
Down, but not out; fractured lateral malleolus

“It’s just a twisted ankle,” exclaimed Doug Landau upon crossing the finish line, ‘”tis but a a flesh wound!” His son, Dr. Zachary Landau, wasn’t buying it. After purchasing a bag of ice, and keeping the foot elevated, Dr. Landau took his father to the closest emergency room. At the ER, the ankle kept getting larger and larger, and an x-ray confirmed a clean fracture through the outer bone of the lower leg. Landau Lawyer was immediately put into a hard cast, and the objective findings were sent to Dr. Tom Fleeter, at the Town Center Orthopedics office in Reston, Virginia.

While some people can walk in this boot, Landau was ordered to be non-weight bearing and on crutches for the duration of his trip. This is the second time Landau has rolled the outside of his ankle. The first time occurred when Dr. Zachary Landau was born, after a running race and a tennis match. The recent bad break occurred during one of the wonderful Bishops Event running races. Landau and his son decided to run Easter Sunday in a 5Km foot race at South Run recreational center. Bishop‘s Events put on hundreds of races, and does an excellent job with the race directorship, timing and contributes money to many worthwhile charities. The race started on paved paths, but about halfway in, switched to packed cinder. While Landau enjoys running on anything but pavement, he hit a soft spot, and because he runs in the high outside of the foot, heard a loud “pop.” Helped his feet by two racers behind him, he calculated that is who he was at least 2 km into the forest, so he jogged back to the finish line He then went right to the new pro protocol for orthopedic injuries: PRICE. These stand for protect, rest, ice, compressed, elevate. He did not do a cool down run, as would have been his post-race procedure, but instead elevated, compressed & iced the leg as best he could as his son drove them home.

Advised there was nothing that could be done surgically, and that the would be off running for at least two months, Landau never considered not traveling to support his brother. The itinerant lawyer was scheduled to get on the Amtrak train from DC to New York City, and then help his mom pack for England the next day. Airport staff put both Landau and his mother in wheelchairs, so he had to cover very little distance by crutch power! What is more extraordinary once they got to Heathrow, because of the enormous numbers of wounded after the world wars, the Brits have got ferrying disabled people around public transportation down to science. Landau and his mother were taking by a golf cart to get their luggage, go through Customs, and then out to one of those wonderful British cabs, with five seats in the back, so if Landau could elevate his leg on the back of facing seat.

Once at their hotel in London, Landau took several days off, then started some light exercise, lifting weights for upper body and core; one-legged exercise for the non-injured right side; had a little bit of walking with crutches, as they had already booked tours, shows, concerts, and of course, the raison d’etre for the trip: cheering on his brother at points along the London Marathon course.

Lawyer Landau & his mom got around London without much difficulty, but both were pretty exhausted at the end of each day. On the Sunday of the Marathon, they picked a shady spot at the halfway mark that was also at the 20 mile marker, at the infamous “wall” for racers. Ken Landau ran the Boston Marathon successfully as a young teenager, and then joined Doug at the New York City Marathon, where he famously claimed they were “the only brothers in the race!” The Brothers learned at the huge race expo earlier in the week that the field was supposed to be the largest field of any marathon. in fact, the 2025 London Marathon may have set a world record for the largest group of finishers, despite the mid-70s temperature, which is very high for any marathon, but especially so where so many English men and women seem to be overdressed for the occasion &/or in costumes!

Landau celebrated Mother’s Day as best he could, got a ride home laid out in the back of his SUV driven by his wife. Upon arrival in Virginia, he re-calibrated his training. He got the help of a personal trainer at the gym, as he could now lift more weight than he could carry! In addition, because he couldn’t make a fist or cup his hand, he swam with regular hand paddles at his forearms, so he could get some propulsion (with two or three pool boys to hold his legs up). Landau was not able to go to the USAT Multisport Festival in Omaha Nebraska again this year, where he enjoyed competing in the very short, super sprint races. Many of his friends did very well there. He is not signing up for any races in the near future, but he has already paid for his entry in the USAT Age Group National Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second week of August. The big A+ race, and long range goal, is to gain fitness so us to be competitive in Wollongong Australia, the third week of October, 2025, for the ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships. Landau had copped the very last spot, thanks to roll down, at last year’s National Championships held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Landau is all too familiar with how recovery ability degrades over time. At 65, he tried to make sure he took his vitamins, stretched and had adequate protein intake. However, his diet for several weeks around his London adventure was not optimal, and he put on four additional kilos! Because of Landau‘s education and training in the fields of physical therapy and occupational therapy, Dr. Fleeter did not prescribe any at their facility, since his patient would know what to do. Landau started training in earnest in June, now that his right hand is 98% recovered. His left arm is recovered, other than some occasional numbness on the outside, and weakness. Landau is urently e is able to ride a static bike, road bike, swim with the Worldgate Masters team occasionally, lift weights with some impressive poundages, stretch, erg rowing and do his planks. He’s not yet at the point where he can run, although he does wear his ankle brace religiously, or tape up his ankle, so as to only allow for plantar and dorsal flexion of the left foot. At Landau‘s most recent orthopedic physician’s visit, x-rays revealed a clear line all the way through the bone, no displacement, mineralization, healing, but still a lot of swelling and reduced ROM. He is looking into racing in an AquaVelo event, which is just the swimming and biking.