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Sunday, 16 June 2013 01:10

By Ben Ewers (benewers.blogspot.com)

I had been holding my cards for as long as I could, but I just cancelled out of Kansas 70.3 to be held on June 9th. Very tough decision as this was a target race for me. I had planned on finishing first in my age group and qualifying for the World Championship 70.3 race to be held in Nevada in September. I have a backup qualifier in mind -- Racine 70.3 scheduled in July. But, not getting to race at Kansas is kinda like getting a flat on a bike ride and using up your only spare. The uncertainty of whether you will finish the ride or get another flat is unnerving.

The reason I cancelled is I have another injury. Following my race two weeks ago Saturday, I took a recovery bike ride on Sunday and swam/ran on Monday. Tuesday morning I could hardly walk. It appeared I had a good case of the shin splints on my right leg. Haven't had shin splints since High School. So I followed the RICE rule (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) but continued to swim and bike as the pain was not excruciating for those exercises (as...

compared to attempted running). After a week nothing much changed so I started with the heat and self massage treatments. OK, that's not going well, maybe I have something other than shin splints. What about a stress fracture of the tibia or navicular bone (google it)? Healing time is up to 6 weeks, ugh, I can't have that. Did you know Frank Shorter ran the 1976 Olympic Marathon with a stress fracture and still took the silver medal? Just a trivia diversion for those under the age of 40. Or, maybe I have External Compartment Syndrome (ECS)?