Road to Roth 2027: First Ironman, the Comeback Edition

Thomas Prommer Hybrid Athlete & Technology Executive Follow on Strava

Published: May 8, 2026

Updated: June 29, 2026

Languages: Deutsch · Français · Español · Português

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.

May 19, 2026 — registration carry-over confirmed. The 2026 entry has been formally carried over to Challenge Roth 2027 and the 2027 registration fee is paid. The slot is locked in; no need to fight the sub-minute sell-out at the next open.

May 21, 2026 — payment received. mika:timing confirmed receipt of the €794 transfer for DATEV Challenge Roth 2027. Registration ID CR:JEH5. Participant account balanced, entry complete.

Recovery — where it stands at Week 9

The medical state as of late June 2026 (roughly Week 9 post-op):

• Hardware: titanium cephalomedullary IM nail. MRI-safe at any field strength. Removal option after 2 years (April 2028+) per surgeon.
• Weight-bearing: the Week 6 X-ray (June 3) confirmed bridging callus and cleared a jump straight to 50% partial weight-bearing — past the textbook 25% step. Single crutch by Week 8, first crutch-free steps soon after, effectively full weight-bearing by Week 8. The crutch still comes back the moment the gait limps.
• Gait: the work-in-progress. A fully extended leg under load only started feeling solid around Week 9 — clean single-crutch walking with the knee straight through stance is the thing that's finally landing.
• Pain control: off all prescription painkillers since Week 4 (Day 28). Baseline holds at 1–2/10 with nothing for it.
• DVT prophylaxis: Rivaroxaban stopped once the operative window closed; ankle pumps and load-bearing took over as the mechanical defence.
• Swim + bike: both back online. First real swim around Week 8 (freestyle, then breaststroke back by Week 9), and the first sweat-drawing spin session in Week 9 — the cardio engine reopening, hip kept off-load on the bike.
• Physical therapy: Phase 2 — glute-med-led strength, gait re-education, loaded stretching and cable rows leading the gains.

The unglamorous part is unchanged: sleep, enough protein, and not outrunning the gait. Bone healing isn't trainable. The body decides the schedule, and the job is to load it exactly as fast as it earns — no faster.

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 resumed June 2026 — now on semaglutide. Tirzepatide stayed paused through the high-risk early healing window while the body did its fracture-repair work. With weight-bearing back, it's on again — but as Ozempic (semaglutide), not Mounjaro, which isn't reliably stocked in Vietnam. First injection went in June 29. See the update below.

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.

June 22, 2026: GLP-1 resumes — now Ozempic — with a race-weight target

Weight-bearing is back and the leg is holding, so the GLP-1 protocol comes off pause. One change from the original plan: it isn't tirzepatide (Mounjaro) this time. Mounjaro isn't reliably stocked in Vietnam — several Saigon clinics confirmed it — so after an endocrinology consult my doctor prescribed semaglutide (Ozempic) instead. Same drug class, single GLP-1 receptor rather than the dual mechanism. I wrote up the tradeoff in Ozempic vs Mounjaro.

The target is deliberately modest: 96 kg down to 92 kg over two months — about 0.5 kg a week. Slow on purpose. This isn't a recomposition sprint; it's shedding the weight that crept on during a non-weight-bearing layoff without starving the bone remodel or the muscle I'll need when running resumes. Titration starts at 0.25 mg/week and steps up over four-week blocks, which lines up with the early base-rebuild phase where light appetite control helps and training load is still low. Full protocol detail lives on the GLP-1 page.

June 29 — first injection. The prescription on June 22 was the paperwork; the first semaglutide dose went in on the morning of June 29 — 18 units, before breakfast. It was well tolerated: no hunger through the morning, no nausea. Starting deliberately low and titrating slowly, in step with a leg that's still remodelling and a training load that's still a fraction of normal.

Recovery milestones — done and ahead

Cleared so far:

• June 3, 2026 — 6-week X-ray. Bridging callus confirmed. Cleared straight to 50% PWB, skipping the 25% step.
• Weeks 7–8 — full weight-bearing. Single crutch around Week 8, first crutch-free steps soon after, effectively full weight-bearing by Week 8 — ahead of the typical 8–12 week window, gated on gait quality rather than the clock.
• Weeks 8–9 — swim and bike back. Freestyle then breaststroke returned; stationary cycling built up to the first sweat-drawing spin session in Week 9.

Still ahead:

• Mid-2026 onward — race-weight target. 96 kg → 92 kg over ~2 months on resumed GLP-1 (Ozempic), ~0.5 kg/week, timed with the light early rebuild block.
• 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.
• Late 2027 — a marathon off the back of Roth. Amsterdam in October is likely off — too tight after a July Ironman — leaving Valencia in December on the docket, conditional on reaching sub-4 shape by then.

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: with full weight-bearing and the swim and bike back, the next concrete milestone is the return-to-running window in autumn 2026. That's the one that decides whether the 2027 calendar holds.

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