An injury setback...

I suppose it had to happen eventually, everyone gets the occasional injury.  But I like to get my injuries in particularly ego-destroying ways...

Late in our family holiday at Burleigh, we were going for a walk through the local shops. As we browsed through one of the old surf-shops, my oldest daughter yelled excitedly - "Look Dad, we can hire a surfboard all day, and its only $20!!  Can we??"

Now, I've never, ever surfed.  But only $20 for a whole day - what could go wrong?  Famous last words...

On the 2nd last day, we headed back to the surf shop.  I handed over $20, and was given the longest, widest, 'floatiest' board they had.  We carried it to the beach, and away we went.  My two daughters, not surprisingly, did very well for their first ever surfing attempt.  I had a great time helping them out to the breakers, and launching them off into smaller waves...

Inspired by their success, I took my turn.  Paddling out for my first attempt I tried to pop over a breaking wave. The board hit me in the chest pretty hard, and I felt a sharp pain. "You are kidding..." I thought to myself as I grabbed my left lower ribs...  I hadn't even tried to catch a wave yet!!

Bottom line is I cracked or fractured a rib.  Could not believe how sore it was!  I was OK to walk around, and breathing was fine - but coughing or laughing hurt like buggery, and lying down, rolling over, and getting in/out of bed was sore too. 

After a bit of research, I decided against going to the doctor as there isn't really anything that can be done for a broken rib.  I was careful to monitor myself closely for any changing pain or symptoms that might suggest I'd scratched a lung or anything else, but otherwise decided I'd have to take it easy so as not to impair the healing process.

I bought a bottle of Caltrate Plus (calcium, vitamin D, and trace elements supplement) to assist with bone repair and strength, and popped a couple of tablets a day.  Not sure if it made a difference or not, but figured it couldn't hurt.

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So I find myself now, a little over two weeks later, finally starting to approach normal.  It took about 10-12 days for the pain to drop a notch or two, and for the last couple of nights sleeping has been much better.  Its now just 'sore' rather than painful, and I can feel improvement each day.  Finally!

Having avoided the bike the whole time, I'll lycra-up for an easy spin tomorrow morning and see how I go.  The plan is to stay in the saddle and ride at a cruisy effort, avoiding any efforts that might need me to push-&-pull on the handlebars.  With some luck, the ride will be fine and I'll be able to ease back into more normal efforts over the next couple of weeks.

I've definitely got itchy feet after being off the bike for so long, so I'm really looking forward to it.  Hopefully this will be the start of a build into the HPRW Twilight Criterium series - its held on Wednesday afternoons after work at the Nundah criterium circuit, and starts in late November.

UPDATE:  Went for an easy 30km cruise on Saturday (20/10/12).  No soreness or pain in the rib, which was fantastic!!  Could feel it 'pulling' a bit though, so will just make sure I don't do any intensity-stuff for the next week or two so I don' aggravate it.  Very happy to be back on the bike though!!