last week and broke my collarbone. While I'll miss a few good races this May, June and July, I should be OK for the NYC Marathon in Nov 2011.

Here’s an update about my bike wreck (which happened Wednesday, May 12th, at 4:30 PM):

How My Bike Wreck Happened:
I had just ridden a peaceful 18 miles by myself in the Sumner County back roads, and at the end of the ride was coming down a fairly steep hill (1 block from my house). For some odd reason I misused a couple of seconds while getting my left foot situated before making the right turn into my neighborhood.

Because of those couple of misused seconds, I had to hit my brakes firmly before trying to make the turn, my back tire skidded. . . I let off and then hit the brakes a second time, again the tires skidded. That second skid meant I couldn’t make the turn and had to jump the street curb going pretty fast. I hit the brakes a third time in the grass area between the street and aggregate driveway in front of me. Immediately, my bike and I did a front somersault onto an aggregate driveway in front of me. I remember hearing and feeling my helmet smack the concrete and I thought, ‘hey I got my money’s worth out of my helmet’. For about one minute, I laid on the driveway and discerned my condition. I was hurting, but then rolled over and got up. I stood by a tree in the yard gasping for breath and coming around. I picked up my water bottle and finished it off, feeling the life giving liquid. I was shaken up, but decided to walk my bike home the one block. Also, walking would give me time to calm down.

When I got home, I was realizing I was not feeling any better. I headed for the front door, dropping my bike against the bushes below the front porch and rang the doorbell. My wife, Sheila, came to the door and rescued me. I nearly passed out leaning against her. Within a short time, we were headed to the ER at Hendersonville Hospital to get x-rayed and get something for the pain.

The result of my bike wreck is a broken collarbone and an estimated six weeks for recovery. What?! A couple of seconds of indiscretion while coming down a hill put me out of commission for six weeks?! It sounds unreasonable and unfair. Why did this happen? I've been making the turn on that hill for 10 years and now this? Oh well, get used to it. This is my new reality. Indeed, my reality is taking pain pills and waiting to heal.

I hope to get back on my bike as soon as I’m able. Swimming normally will take even longer I expect with my arm motion being restricted. Running will probably be my first attempt at exercise after a month of healing. I am thankful to have the NYC Marathon hanging out there like a 'North Star' in November. I'll have plenty to look forward to when I do heal.

What Have I learned from this experience?:
-Carry an ID with emergency phone #'s.
-Carry your phone in your bento pouch, instead of back pocket of jersey, it should be easier to retrieve.
-Ride with others whenever possible, so they can watch you crash and critique it.
-Take the downhills slower to give yourself more reaction time.
-ALWAYS wear a helmet. It could have been much worse otherwise.


Mike

26.2 Miles - in the Books

Time was 5:01:56. Guess I'll have to run another one and break 5 hours! Had a blast, and even though there was pain, the exhilaration of all that energy at the event far outweighs it.

- well deserved rest . . . until the next adventure -

Day before Chicago Marathon

Chicago, October 10, 2009

My emotions run high as I finally begin to take it all in. 26.2 miles, a distance I never dreamed I would run. But my story is only a small particle of the many stories connected with the marathon phenomenon. Yet . . . I am a part, and I happily feel connected. I now know I’ll take something away tomorrow from this experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. And, all of us involved in this welcome display of the human spirit will leave something good here too.

Our inspiration builds as people’s stories unfold. In my race packet I read of an 83 year old woman running tomorrow named Iris Vinegar, from Raleigh, NC. What makes Iris’s story so amazing is that she had heart surgery and her doctors just gave her the okay to run in February 09. She signed up immediately. This is her 10th Chicago Marathon and it will be a special one, not only for her, but for the lives she’ll touch. So many personal stories of perseverance unfold here tomorrow in Chicago. Race time records and personal records will be broken here tomorrow!

October 11, 2009 is the 32nd Chicago Marathon and brings 45,000 participants from 120countries and all 50 states. Over $10 Million will be donated to charity. It’s a unique event, one of the greatest in the world, and I’m just now realizing what a privilege it is to be here. I look forward to seeing the encouraging and cheering spectators! I read in my packet where I’ll hear the roar of more than 1.5 million of them along the 26.2 mile route.

My marathon journey has been a discovery for myself and my new friends, whom are dear to me now because of the hours of training together. Many times we arose at 4:00AM or 4:30AM and had run for an hour or more before the sun even got up. Tomorrow, we use what we built in ourselves over the last four months. The shared excitement flows out in e-mails, nervous laughs, excited eye contact, and smiles. It’s a shared experience and I’m expecting tomorrow to be one of the best days of my life when I cross the finish line.

- Until Tomorrow -

Strange Encounter On 15 Run (before 6AM)

Friday, July 31st, 4:15AM, the alarm goes off and it's time to meet friends and run 15 miles. We had about nine people (Marilyn Meyer, Mike Donovan, Michele Coomer, Skip & Charlene Alcorn, Sheila Yarbrough, Doug somebody and another lady) that met at 5AM at the Cracker Barrel this morning. Yeah, it was the crack of dawn and we met at 'The Crack' for a 15 mile run, but little did we know that a funny story would unfold before 6AM, almost half way through our run.

Before meeting us, Charlene had stashed a case of water for everyone on Stop 30 Road at the old bridge over the railroad track. When the faster group got to the water drop (I wasn't in the faster group), they met a parked car and learned that a young man who had found the water had thrown most of it over the bridge onto the railroad tracks! Thirsty and perplexed, they asked him what happened to the water. He confessed that he had tossed it over cause he didn't know who it belonged to. They also found a small bag of 'pot' next to the few bottles of water left. Strange situation at just before 6AM in Hendersonville!

The runners left him and doubled back toward the rest of us as we approached. Then the young man drove down the hill toward us too. He rolled his window down and said something to Mike Donovan about being sorry and he would get more water for us. We found it both strange and funny because this was a totally unexpected encounter on our early morning run. Usually it's quiet with just the birds singing as the sun rises. We continued our run and would loop back near this same spot in an hour or so. On the second time around, thirsty and curious, each of stopped to discover that 'Matthew' had indeed come back and left us three cases of water, three gatorade drinks, and a nice note! Below is an image of his note.



What will happen on our next long run? Who knows, but I am looking foward to experiencing the minimum encounter of friendship, birds chirping as the sun slowly rises; running and the sound of my lungs sucking in fresh air as my heart pounds.

Marathon Journey Starts Saturday, June 13th

I wore some new running shoes Saturday and ran 2.5 miles in them after an hour swim. That's when I realized that they were special running shoes. Why? Because they're going to be the shoes I wear to run the Chicago marathon. My first marathon. Hey! This is a blog about my marathon journey and a way to psych myself up for the big day.

I never thought I would run a marathon. So what happened?! Well, I started doing triathlons about six years ago and you have to run a lot in those. The most I've run is 13.2 miles or a half marathon. At the end of a half marathon, I'm extremely glad it's over, and sorry for the poor devils doing the whole 26.2 miles. On Sunday, October 11, 2009, I'll be one of those poor devils.

Okay, a big reason I'm signed up for this marathon is that my wife, Sheila, decided to do it first and invited me to join her. Her committing to do one first brought up all kinds of man feelings in me. Five years ago I couldn't get her to run a mile. Now she's done signed us up for the Chicago Marathon. Let this be a lesson to everyone who starts running 5K, 10K and half marathons. After thinking on her invitation, in a moment of weakness, I said yes. What else could I do? Now, it's less than four months away and time to get serious.

Mentally, my thoughts and determination came together for me Saturday morning as I begin reading Jeff Galloway's book titled "Marathon. You Can Do It!" This Sunday morning at 6 AM I also got in a 6 mile run at the highschool with my wife and three friends. I'm on my way!