Ken Byrne is the Arthritic Triathlete. He has shared his experiences running with inflammatory arthritis and an autoimmune disease called Haemochromatosis. Ken recently had major surgery with a full right hip replacement, and has shared his recovery process so far with RunIreland.com.
I have had lots of time to consider new goals and make plans over the last 6 weeks or so. My plans for the future are broken into a few stages.
Stage 1 – The Immediate Stage
This is the next 8 to 10 weeks where I will just slowly get back to working out, back to swimming and on the bike. I am resigned to the fact that I need to start from the start again. This will be frustrating I know as I was quite fit before the operation.
But I have literally gone from walking to the end of my driveway to where I am now.
I have been warned not to overdo things by the medical staff and physio and I do need to take this advice seriously. I have been quite good so far in doing what I have been told to do and I do not want to do anything to push back the progress I have made, so for the next 2 months it’s baby steps.
Stage 2 – The Next Year
Once I am given the ok to resume some sort of normal training, I hope to engage with a coach or someone who can or will design a programme for me to get a fit as I can.
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My main goal this year is to get fitter and a little faster, I want to try to lead by example for people of my age, with an autoimmune disease such as Arthritis and who may have had to have surgery or are returning from injury or illness that it is possible to get fit and engage in activity’s such as swimming, running, triathlons.
Stage 3 – Long Term Goals
Longer term goals will be to get back to doing park runs, triathlons and some open water swims with the aim to perhaps competing in an Ironman 70.3 next year. I also want to try set a 5k PB by the end of the year too. I know this may seem small, but to me this would be quite fulfilling.
I feel that while I did complete Dublin 70.3 in 2017, I wasn’t fit enough to do it justice. I would like to try again and complete in what I would describe as a respectable time. I would also like to race this abroad, somewhere that the sun maybe shining.
The Irish weather is not good for my Arthritis. I would say anyone who suffers an arthritic condition in Ireland will agree, the winter months are very uncomfortable leading to quite a lot of flare up and pain and sickness.
Unfortunately, the bad Irish climate seems to continue well into the summer months. When I go to a warmer climate my aches and pains go after about 2 days, so it would be nice to swim in warmer waters and maybe somewhere with a flat enough course.
I think that’s about it before you all fall asleep.
If anyone would like to ask me anything or get in touch please follow my Instagram or Twitter accounts I would be more than happy to help out with questions or comments you may have.
Instagram – @thearthritictriathlete
Twitter – @thearthritictri
Website – https://the-arthritic-triathlete.webnode.com/
