Today is Day 17 post-op (Week 3). This week I cancelled my Roth 2026 registration and transferred the slot to Challenge Roth 2027 on Sunday, July 4, 2027. The original first-Ironman plan didn't end on April 21 — it just got a new race date and a 14-month runway instead of 6 months.
April 21, 2026: the crash
First outdoor ride on the rental Cannondale in HCMC. Reaching down for the aero bars at around 15:00 ICT, the bike swerved and I fell laterally onto my right hip. The diagnosis at BVDK Tam Anh HCMC was a right femur subtrochanteric fracture, comminuted at the proximal end. Surgery the same day at ~23:00 ICT installed a cephalomedullary intramedullary nail (PFNA/TFN-style), titanium hardware (MRI-safe, confirmed by BS Lưu), with a cephalic lag screw and distal interlock.
The crash mechanism is mundane and worth naming: aerobars on an unfamiliar rental bike, first outdoor ride on Vietnamese roads, no time on the new geometry. Reach down, swerve, fall onto a hip that was never going to absorb that mass. If you're new to a tri bike, do your first 10 hours on a closed loop or a turbo trainer before going out into traffic. I didn't, and this is the consequence.
This week: cancelled Roth 2026, transferred to Roth 2027
The original plan had the 6-week post-op imaging milestone (June 3) gating the Roth 2026 decision. This week I made the call earlier and didn't wait. Two reasons:
- The clinical reality. By July 5, 2026 I'd be ~11 weeks post-op. Even on an aggressive subtrochanteric IM-nail return-to-sport timeline, that's too early for a full-distance Ironman effort. Bone needs time.
- The logistical reality. Roth slots sell out in under a minute when registration opens for the next year. Holding the existing 2026 slot and transferring it to 2027 was cleaner than letting it lapse and trying to grab a new slot at the open. I now have a confirmed 2027 entry instead of a hopeful "maybe."
The 2027 race date is Sunday, July 4, 2027 — first weekend of July, per Challenge convention. That gives a 14-month rebuild window from surgery, which is the kind of runway a first Ironman actually deserves.
Recovery — Week 3 in numbers
The medical state today (Day 17 post-op):
- Hardware: titanium cephalomedullary IM nail. MRI-safe at any field strength. Removal option after 2 years (April 2028+) per surgeon.
- Sutures: out (Day 15 follow-up with BS Lưu).
- Weight-bearing: non-weight-bearing on the right leg through May 19. After that, partial weight-bearing gated by the 6-week X-ray on June 3.
- Pain control: Celecoxib + Ultracet + Gabapentin. Daytime pain is at zero. Sleep is back to ~7.5 hours.
- DVT prophylaxis: Rivaroxaban 10mg daily. Decision on extension at the Day-15 visit (extended to cover the 4-week NWB window plus a long-haul flight planned for late June).
- Physical therapy: home-based with a hospital-referred therapist. Phase 2 of the protocol — sit-to-stand, controlled walks on crutches, groin abduction work, no pressure over the trochanter / incision lines yet.
- Wound: open-air protocol since Day 5, scabbing well, no infection signs. Day-15 X-ray showed early callus initiation.
The unglamorous part: a lot of the work this week is just sleeping, eating enough protein, and not doing stupid things on crutches. Bone healing isn't trainable. The body decides the schedule.
Objectives that carry over from the 2026 plan
The race date moved. The goals didn't:
- Finish a full Ironman. Same primary objective as the 2026 plan. The route to it is different — recovery first, then base, then Roth-specific build — but the destination is the same.
- Coaching with Team Oxygen Addict. Coach Rob Wilby continues. The 14-month timeline gives more rebuild runway, which suits the recovery curve better than a rushed 6-month build would have.
- Marathon and HYROX background as the foundation. The endurance base built in 2024-2025 (Berlin, Valencia, multiple HYROX races) is still the platform. Aerobic capacity decays slower than running mileage — most of that work survives the detraining window.
- Roth-specific bike work. Long aero rides, two-lap brick simulations, Solarer Berg climbing repeats. The course doesn't change between 2026 and 2027. The bike handling work I needed for 2026 is the same bike handling work I need for 2027 — just with a more cautious return-to-the-aero-bars protocol the second time around.
- GLP-1 protocol resumes when bone healing is on track. Tirzepatide stays paused through the high-risk early healing window. The body needs every bit of nutritional uptake during fracture repair. Resumption likely once weight-bearing is back to baseline and the surgeon clears it.
What's dropped from the 2026 plan: the C-race at Challenge Vietnam 70.3 (cancelled), the 19-week build that pre-supposed June 2026 fitness levels, and the assumption that this would be a clean linear ramp.
Recovery milestones ahead
- May 19, 2026 — end of NWB. Day 28 post-op. Transition to crutch-assisted partial weight-bearing if surgeon clears.
- June 3, 2026 — 6-week X-ray. Callus formation check. Gate to 25% PWB if bridging is visible. Big decision point on rehab progression.
- July-August 2026 — full weight-bearing window. Typical 8-12 week range for IM-nail subtrochanteric fixation.
- September-October 2026 — return-to-running window. Surgeon-cleared range is 3-5 months for IM-nail subtrochanteric. Conservative: walk-jog progressions on a soft surface, no track work yet.
- November 2026-February 2027 — base phase. All three disciplines back online. Aerobic capacity rebuild. No race intensity yet.
- March-June 2027 — Roth-specific build phase. Long aero rides, brick sessions on rolling terrain, heat acclimation block in the final 4 weeks. A possible C-race in 2027 — likely a European 70.3 in May or June — is on the table once I see how the rebuild handles intensity.
- Sunday, July 4, 2027 — Challenge Roth 2027. First Ironman.
What's next on this page
This page is the live record going forward. Updates land here as recovery and training progress — weekly during recovery while there's something concrete to report, less often once the rebuild settles into a normal training rhythm. The 2026 timeline page stays online as the historical record of the original plan, with the April 21 entry pinned at the top.
If you're following along: the next concrete data point is the 6-week X-ray on June 3. That decides the speed of the rest of the year.
More
- Challenge Roth 2027 — race guide
- First Ironman — 2026 training log (archived)
- Full Ironman training guide
- GLP-1 protocol — paused post-crash, planning to resume
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Roth 2026?
On April 21, 2026 I crashed on my first outdoor ride and fractured my right femur (subtrochanteric, comminuted at the proximal end). Same-day surgery installed a titanium intramedullary nail. This week I cancelled the Roth 2026 registration and transferred the slot to Challenge Roth 2027 (Sunday, July 4, 2027).
How long does a femur fracture take to recover from?
For a subtrochanteric femur fracture fixed with an intramedullary nail, the broad shape is: 4-6 weeks non-weight-bearing, then partial weight-bearing gated by callus formation on the 6-week X-ray, full weight-bearing usually 8-12 weeks, return to running in the 3-5 month window. My first-Ironman comeback timeline targets July 2027 — about 14 months post-op.
Why transfer to Roth 2027 instead of waiting and seeing?
Two reasons. The clinical reality: 11 weeks post-op for a subtrochanteric fracture is too early for an Ironman effort, even by the most aggressive published return-to-sport timelines. The logistical reality: Challenge Roth slots sell out in under a minute. Transferring early secures a 2027 slot now and removes the 'maybe' from training planning. The bone needs the time.
Are you keeping Team Oxygen Addict and the same coaching setup?
Yes. Coach Rob Wilby and Team Oxygen Addict carry over to the 2027 plan. The training architecture also carries over — Roth-specific bike work (long aero rides, two-lap brick simulations, Solarer Berg-style climbing repeats), heat tolerance work, swim re-entry from canal-friendly water. The 14-month timeline gives more rebuild runway than the 6-month timeline I had for 2026.
Did you stop the GLP-1 protocol?
Yes — paused right after surgery on April 21, 2026. The biggest takeaway from the time on it: going well below the prescribed dose stopped working for binges and sugar cravings. At the prescribed dose it worked very well. I'll resume the prescribed protocol once I'm back on my feet and bone healing is on track.
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