Bah, humbug. I am feeling unseasonably grouchy lately, even for me. Maybe its the fact that physical therapy is actually making more things HURT now... or maybe its the fact that since western cultures discovered the soy bean... they now insist on putting a product called "soybean oil" into >75% of all foods. Virtually non-existent in my youth, this additive now renders everything from breads, sauces, salad dressings, icecream... completely inedible to me. This week, I've had my last Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, and my last Mrs. Fields cookie... and am paying for such transgressions with a plethora of painful/uncomfortable physical reactions.
At any rate, for some reason I feel above averagely irate and critical and easily disgruntled... I realized that a lot of these things aren't a big deal/do not necessitate irritation... but, simply put, they offend my sensibilities. I don't really know how else to explain it, but do know I'm a LOT more likely to become incensed about them if there's some baseline thing that I'm already upset about. Here are some examples:
1) The final stage of the TdF... its like, yeah, fine, I get it... its a tradition, it should be respected, blahdy blahdy blahdy. Its just the concept of something being formally recognized as a "race" and where one isn't fully allowed to compete is just something that doesn't sit well with me, period.
2) In the Pasadena area "Bermuda Square" encompassing the Raymond-Glenarm-California-Fair Oaks geographical area, there are a few intersections where there exist long periods of time when ALL DIRECTIONS OF TRAFFIC including protected arrows ARE RED AT THE SAME TIME. WTF? We all have places to be people, seriously, such inefficiencies are totally not right.
Bah, humbug.
Sunday 07/15: 41.6 miles, 2:53, 14.3 mph average. Woo hoo! TWO real rides (as defined by > 2 hours and > 35 miles) on back to back days! Rode out to the base of the 2 again, and did 2 circuits of the Verdugo/Chevy Chase loops--one down Verdugo, up CC, then the second one down CC and up Verdugo. Decided that the former was preferable, both from a quality of climb/safety perspective.
Nearly flattened into a pancake on one turn down Chevy Chase... I'm really incompetent at turning, and veered wildly into the opposing lane of traffic, much to the dismay of some cars that were coming up that bend... Got in a good few miles of climbing, then did some other random circuits up any uphill side streets I could find. I think I'm ready for Clear Creek!
Monday 07/16: Went to last PT. Decided much better to follow Peter's plan on my own. Body, mainly knees a bit worse for the wear due to almost 80 miles in two days (vs. 130 miles per week lately)... so decided to take a rest day. A bit weary of the dangers of taking the rest day early in the week, but prefer to err on the side of getting in some more quality rides, than just piddling through 20-25 mile long rides every day.
Tuesday 07/17: 30 miles, 1:42:04, 17.6 mph average. Movin' on up. 7 laps of the RB, fastest since the break. Arrived at 7 pm thinking I'd cleverly dodged the RB ride, but managed to get flattened by the last lap 2 minutes later... GAH. Started off really trying to stick to a chill ride 140-150 bpm... but after a few laps, I realized that I didn't feel terrible for once, so it gradually became more uptempo. Felt pretty good about the pace, but wished for a lower HR towards the end.
Two notes on the day: Firstly, the last PT left me with a parting gift of sharp stabbing pain along the tibial side of my ankle, and a lot of soreness in the arch. Worse than ever, felt really irked about this. Wondered if I could even ride today, but thankfully it held up really well on the ride, like the gentle dorsal flexion helped stretch out and calm the pain a little bit. Lets hope for continued improvement...
Secondly, while everyone rants about how cars are obnoxious to cyclists... I have to say obnoxious people come in all forms. Some cyclists are assholes too. A bunch of them were warming down after the RB ride, in a pack, going like 10 mph... spread out pretty much across the ENTIRE width of the street. A car comes up behind them and patiently waits to pass, but this group of cyclists refuses to move over to the side of the street, even a LITTLE bit... making it really infeasible to get by. They kept looking back too, so it wasn't as if they didn't KNOW that the car was there! I really dislike people who are inconsiderate, be they motorists, cyclists or runners. Period. Totally uncool.
So now, the car is stuck behind this pack, and I am stuck behind this car, and this is on the downhill portion, so like a whole stretch at 10 mph is *seriously* going to kill my lap time. Desperate measures were in order. I shifted up, and cranked on past the car, past the pack and back across both lanes of traffic, just hoping that a car wasn't coming the OTHER direction to run me entirely off of the road.
Wednesday 07/18: 29.5 miles, 1:51 ride time, 15.8 mph average. Moderately unsatisfying, out of sorts sort of ride. Didn't have enough time to do anything fun, so left the house in a hurry with no plan in mind. Rode a slovenly pace to the RB, figuring I was due for a real easy day. Didn't feel great, but in the end, couldn't control my emotions... got into this cold war armament race with a fat guy, and ended up cranking out my first lap wayyy faster than I would have liked. Rode up to the base of the 2 just to avoid other cyclists, then back for a couple of laps.
Did a bunch of stupid stuff cuz I was angry and frustrated, like running red lights and staying out long past dark. At week 3, I totally feel like I've made minimal progress... or at least, unsatisfactory progress. I'm in a weird transitional phase where the emotions of the wounded and the hunted mix with the return of my predatory instincts. There are some days now where I don't feel like utter crap, and when those days happen, I feel the call of the wild, the urge to hunt and attack, to get up out of the saddle and hammer as hard as I can. But I'm still cognisant of my diminished abilities, and self conscious about the weakened state, and it all makes me defensive and bristle easily. Not good. Meanwhile ankle still feels pretty bad. Better than yesterday, but that's not saying much. Sucky week continues...
Thursday 07/19: 31 miles, 1:58:30, 15.6 mph average. Highly satisfactory ride. This is what I should have done yesterday... a good, orderly, easy ride. To the park by the River Trails and back, kept HR mostly in the 130's and 140's, felt really good about having the discipline to keep it nice and easy. Avg speed wasn't even as horrendous as I had expected, or really if you put it in perspective of having only gone 0.2 mph faster yesterday feeling pretty shitty, this is good! Ankle also feels loads better. Hoping everything will stabilize soon.
Friday 07/20: Woohoo! The world is almost normal again, cuz I can ride the Angeles Crest! 36.4 miles, 2:42:49, 13.4 mph average, up to Clear Creek. Pathetically slow, but managed it with minimal huffing. Was more than a little bit concerned that I wouldn't make it to the top, so I allotted 3 hours for the undertaking, and started off at a slovenly pace. First steeper mile was a bit tough, and then for some reason huffing and puffing set in with like 800m to go at the very top, but otherwise, it wasn't so bad. HR ridiculously high... like 170. Normally I can climb the 2 at like 150, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Hmmmm... in other news, I am already at ~11 hours of riding and 168.5 miles, up from 9 hours and 135 miles last week... does this necessitate an off day tomorrow?
Saturday 07/21: Woke up in the morning with a familiar dull ache in my forefoot. Upon further inspection, it was not coming from my second metatarsal, but perhaps more alarmingly, from my first metatarsal. Trying to stem a swelling tide of panic and horror, I immediately iced it and took a bunch of drugs and enzymes...
Coincidentally ran into a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while on errand to the grocery store, and that sealed the deal on not riding today. Managed to pry myself away from the book to tinker with my bike, shoes and cleats though for a while, trying to puzzle out the source of the new toe pain. Eventually ended up realizing that somehow, user error had caused my left cleat fo slide way out of alignment on the right side and down to the middle of the shoe, which may have put unusual pressures on my already not 100% left foot during my climb. ARGHHHHHH.
Ended up changing the angle of my seat, realigning all 4 of my cleats (on two pairs of shoes) before pedaling up and down my very short street, trying to find the optimal settings, then struck by a pang of desire to go riding... but abandoned the prospect as it was already nearing dusk.... *sigh*.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Week of 07/08/2007 - 07/14/2007 (Recovery Week 3)
The Only Fred in San Diego
There are no embarassing people in San Diego. Its downright mind boggling... the fat ones, the old ones, the ones dressed in horrifying non athlete "exercise" gear... even these all have some basic level of proficiency. For some reason, you just don't see the types that creak around the Rose Bowl at 10 mph, or the ones that huff and puff up small inclines. Where do they all go? Probably to the Rose Bowl... *sigh*.
The only Fred in SD has trundled back to the land of her kind, and has to admit that she is glad. When you're just down and out for the count, its just more comforting to know that you're not the only one... rather than to have a 300 lb guy in bright red spandex go barreling past you as you struggle through your pre-base miles... wondering what it felt like to ride without wheezing.
Sunday 07/08: ~27 miles, 1:52, 14.4 mph average along the 101 up to Carlsbad from Solano beach with Peter, KB, Ian. Nice, not as hilly as yesterday's ride, but my body was just falling apart. Side stitch, stomach ache, kinda just felt groggy. I guess yesterday's ride was kind of like a shock to the system, both physically and emotionally. Yummy dinner with the crew afterwards and chocolate pretzels!
Monday 07/09: Off, swamped with errands and stuff that didn't get done this weekend. PT in the morning, grueling as usual but happy that the toe felt pretty good (wasn't feeling great after heels at the wedding). The trouble is that a lot of this balancing stuff is quad-intensive, and for a person who hasn't really moved in 2 months, this is taxing. Plus lunges... I kinda wish I didn't have to do these... but oh, well. I guess my knees have been feeling a bit tentative from the cycling, so I suppose its good for me.
Tuesday 07/10: 30.35 miles, 2:03:49, 14.7 mph average. Despite inauspicious beginnings, had a fantastic ride including ~3 miles of climbing! Slept through the morning and woke up in a panic, so had to go after work... headed to the Rose Bowl in time to almost get flattened by the Rose Bowl Ride. Quickly fled into the hills to avoid *that* ass-kicking.
Rode to the base of the 2, and found some short hills to practice climbing. Did a few circuits of that area before vaguely considering attempting Clear Creek, but decided that was a poor choice given that I had been thoroughly vanquished by the 1 mile long Torrey Pines hill a few days previously. Instead explored further west, ended up on Verdugo, which I rode down to the Chevy Chase intersection and headed back up to Berkshire. Chevy Chase coming back up was mercifully not very steep, though there was a good ~2 mile section that was fairly taxing to my dilapidated self. Still, a massive improvement over a few days ago. Got back after dark and felt uncharacterisitically chipper about my training prognosis.
Two key learnings from today: 1) it sure is nice to ride not at the Rose Bowl... I'm kind of getting burnt out on the RB... hoping to be able to try Clear Creek this weekend. 2) I realized that I'm really, really a major headcase... probably even more about training than racing, which is retarded but its just the way I am. The thing that made today's ride good and fun and productive was that after I left the RB, I barely saw any other cyclists. Without people to make me feel slow, I was able to relax, and work at things in a more peaceful mindset. What I found was that once I got over the initial panic of "holy shit this hurts so much more than it ever has before... even though I'm going 5 mph" the climbing wasn't so bad. I remembered how to just dig in and keep at it, and it was fine... way slower than before, but it was manageable. What happened in SD was like, I totally panicked when I realized how hard it was relative to what I remember climbing to be like, and then when people started to pass me, all the blood just rushed to my head, and panic ran together with consternation and emotional upsetness, and my body's response to the sudden rush of negative emotional output was to hyperventilate, which made everything worse.
I don't know how to curb this emotional response. I've always felt really combative towards other people on the road. When I used to run back home in Boston, I ran a lot along the river where the joggers were out in force. I had a rule that no one shall ever pass me on a run... which eventually became, no female shall ever pass me on a run. Some people would sprint intervals between the bridges along the river, and no matter if I was on a 10 mile run, I had to stay ahead of them until they stopped. Every time I sense someone coming up on me, its like the fight or flight response gets triggered, even if I logically know that there are so many other factors involved, and its like who wins the race and not the workout and etc. etc. etc. I really, really KNOW all of that... but it doesn't help. Going out there and being in state where everyone keeps passing you even though you're totally working hard, to me is the emotional equivalent of being clobbered with a baseball bat.
The only other example I can think of is like how in the Pre movie he's doing a running camp for like 5 year old kids, and one of them tries to run ahead of him and Pre is totally not having any of that. In the movie he says "you can't build a losing mentality" and that's the only thing I've ever been able to come up with in terms of justifying how I feel... maybe I need therapy.
Wednesday 07/11: 26 miles, 1:35-ish, 16.2 mph average, 6 laps around the RB in the morning. REALLY did not want to get up and go on this ride. Took a lap to wake up fully... so sleepy and also inadequately recovered from yesterday's ride after 12 hours. Nearly went back to sleep, but PT in the evening so it was now or never. Rewarded myself with the short way home after managing to trundle through this ride. Felt a tiny bit of fatigue, but still managed to pull 16 mph, so I guess its okay. Really looking forwards to hills maybe Chevy Chase again tomorrow (evening!)
PT in the evening = grueling. I really don't understand why I have to do all of this lifting... its like, I feel like this is sprinter stuff. Meanwhile, its like, the ankle and the toe are fine, but now OTHER things hurt... The tendons on the top of my foot feel really taxed, and my R hip cramps when I ride. I kinda don't really want to go anymore... meh, I guess I'll have to ask them to fix it next time.
Thursday 07/12: UGH. DISASTER. Totally awful ride, wanted to have a mental breakdown, but decided to just test a few more factors before freaking out. 17.5 miles, 1:16, basically to the base of the 2 and back. Even before I started, I knew something was not aligned properly in the constellations tonight...
When inflating my tires, I noticed a piece of gunk stuck to my front tire, so I tried to clean it off, but unfortunately it was one of those nasty prickly seed casings that had punctured my tire. When I pulled it out, my tire went PPPPFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT! as I gawked helplessly... now I can't overemphasize how clueless, incompetent and lacking arm strength I am regarding the maintenance of bikes. I really enjoy riding my bicycle, and I love it very much, but when it comes to caring for it... I'm about as capable as a teenage mom. I've never changed a flat without supervision, and panic was setting in!
Thankfully, I was able to calm down and logically follow the directions printed on the replacement tube box... and mercifully when I inflated the new tire... it did not explode. So off I went, but the rest of the ride didn't go much better. Inauspiciously, didn't make it 500 ft before some sporty old guys passed me. Then by the time I arrived at the Rose Bowl, my legs were just feeling so terrible I really didn't want to go up into the hills, but I didn't have a choice because the Rose Bowl ride was impending. Just couldn't move my legs today, and my R hip was cramping and generally felt awful, so decided to truncate this ride and head home at the base of the 2.
Unfortunately, somehow I managed to jam my chain at the turnaround, and had to get off and puzzle out a way to get this thing unstuck, after which I was just thoroughly disgruntled and covered in grease. Towards the end the burning pain in my legs seems to have subsided, but basically judged that a big ride today was not meant to be and kept on going home, to try again tomorrow.
Felt upset and angry, wanted to blame everything from the grueling-ness of physical therapy, to the fact that I haven't eaten any meat in a really long time... I guess I'll have to toggle some factors in the next week or so, but in the absence of anything I could do immediately to fix this... I just ate 2 sweet potatoes from the farmers market in order to feel happy again.
Friday 07/13: Friday the 13th!!! Not a good day. Took day off from riding to rest, mentally and physically. Went to PT, complained about hip flexor and foot pain... they let me use lighter weights... but nothing was done about the pain. CONSTERNED.
Saturday 07/14: 37.2 miles, 2:19, 16 mph average. River Trails to base onf 39 and back. Woke up a tad too late, and it was already uncomfortably hot when I got on the bike, but overall a nice, chill ride. Tried to keep HR in the 140's and 150's, most successful with one exception to get past a large, obnoxious troupe of yuppy looking weekend warriors on their expensive bikes. Argh. Mostly pleased with the ride, except that the average mph reading clicked obnoxiously down from 16.1 to 16.0, *just* as I arrived in front of my house. Tried to accelerate up and down the cul-de-sac to make it return to 16.1, but as soon as I hit the brakes to turn into the driveway, it would click back to 16.0. Repeated this exercise irritably a couple of time before giving up. Nevertheless, was pleased with the effort (HR) to speed (avg. mph) ratio for the first time in... a very long time.
Totals: 9 hours and 5 minutes of riding for 138 miles. The whole two days off a week thing is killing me. Also Thursday's implosion. Irritated at lack of increase from last week, but I think I can make a big improvement next week after I get rid of the heavy lifting from PT. Peter came up with a better rehab plan for me to do at the gym :).
There are no embarassing people in San Diego. Its downright mind boggling... the fat ones, the old ones, the ones dressed in horrifying non athlete "exercise" gear... even these all have some basic level of proficiency. For some reason, you just don't see the types that creak around the Rose Bowl at 10 mph, or the ones that huff and puff up small inclines. Where do they all go? Probably to the Rose Bowl... *sigh*.
The only Fred in SD has trundled back to the land of her kind, and has to admit that she is glad. When you're just down and out for the count, its just more comforting to know that you're not the only one... rather than to have a 300 lb guy in bright red spandex go barreling past you as you struggle through your pre-base miles... wondering what it felt like to ride without wheezing.
Sunday 07/08: ~27 miles, 1:52, 14.4 mph average along the 101 up to Carlsbad from Solano beach with Peter, KB, Ian. Nice, not as hilly as yesterday's ride, but my body was just falling apart. Side stitch, stomach ache, kinda just felt groggy. I guess yesterday's ride was kind of like a shock to the system, both physically and emotionally. Yummy dinner with the crew afterwards and chocolate pretzels!
Monday 07/09: Off, swamped with errands and stuff that didn't get done this weekend. PT in the morning, grueling as usual but happy that the toe felt pretty good (wasn't feeling great after heels at the wedding). The trouble is that a lot of this balancing stuff is quad-intensive, and for a person who hasn't really moved in 2 months, this is taxing. Plus lunges... I kinda wish I didn't have to do these... but oh, well. I guess my knees have been feeling a bit tentative from the cycling, so I suppose its good for me.
Tuesday 07/10: 30.35 miles, 2:03:49, 14.7 mph average. Despite inauspicious beginnings, had a fantastic ride including ~3 miles of climbing! Slept through the morning and woke up in a panic, so had to go after work... headed to the Rose Bowl in time to almost get flattened by the Rose Bowl Ride. Quickly fled into the hills to avoid *that* ass-kicking.
Rode to the base of the 2, and found some short hills to practice climbing. Did a few circuits of that area before vaguely considering attempting Clear Creek, but decided that was a poor choice given that I had been thoroughly vanquished by the 1 mile long Torrey Pines hill a few days previously. Instead explored further west, ended up on Verdugo, which I rode down to the Chevy Chase intersection and headed back up to Berkshire. Chevy Chase coming back up was mercifully not very steep, though there was a good ~2 mile section that was fairly taxing to my dilapidated self. Still, a massive improvement over a few days ago. Got back after dark and felt uncharacterisitically chipper about my training prognosis.
Two key learnings from today: 1) it sure is nice to ride not at the Rose Bowl... I'm kind of getting burnt out on the RB... hoping to be able to try Clear Creek this weekend. 2) I realized that I'm really, really a major headcase... probably even more about training than racing, which is retarded but its just the way I am. The thing that made today's ride good and fun and productive was that after I left the RB, I barely saw any other cyclists. Without people to make me feel slow, I was able to relax, and work at things in a more peaceful mindset. What I found was that once I got over the initial panic of "holy shit this hurts so much more than it ever has before... even though I'm going 5 mph" the climbing wasn't so bad. I remembered how to just dig in and keep at it, and it was fine... way slower than before, but it was manageable. What happened in SD was like, I totally panicked when I realized how hard it was relative to what I remember climbing to be like, and then when people started to pass me, all the blood just rushed to my head, and panic ran together with consternation and emotional upsetness, and my body's response to the sudden rush of negative emotional output was to hyperventilate, which made everything worse.
I don't know how to curb this emotional response. I've always felt really combative towards other people on the road. When I used to run back home in Boston, I ran a lot along the river where the joggers were out in force. I had a rule that no one shall ever pass me on a run... which eventually became, no female shall ever pass me on a run. Some people would sprint intervals between the bridges along the river, and no matter if I was on a 10 mile run, I had to stay ahead of them until they stopped. Every time I sense someone coming up on me, its like the fight or flight response gets triggered, even if I logically know that there are so many other factors involved, and its like who wins the race and not the workout and etc. etc. etc. I really, really KNOW all of that... but it doesn't help. Going out there and being in state where everyone keeps passing you even though you're totally working hard, to me is the emotional equivalent of being clobbered with a baseball bat.
The only other example I can think of is like how in the Pre movie he's doing a running camp for like 5 year old kids, and one of them tries to run ahead of him and Pre is totally not having any of that. In the movie he says "you can't build a losing mentality" and that's the only thing I've ever been able to come up with in terms of justifying how I feel... maybe I need therapy.
Wednesday 07/11: 26 miles, 1:35-ish, 16.2 mph average, 6 laps around the RB in the morning. REALLY did not want to get up and go on this ride. Took a lap to wake up fully... so sleepy and also inadequately recovered from yesterday's ride after 12 hours. Nearly went back to sleep, but PT in the evening so it was now or never. Rewarded myself with the short way home after managing to trundle through this ride. Felt a tiny bit of fatigue, but still managed to pull 16 mph, so I guess its okay. Really looking forwards to hills maybe Chevy Chase again tomorrow (evening!)
PT in the evening = grueling. I really don't understand why I have to do all of this lifting... its like, I feel like this is sprinter stuff. Meanwhile, its like, the ankle and the toe are fine, but now OTHER things hurt... The tendons on the top of my foot feel really taxed, and my R hip cramps when I ride. I kinda don't really want to go anymore... meh, I guess I'll have to ask them to fix it next time.
Thursday 07/12: UGH. DISASTER. Totally awful ride, wanted to have a mental breakdown, but decided to just test a few more factors before freaking out. 17.5 miles, 1:16, basically to the base of the 2 and back. Even before I started, I knew something was not aligned properly in the constellations tonight...
When inflating my tires, I noticed a piece of gunk stuck to my front tire, so I tried to clean it off, but unfortunately it was one of those nasty prickly seed casings that had punctured my tire. When I pulled it out, my tire went PPPPFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT! as I gawked helplessly... now I can't overemphasize how clueless, incompetent and lacking arm strength I am regarding the maintenance of bikes. I really enjoy riding my bicycle, and I love it very much, but when it comes to caring for it... I'm about as capable as a teenage mom. I've never changed a flat without supervision, and panic was setting in!
Thankfully, I was able to calm down and logically follow the directions printed on the replacement tube box... and mercifully when I inflated the new tire... it did not explode. So off I went, but the rest of the ride didn't go much better. Inauspiciously, didn't make it 500 ft before some sporty old guys passed me. Then by the time I arrived at the Rose Bowl, my legs were just feeling so terrible I really didn't want to go up into the hills, but I didn't have a choice because the Rose Bowl ride was impending. Just couldn't move my legs today, and my R hip was cramping and generally felt awful, so decided to truncate this ride and head home at the base of the 2.
Unfortunately, somehow I managed to jam my chain at the turnaround, and had to get off and puzzle out a way to get this thing unstuck, after which I was just thoroughly disgruntled and covered in grease. Towards the end the burning pain in my legs seems to have subsided, but basically judged that a big ride today was not meant to be and kept on going home, to try again tomorrow.
Felt upset and angry, wanted to blame everything from the grueling-ness of physical therapy, to the fact that I haven't eaten any meat in a really long time... I guess I'll have to toggle some factors in the next week or so, but in the absence of anything I could do immediately to fix this... I just ate 2 sweet potatoes from the farmers market in order to feel happy again.
Friday 07/13: Friday the 13th!!! Not a good day. Took day off from riding to rest, mentally and physically. Went to PT, complained about hip flexor and foot pain... they let me use lighter weights... but nothing was done about the pain. CONSTERNED.
Saturday 07/14: 37.2 miles, 2:19, 16 mph average. River Trails to base onf 39 and back. Woke up a tad too late, and it was already uncomfortably hot when I got on the bike, but overall a nice, chill ride. Tried to keep HR in the 140's and 150's, most successful with one exception to get past a large, obnoxious troupe of yuppy looking weekend warriors on their expensive bikes. Argh. Mostly pleased with the ride, except that the average mph reading clicked obnoxiously down from 16.1 to 16.0, *just* as I arrived in front of my house. Tried to accelerate up and down the cul-de-sac to make it return to 16.1, but as soon as I hit the brakes to turn into the driveway, it would click back to 16.0. Repeated this exercise irritably a couple of time before giving up. Nevertheless, was pleased with the effort (HR) to speed (avg. mph) ratio for the first time in... a very long time.
Totals: 9 hours and 5 minutes of riding for 138 miles. The whole two days off a week thing is killing me. Also Thursday's implosion. Irritated at lack of increase from last week, but I think I can make a big improvement next week after I get rid of the heavy lifting from PT. Peter came up with a better rehab plan for me to do at the gym :).
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Week of 07/01/2007 - 07/07/2007 (Recovery Week 2)
The Fat Olympics:
On Friday, my afternoon nap was summarily interrupted by a great commotion in the office. Puzzled, my co-workers and I were soon herded over to the main cubicle area to see a gaggle of chattering women arguing excitedly about a weight loss competition... at which point my boss poked his head out of his office curiously as well. And thus it was born, the Green Dot Fitness Challenge.
There are two categories, Weight Loss and Body Fat Percentage, with 3-4 contestants per category, and 1 "coach" per contestant. I was quickly recruited to be a coach for a contestant, but much to my consternation, my contestant turned out to be one of the thinnest ones there. Thank goodness for the % change rule!
Unbeknownst to the contestants, I too am on a quest for improvement. To mark my symbolic return to the world of the athletes... I bit the bullet and stepped on the scale on Friday too. After all, there's got to be a starting point. It might be an interesting experiment to track my progress over time. Weight, fat %, resting HR vs. amount of training. I sort of failed in figuring out a good way to consistently measure resting HR, but as it stands, this is what's on the starting line: 116 pounds, ~65 resting HR. My aspirational goal is to lose 14 pounds and 20 beats per minute.
Let the games begin!
Sunday 07/01: Day 3 and I'm already struggling with motivational issues. Doesn't help that its like suddenly 100 degrees out... movie with Dagny to escape the weather. Was highly contemplating a day off, but trundled out on the bike at 6:30 pm. 23 miles, 1:25 ride time, 16.1 mph average, forgot HR monitor. First lap with Peter, time goes by so much more quickly with company. Slogged through 4 more to crawl over the 20 mile mark and then headed home the short way.
Another "embarassed to call myself an athlete" day. Legs feel heavy and dull. Passed by ~12 year old looking girl... *calamity of the world*. She was stopped half a lap later though, so I'll choose to believe it was just a random sprint. Had one quick lap after ending up in a battle up the slightly uphill portion with a middle aged man in a discovery channel jersey. Quickly reached the point where I wanted to start huffing and puffing, but didn't want to show weakness... Narrowly edged him out around the turn to the downhill side after which he dropped back so I went back to creaking around at a slow pace.
Monday 07/02: 23.3 miles, 1:27:30, 15.8 mph average, HR back in the 170's. Arrrrgggghhhhhh.... frustrated with the total lack of progress. Had planned an off day, but actually felt good in the morning after getting a good night of sleep. Actually felt optimistic for a change, that maybe this ride would be good, but was quickly proven wrong. Started out well, but everything fell apart after lap 3... crawled painfully through 2 more laps before heading back. Really hammered up that little hill coming out of the Rose Bowl out of frustration. HR got up to 200 bpm. Felt a bit better after that.
Tuesday 07/03: Physical Therapy Day 1. Weird balancing and strengthening exercises... not a fan of the lunges. Would have greatly preferred towel scrunching, electrostim and a calf massage :). Went to gym to do cursory shoulders, upper body, core strengthening, then 30 minutes on the stationary bike. HR 130-150, cadence 105+, felt weird... uncomfortable but not... exerted, per se. Not a fan of the stationary bike, so boring... was all I could do to get through 30 minutes.
Wednesday 07/04: Happy 4th of July! Morning ride for the first time in months, ~32 miles, 2:10 with Peter to the River trails until the base of the 39. Longest ride since the injury. Really happy to be not at the Rose Bowl for a change... fantastic for about 1 hour, okay until 1:45 and then fading badly last stretch on California... holy moly, I am out of shape >:( ... Learned that "sprinting" entails a technique, and not just pedaling as hard as you can... meh.
Thursday 07/05: Rest day in order to be "Best of Small Town America" Tourguide for Aunt Mariko and Cousin Hana. Still sore from PT, really not a fan of the personal trainer aspect, lets just stick to the ankle specific exercises... meh. Lots of walking, went to Farmer's Market, fell in love ... with a potato! SO INCREDIBLY TASTY: http://www.theproducehunter.com/productdisplay.asp?ID=2089
Friday 07/06: Finally, a halfway decent ride! 23.3 miles, 1:23, 16.8 mph average. 5 laps around the Rose Bowl, felt good and not wiped out at the end, wanted a few more, but didn't have time before leaving for San Diego. Hopefully this means I'm ready to graduate from the 80-90 minute rides. 2nd toe feels funny, like a deep itching somewhere in the joint. Doesn't hurt though, no swelling, full range of motion, so decided to let it be. Ian suggested taking the two bones and grinding them together to scratch the itch.
Hurried on home, shower, pack and then piled bikes, Peter and Ian into car and headed to KB's in SD. Fantastic meal of chicken and biscuits and Easter M&Ms before Peter and I continued on to SD proper. Excited about new rides out here this weekend!
Saturday 07/07: 33 miles, 2:17, 14.2 mph average on 101 Highway north along the coast in SD with Peter. Should have known not to expect TWO encouraging rides in a row... Nothing in SD is flat... you're either going uphill or downhill, for the cardiovascularly deficient, this is totally brutal. Things that don't even really register as climbs before suddenly feel continually taxing.
Found out pretty early that the only way I could make it up the hills was to just crank hard on the downhill and push through as much of the hill as possible, then stand up and mash the pedals down to get up the extra parts where you run out of momentum. Unfortunately, this strategy didn't exactly work for the last climb (~ 1 mile) up to get back to the area where we parked the car... almost died. Rapidly, the climb rate decreased to like 4 mph, after which I couldn't go any slower without falling over, so my body went into panic mode and I had one of those airway constriction attacks that used to happen a lot last spring/summer, the last time I was this out of shape. All sorts of yahoos passed me over the course of this 1 mile... fat people, people riding $100 walmart bikes, people wearing sneakers and leggings, old ladies... wanted to crawl into a hole and die of shame.
Went to wedding later and ate 2 pieces of delicious strawberry apricot wedding cake to soothe the pain.
Lets take a look at Week 1 Totals: ~8:45 riding for 135 miles, 30 minutes of stationary, two grueling sessions of physical therapy and one weights and core strengthening. Gotta keep on the ball with the core strengthening and such.
On Friday, my afternoon nap was summarily interrupted by a great commotion in the office. Puzzled, my co-workers and I were soon herded over to the main cubicle area to see a gaggle of chattering women arguing excitedly about a weight loss competition... at which point my boss poked his head out of his office curiously as well. And thus it was born, the Green Dot Fitness Challenge.
There are two categories, Weight Loss and Body Fat Percentage, with 3-4 contestants per category, and 1 "coach" per contestant. I was quickly recruited to be a coach for a contestant, but much to my consternation, my contestant turned out to be one of the thinnest ones there. Thank goodness for the % change rule!
Unbeknownst to the contestants, I too am on a quest for improvement. To mark my symbolic return to the world of the athletes... I bit the bullet and stepped on the scale on Friday too. After all, there's got to be a starting point. It might be an interesting experiment to track my progress over time. Weight, fat %, resting HR vs. amount of training. I sort of failed in figuring out a good way to consistently measure resting HR, but as it stands, this is what's on the starting line: 116 pounds, ~65 resting HR. My aspirational goal is to lose 14 pounds and 20 beats per minute.
Let the games begin!
Sunday 07/01: Day 3 and I'm already struggling with motivational issues. Doesn't help that its like suddenly 100 degrees out... movie with Dagny to escape the weather. Was highly contemplating a day off, but trundled out on the bike at 6:30 pm. 23 miles, 1:25 ride time, 16.1 mph average, forgot HR monitor. First lap with Peter, time goes by so much more quickly with company. Slogged through 4 more to crawl over the 20 mile mark and then headed home the short way.
Another "embarassed to call myself an athlete" day. Legs feel heavy and dull. Passed by ~12 year old looking girl... *calamity of the world*. She was stopped half a lap later though, so I'll choose to believe it was just a random sprint. Had one quick lap after ending up in a battle up the slightly uphill portion with a middle aged man in a discovery channel jersey. Quickly reached the point where I wanted to start huffing and puffing, but didn't want to show weakness... Narrowly edged him out around the turn to the downhill side after which he dropped back so I went back to creaking around at a slow pace.
Monday 07/02: 23.3 miles, 1:27:30, 15.8 mph average, HR back in the 170's. Arrrrgggghhhhhh.... frustrated with the total lack of progress. Had planned an off day, but actually felt good in the morning after getting a good night of sleep. Actually felt optimistic for a change, that maybe this ride would be good, but was quickly proven wrong. Started out well, but everything fell apart after lap 3... crawled painfully through 2 more laps before heading back. Really hammered up that little hill coming out of the Rose Bowl out of frustration. HR got up to 200 bpm. Felt a bit better after that.
Tuesday 07/03: Physical Therapy Day 1. Weird balancing and strengthening exercises... not a fan of the lunges. Would have greatly preferred towel scrunching, electrostim and a calf massage :). Went to gym to do cursory shoulders, upper body, core strengthening, then 30 minutes on the stationary bike. HR 130-150, cadence 105+, felt weird... uncomfortable but not... exerted, per se. Not a fan of the stationary bike, so boring... was all I could do to get through 30 minutes.
Wednesday 07/04: Happy 4th of July! Morning ride for the first time in months, ~32 miles, 2:10 with Peter to the River trails until the base of the 39. Longest ride since the injury. Really happy to be not at the Rose Bowl for a change... fantastic for about 1 hour, okay until 1:45 and then fading badly last stretch on California... holy moly, I am out of shape >:( ... Learned that "sprinting" entails a technique, and not just pedaling as hard as you can... meh.
Thursday 07/05: Rest day in order to be "Best of Small Town America" Tourguide for Aunt Mariko and Cousin Hana. Still sore from PT, really not a fan of the personal trainer aspect, lets just stick to the ankle specific exercises... meh. Lots of walking, went to Farmer's Market, fell in love ... with a potato! SO INCREDIBLY TASTY: http://www.theproducehunter.com/productdisplay.asp?ID=2089Friday 07/06: Finally, a halfway decent ride! 23.3 miles, 1:23, 16.8 mph average. 5 laps around the Rose Bowl, felt good and not wiped out at the end, wanted a few more, but didn't have time before leaving for San Diego. Hopefully this means I'm ready to graduate from the 80-90 minute rides. 2nd toe feels funny, like a deep itching somewhere in the joint. Doesn't hurt though, no swelling, full range of motion, so decided to let it be. Ian suggested taking the two bones and grinding them together to scratch the itch.
Hurried on home, shower, pack and then piled bikes, Peter and Ian into car and headed to KB's in SD. Fantastic meal of chicken and biscuits and Easter M&Ms before Peter and I continued on to SD proper. Excited about new rides out here this weekend!
Saturday 07/07: 33 miles, 2:17, 14.2 mph average on 101 Highway north along the coast in SD with Peter. Should have known not to expect TWO encouraging rides in a row... Nothing in SD is flat... you're either going uphill or downhill, for the cardiovascularly deficient, this is totally brutal. Things that don't even really register as climbs before suddenly feel continually taxing.
Found out pretty early that the only way I could make it up the hills was to just crank hard on the downhill and push through as much of the hill as possible, then stand up and mash the pedals down to get up the extra parts where you run out of momentum. Unfortunately, this strategy didn't exactly work for the last climb (~ 1 mile) up to get back to the area where we parked the car... almost died. Rapidly, the climb rate decreased to like 4 mph, after which I couldn't go any slower without falling over, so my body went into panic mode and I had one of those airway constriction attacks that used to happen a lot last spring/summer, the last time I was this out of shape. All sorts of yahoos passed me over the course of this 1 mile... fat people, people riding $100 walmart bikes, people wearing sneakers and leggings, old ladies... wanted to crawl into a hole and die of shame.
Went to wedding later and ate 2 pieces of delicious strawberry apricot wedding cake to soothe the pain.
Lets take a look at Week 1 Totals: ~8:45 riding for 135 miles, 30 minutes of stationary, two grueling sessions of physical therapy and one weights and core strengthening. Gotta keep on the ball with the core strengthening and such.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Week of 06/24/2007 - 06/30/2007 (Recovery Week 1)
I've optimistically decided to call this week "Recovery" instead of "Separated Metatarsal". Unless something goes drastically wrong, I've been promised to be cleared for walking and riding sans el Star Wars Boot on Thursday, June 28th.
The end is actually kind of tangible now, though I am slightly experiencing the Waiting Theory of Relativity (WTR)... that is, time slows drastically with increasing proximity to desired event. Christmas and birthdays aren't really that exciting anymore, but this one is huge, second only to the anticipation of getting my plaster and crutches type cast off in 2001. I just remember thinking back then, that I wouldn't need anything else in the world to be happy, if I could only just walk (wasn't an athlete back then...).
Walking is great and all, but the stakes are a little bit higher now... I'll get there some day.
Sunday 06/24 - Monday 06/25: Nothing. The funk continues from last week. Kind of stressed, can't sleep at night. Feeling vaguely head-achey all of the time and crappy. I sat down on the couch one day, and realized that I now have a real stomach roll... the kind that spills flabbily over the waist of your pants....
Tuesday 06/26: Motivated by the discovery of the stomach roll, trundled off to the gym today. Saw Kiesz (not) playing softball with the chem grad students, oh the memories... it was better back in my day though, when the fields weren't enclosed by a chainlink fence, and there was a big stack of Coors Light by the third base line.
Anyways, same set of lifting as last week, core strengthening, stretching. Felt alright. Probably the last comprehensive lifting, though hope to maintain lat pull down, bench and hopefully tricep dips on a continuing basis to help with the fact that my shoulders cramp when I run because I am so, so weak.
Wednesday 06/27: Off. Last day to be fat! Ate a fantastic vietnamese meal with melon smoothie and fried bananas. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Thursday 06/28: And the day of reckoning has arrived at last. Ortho doc on the morning, was successfully cleared for exercising. Got a prescription for physical therapy to correct the atrophy pain associated with the left ankle/arch. Walking feels funny, but oh, so good!
Nice leisurely stroll* to farmer's market in honor of Ryan's imminent departure :(. Bought some excellent fruit and Peruvian dinner by the South Pas library, yum!
*leisurely stroll caused sharp pain in my L arch that night, but mostly corrected with some icing and sleeping. Metatarsal joint a bit stiff, a bit more puffy than usual, but no pain.
Friday 06/29: First ride back! Ditched work a bit early to go ride 5 laps around the Rose Bowl, plus commuting time. 23.57 miles in 1:27 for 16.1 mph average. Fun, legs actually felt pretty good, but struggled badly on the cardio front. HR immediately jumped to 158 and then to 175 where it stayed for the rest of the ride, despite leisurely pace... I am SUCH A FRED, GOOD GRIEF. My bike has been much improved and my fitness had been much decreased, ergo a double whammy for the Fred Index. Wished desperately for a sign that said "This is my first day out of a cast... please be kind!"
Very happy with the new improvements though. Seat is so comfortable, no more chafing, thank goodness! Helmet fits perfectly, even though its an ugly bright blue color instead of Bianchi green... Shoes are really stiff and good, orthotics fit well, didnt feel any strain on the toe at all. L arch hurt, but it pretty much is consistently unhappy, irrespective of what shoe I am wearing, so decided to chalk it up to atrophied ligaments and wait for PT to strengthen all of that back.
Saturday 06/30: Day 2, struggled mightily through 6 laps of the Rose Bowl, 26.6 miles, 1:44, 15.2 mph average. HR lower, 150-170. Pretty discouraging... legs felt TOTALLY dead and leaden from yesterday, that horrible leaden, heavy, aching feeling. I actually kind of like the running sore feeling, but this is just unbearable.
This is one of those days where I feel embarassed to call myself an athlete. The only thing that separated me from those fat people creaking slowly along on $100 walmart bikes today is $1400 of lighter, faster bike. Felt just a smidge better after 1 hour of grueling slowness, so decided to stick out the last 3 laps. No way I'm going to be able to stick to my plan of 1 lap/day rate of increase.
Thanks to all for your congratulations, despite the last entry, I am really psyched to be back in some way. Don't hold your breath on the running again, but drink of your choice on me to celebrate when that day comes for anyone and everyone!
The end is actually kind of tangible now, though I am slightly experiencing the Waiting Theory of Relativity (WTR)... that is, time slows drastically with increasing proximity to desired event. Christmas and birthdays aren't really that exciting anymore, but this one is huge, second only to the anticipation of getting my plaster and crutches type cast off in 2001. I just remember thinking back then, that I wouldn't need anything else in the world to be happy, if I could only just walk (wasn't an athlete back then...).
Walking is great and all, but the stakes are a little bit higher now... I'll get there some day.
Sunday 06/24 - Monday 06/25: Nothing. The funk continues from last week. Kind of stressed, can't sleep at night. Feeling vaguely head-achey all of the time and crappy. I sat down on the couch one day, and realized that I now have a real stomach roll... the kind that spills flabbily over the waist of your pants...
Tuesday 06/26: Motivated by the discovery of the stomach roll, trundled off to the gym today. Saw Kiesz (not) playing softball with the chem grad students, oh the memories... it was better back in my day though, when the fields weren't enclosed by a chainlink fence, and there was a big stack of Coors Light by the third base line.
Anyways, same set of lifting as last week, core strengthening, stretching. Felt alright. Probably the last comprehensive lifting, though hope to maintain lat pull down, bench and hopefully tricep dips on a continuing basis to help with the fact that my shoulders cramp when I run because I am so, so weak.
Wednesday 06/27: Off. Last day to be fat! Ate a fantastic vietnamese meal with melon smoothie and fried bananas. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Thursday 06/28: And the day of reckoning has arrived at last. Ortho doc on the morning, was successfully cleared for exercising. Got a prescription for physical therapy to correct the atrophy pain associated with the left ankle/arch. Walking feels funny, but oh, so good!
Nice leisurely stroll* to farmer's market in honor of Ryan's imminent departure :(. Bought some excellent fruit and Peruvian dinner by the South Pas library, yum!
*leisurely stroll caused sharp pain in my L arch that night, but mostly corrected with some icing and sleeping. Metatarsal joint a bit stiff, a bit more puffy than usual, but no pain.
Friday 06/29: First ride back! Ditched work a bit early to go ride 5 laps around the Rose Bowl, plus commuting time. 23.57 miles in 1:27 for 16.1 mph average. Fun, legs actually felt pretty good, but struggled badly on the cardio front. HR immediately jumped to 158 and then to 175 where it stayed for the rest of the ride, despite leisurely pace... I am SUCH A FRED, GOOD GRIEF. My bike has been much improved and my fitness had been much decreased, ergo a double whammy for the Fred Index. Wished desperately for a sign that said "This is my first day out of a cast... please be kind!" 
Very happy with the new improvements though. Seat is so comfortable, no more chafing, thank goodness! Helmet fits perfectly, even though its an ugly bright blue color instead of Bianchi green... Shoes are really stiff and good, orthotics fit well, didnt feel any strain on the toe at all. L arch hurt, but it pretty much is consistently unhappy, irrespective of what shoe I am wearing, so decided to chalk it up to atrophied ligaments and wait for PT to strengthen all of that back.Saturday 06/30: Day 2, struggled mightily through 6 laps of the Rose Bowl, 26.6 miles, 1:44, 15.2 mph average. HR lower, 150-170. Pretty discouraging... legs felt TOTALLY dead and leaden from yesterday, that horrible leaden, heavy, aching feeling. I actually kind of like the running sore feeling, but this is just unbearable.
This is one of those days where I feel embarassed to call myself an athlete. The only thing that separated me from those fat people creaking slowly along on $100 walmart bikes today is $1400 of lighter, faster bike. Felt just a smidge better after 1 hour of grueling slowness, so decided to stick out the last 3 laps. No way I'm going to be able to stick to my plan of 1 lap/day rate of increase.
Thanks to all for your congratulations, despite the last entry, I am really psyched to be back in some way. Don't hold your breath on the running again, but drink of your choice on me to celebrate when that day comes for anyone and everyone!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Week of 06/17/2007 - 06/23/2007 (Separated 2nd Metatarsal Joint Week 7)
A Medical Mystery...
My parents are vitamin freaks. I guess I'm kind of a vitamin freak too, or now that I'm an athlete, I've become somewhat of a pill freak. In the beginning, I had the Granny pill box of every vitamin and every supplement and every training fad ever to have existed... but I'm starting to weed out the ones that don't seem to work. After extensive research, I've debunked the whole glucosamine craze. That's already 3 fewer pills a day.
Enter WOBenzyme... the mysterious, expensive little red pill that comes in packs of 800. While skeptical at first, I ended up swallowing 15 of these after my last crash. Strangely, within an hour of taking this, the swelling reduced drastically on my banged up elbows, and all of the scabs healed a lot faster than when I skinned my knees when I fell on a late night run.
I ordered my own bottle which arrived last Friday, so on a whim I started taking them despite the lack of acute trauma. Within a few days, I noticed that the residual soreness and swelling in my toe began to subside after a long period of plateaued improvement. Coincidence? The mystery continues...
Sunday 06/17: Missed going to the gym due to visitors from a far away land. Culinary tour of the Pasadena area with friend from highschool friend. Boba tea and In 'n Out... SO FAT...
Monday 06/18: Back on the ball. An encouraging day at the gym. Still pretty weak, but weights getting easier, kind of getting settled into a routine. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel, like I may actually survive without ending up in the looney bin. Did core strengthening and stretching to round out an 80 minute session.
In other news, the last of my purchases arrived in the mail today! Spiffy new cycling shoes that fit my orthotics perfectly. Hopefully this will help with my feet once I'm back in the saddle. Really looking forwards to moving into the walking/riding/physical therapy phase in 1.5 weeks!
Tuesday 06/19 - Saturday 06/23: Nothing. I'm a big loser :). Couldn't work up the motivation to go the gym, etc. Lots of distractions, fussing over new bike parts. Getting inordinately fat. This is bad... but thankfully the end is in sight. Counting the days until the cast comes off!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Week of 06/10/2007 - 06/16/2007 (Separated 2nd Metatarsal Joint Week 5)
EMPIRICAL ASSERTION #1 --->
Where the quantity Q sub T represents the quantity of training (in hours per week) and the quantity Q sub S represents the quantity of shopping (in dollars per # of amazon.com purchases per week).
I'm not really a shopper by nature. Much to Uncle Bain's chagrin, I only buy two types of things: athletic equipment and food. The last time I bought so many things was when I bought my bike last summer, the last time I couldn't run for a really extended period of time... coincidence? the mystery continues...
The hypothesis is that the compulsive shopping is my way of soothing the demons. I can't *train* to make myself faster, so maybe I can buy new shoes, lighter bike parts, a new HR monitor? I have to feel like I'm still in touch with that world, I have to feel like I'm still doing something to make myself faster, even though, in a saner mindset these are not really the things that matter. Maybe its a desperate plea to the heavens--look how much cool new stuff I bought for my hobbies... oh, please don't take this away from me forever...
Sunday 06/10: Off. Hair-cutting and gu-making with KB and Ian. HOLY CRAP MY HEAD IS SO MUCH LIGHTER! I had been saving this occasion for the day when I'm at the edge of something... 19:01 or maybe even 18:01 or 3:00:01. But I guess its okay, maybe we have to take the leap of faith in advance of being there. Feel like my hair is now more compatible with my lifestyle.
Monday 06/11: Back to the gym again, added leg curls, one at a time. Incremental gains in lats, delts, free weights... but a bit consterned about lack of progress in the bench. Core strengthening, stretching. Disgruntled about "summer hours". Basically the 8 pm - midnight crowd now gets mashed into the 8 pm - 10 pm window, so everything is really crowded, and I'm not really at the point where I feel entitled to complain to a 200 lb guy that I still have a set left on the bench.
Maybe this is very snooty and elitist of me, but I personally feel that there is a pecking order for athletic facilities... People who are actually serious about something should have priority, and then within the set of equally dedicated individuals, priority should go to the greatest need, and then lastly to greater ability. But it rarely comes down to that. Mostly its about the level of dedication. When it comes to the track or the elliptical, I'm very pushy, but I know I'm just at the gym to pass the injury time... let the muscle men have their weights.
Tuesday 06/12: Rest day. Dinner with Dr. Rossi. Consult on the foot indicates low probability of stress fracture based on symptoms. Felt moderately encouraged. Prognosis on the compulsive shopping was more grim--the path that starts with improving one's bike usually ends inevitably in the buying of an entirely new bike, apparently. Thankfully, thus far I do not present with such symptoms. Perhaps my lack of being a high net worth individual has a retarding effect on the progression of Bike-buying-itis.
Wednesday 06/13: Some improvement at gym. Same set as Monday, but with incremental gains across most of my sets. Accidentally put more weight on the bench on my last set and almost died. Mostly a good day, except for the unfortunate circumstance of having forgotten to bring a t-shirt to change into since I went directly after work. Decided that my dignity was not worth the 20 minute round trip to retrieve this item, so looked like an idiot and was moderately uncomfortable.
Core strengthening and stretching afterwards. Unsuccessfully tried to extract the Bowerman book out of Matt and/or Mark. Got something about twinkies instead, to go with the theme of obesity.
Thursday 06/14 - Saturday 06/16: Sadly for me, woke up on thursday with a sharp pain in my left shoulder, probably from that last set of bench press. Decided to take a few days to let that heal a little bit. Was foiled in our attempt to view a Freeway Series game. *shakes first*
In other news, went back to el doctor unit on Friday... got told to wear the boot or the flat shoe for another 2 weeks, mehhhhhh... thankfully if it survives this, then I'm good to go. Joint has been feeling a lot better recently, with full range of movement, the only issue is that there is this residual tenderness/soreness associated with a little bit of swelling over the top of the joint. It's just slightly painful to the touch, and the improvement has kind of plateaued, which is concerning. I suspect though, that this is really more associated with the trauma of the incision site, rather than an outgrowth of the original condition.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Week of 06/03/2007 - 06/09/2007 (Separated 2nd Metatarsal Joint Week 4)
Hokay. So, here's the thing.
I've tried and I've tried to put some sort of a redeeming spin on things, tried and tried to preserve some last obscure bastion of identity, but the bottom line is this. For me, unplanned time off bites the big one.
I've finally just accepted that nothing I can do will make this time suck less. So, I will put my head down and get through this week, I will get through next week and maybe, just maybe on Friday, June 15th, I will be cleared for some walking and if I'm really *really* lucky, a little bit of riding. Here's to hoping.
Sunday 06/03 - Monday 06/04: Nothing, external consternations. Can't find the motivation to go lift, even though presumably it will be better than sitting on my ass. Ate cookies. Lots of them.
Tuesday 06/05: Dragged fat ass to gym--success! Thinking the motivation is a good sign for me making it 2 more weeks like this. For the life of me I can't remember what I used to DO at the gym though.... I had a 90 minute and 60 minute routine that got alternated, but take out the ones that involve legs, and the ones I can't remember and the machines that have disappeared (WTF happened to the pull up/tricep dip bar!?!?!?!?) I only had enough crap to do to fill up 1 hour, including core strengthening.
Lats, Bench, Pecs, Delts, free weights (curls, shoulders, forearm), core strengthening. Through some trial and error, determined that every set essentially had to be decreased ~40% from what I used to be able to do back in 2004. Glad that I went though, even though I felt squishy and weak, like a normal girl... gah!
Wednesday 06/06: Sore as hell, swamped with work. Felt okay with decision to take a recovery day. Will go back tomorrow. If I remember correctly, the learning curve on lifting is pretty steep.
Thursday 06/07: Argh, sore as hell, arguably more so than yesterday. Unfortunately today is not a rest day. Did the same set at the same weight as Tuesday, but with a lot more difficulty due to extreme soreness. Can't lift arms above shoulder height or behind the plane of my body without incredible pain. Felt better after the workout, but afraid that I'm just compounding the soreness for Saturday. Bah, humbug.
Friday 06/08: Kangway's going away dinner/beer mile. Booo to leaving :'(. Hobbled the equivalent of 400m in the walking cast, no beers. Inebriated-to-varying-degrees pull up contest ensued... based on results of 2 days of lifting... wisely decided to avoid that ass-kicking.
Saturday 06/09: Back to the gym again. Surprisingly, not very sore anymore, thank goodness. Added a few new ones--quads and leg press (gingerly and one leg at a time, if possible) and back extentions.
Tried to increase some weights, with mostly poor results. Pissed at the lack of improvement. Found a way to fix the tricep dip bar, but determined that the competence was sorely lacking... had trouble completing 3, much less 3 sets of 15. This used to be my favorite set too... how sad.
Core strengthening afterwards, almost 90 minutes total today! Progress is frustrating, but I think its a step in the right direction that I'm doing *anything* at all other than sitting on my butt eating food.
I've tried and I've tried to put some sort of a redeeming spin on things, tried and tried to preserve some last obscure bastion of identity, but the bottom line is this. For me, unplanned time off bites the big one.
I've finally just accepted that nothing I can do will make this time suck less. So, I will put my head down and get through this week, I will get through next week and maybe, just maybe on Friday, June 15th, I will be cleared for some walking and if I'm really *really* lucky, a little bit of riding. Here's to hoping.
Sunday 06/03 - Monday 06/04: Nothing, external consternations. Can't find the motivation to go lift, even though presumably it will be better than sitting on my ass. Ate cookies. Lots of them.
Tuesday 06/05: Dragged fat ass to gym--success! Thinking the motivation is a good sign for me making it 2 more weeks like this. For the life of me I can't remember what I used to DO at the gym though.... I had a 90 minute and 60 minute routine that got alternated, but take out the ones that involve legs, and the ones I can't remember and the machines that have disappeared (WTF happened to the pull up/tricep dip bar!?!?!?!?) I only had enough crap to do to fill up 1 hour, including core strengthening.
Lats, Bench, Pecs, Delts, free weights (curls, shoulders, forearm), core strengthening. Through some trial and error, determined that every set essentially had to be decreased ~40% from what I used to be able to do back in 2004. Glad that I went though, even though I felt squishy and weak, like a normal girl... gah!
Wednesday 06/06: Sore as hell, swamped with work. Felt okay with decision to take a recovery day. Will go back tomorrow. If I remember correctly, the learning curve on lifting is pretty steep.
Thursday 06/07: Argh, sore as hell, arguably more so than yesterday. Unfortunately today is not a rest day. Did the same set at the same weight as Tuesday, but with a lot more difficulty due to extreme soreness. Can't lift arms above shoulder height or behind the plane of my body without incredible pain. Felt better after the workout, but afraid that I'm just compounding the soreness for Saturday. Bah, humbug.
Friday 06/08: Kangway's going away dinner/beer mile. Booo to leaving :'(. Hobbled the equivalent of 400m in the walking cast, no beers. Inebriated-to-varying-degrees pull up contest ensued... based on results of 2 days of lifting... wisely decided to avoid that ass-kicking.
Saturday 06/09: Back to the gym again. Surprisingly, not very sore anymore, thank goodness. Added a few new ones--quads and leg press (gingerly and one leg at a time, if possible) and back extentions.
Tried to increase some weights, with mostly poor results. Pissed at the lack of improvement. Found a way to fix the tricep dip bar, but determined that the competence was sorely lacking... had trouble completing 3, much less 3 sets of 15. This used to be my favorite set too... how sad.
Core strengthening afterwards, almost 90 minutes total today! Progress is frustrating, but I think its a step in the right direction that I'm doing *anything* at all other than sitting on my butt eating food.
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