What do you do when it all comes crashing down?
Strange though it may seem... last Friday seemed inexorably to have shifted the momentum of my seemingly newly encouraging quest for fitness. I felt like crap on Saturday, I felt like crap on Sunday... what do you do when it all comes crashing down? For no apparent reason? I didn't feel tired really any day last week, in fact I felt fantastic, like for the first time, I was in control of my training, and on an upward trajectory... hmmmm... I suppose this merits further investigation. For the mean time, I'll have to plan for a down week and see if it passes.
On another note, I've made the startling and highly consterning discovery that I am, after all... allergic to flour. GAH. Apparently flour is NOT entirely a wheat product, but enriched with a significant amount of barley, which is a no-no for me. Consequently, I am allergic to a significant portion of commercially available breads and baked goods, as well as anything of my own creation. This, I admit is a significant set back to the endurance athlete. Bread is basically a staple of my diet... and I'm not always thrilled with the types of breads that are wheat-only, and await with a small amount of horror, the damage inflicted upon my favorite recipes by "whole wheat flour" ... oh, woe is me :'(
Sunday 07/29: 41.7 miles, 2:39:30 ride time, 15.6 mph average. Felt moderately less bad compared to yesterday, but still, something just isn't right. Had to take is super super chill due to a strange "pulled" feeling in the left hamstring. Decided against a longer ride for this reason also, and instead productively opted to finish HP7 such that I can move on with my life. For the record, my favorite character is Snape. I think he's more interesting than Harry.
Monday 07/30: An overabundance of work and other things that need doing... Took a quasi-planned off day. Its going to be really hard to squeeze in enough riding time this week. I guess its good its a quasi-planned down week... Since my cycling woes seemed to have started after a rest day, perhaps another rest day is in order to change it back to previous state.
Tuesday 07/31: 26.3 miles, 16.6 mph avg, you do the math... I've forgotten how long the ride time was, but basically 6 laps around the RB, kinda crunched for time. Feeling better performance wise, but still something's a bit off... also feeling poorly outside of exercise, not enough sleep, way too many slides, way too much stress.
Wednesday 08/01 - Friday 08/03: Off, too busy, no sleep. Plenty of allergies. 3 straight days off is NOT exactly what I had in mind for the "down week"... but I suppose this will have to do.
Saturday 08/04: 57.7 miles, 3:58:30 ride time, 14.5 mph average. ~10 miles or so up the 39, past East Fork but didn't make it to the start of the crystal lakes climb. Longest ride, both timewise and distance wise in a really, really long time. Didn't recall that there was a lot of climbing on this section, but seemed to struggle quite a bit. Fine as soon as I got back to the flats, but probably over-extended myself a bit, noting the slow average speed. Also, VERY VERY WINDY. Felt in mortal peril of being blown into traffic or off of the side of the mountain for the greater part of 15 miles... have you ever had the experience of pedaling furiously into a downhill and going 11 mph? Scary.
In honor of KB, let me make a list of huge things that I saw on this adventure:
1 live bear (brown, eating garbage at the side of the street. super cute, but was scared it would eat me next, tried to increase speed as I went on by)
2 fist-sized tarantulas (black, hairy, crawling slowly across the road, surprised there weren't any squished ones...)
1 large dead owl (sad...)
Week Totals: 125.7 miles of riding, ~8:30 ride time, the issue here is that this mileage was in 3 rides, which is kind of a sub-optimal off week, especially given a taxing ride on Saturday. Oh, well, training is going to be rather inconsistent for the next month or so due to overabundance of work.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Week of 07/22/2007 - 07/28/2007 (Recovery Week 5)
The Combativity Award
It was mentioned in passing last week, that Linus Gerdemann the winner of stage 7 was awarded a mysterious "Combativity Award", and my curiousity was instantly piqued:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combativity_award
Apparently there is a formal award to recognize people who show a propensity to attack constantly. HOLY CRAP, THAT IS SO AWESOME!!! It is mentioned that the winner of the award is typically not the winner of the Tour in recent history, but see, that is precisely what I find so appealing about the award. There's something really heroic and courageous that resonates for me about those who just go ahead and challenge stronger and more accomplished competitors, even knowing they made pay for it in the end. I see in that instinct the quality that is the makings of the next generation of champions. Just a few people whose stock has gone up in my eyes:
Vino
Linus Gerdemann
Eddy Merckx
I think Richard Virenque won a whole bunch of them too, but I think he turned out to be a drug cheat. And since I'm on the topic of the TdF:
1) I'm rooting for Alberto Contador. I think its really cool that he's going after the whole show, challenging the yellow jersey and not being one of those "I'm young, winning a stage is really a big accomplishment and I'm happy with just that" types. Also, he gets extra points for surviving brain surgery and having a long painful road back after that. Good heavens its hard enough to come back from a foot problem... though sometimes I do wonder, it would almost be better to have stitches in your head, than to have a defective foot, bah.
2) I'm also rooting for Vino and Andreas Kloden, they are in such a tough position this year. I think I'd find it really challenging psychologically to be on a team where you have two strong people and uncertainty as to who is the strongest GC contender (well, at THIS point that is clear) but kind of having to deal with that dynamic must have been really stressful. Then there's all of the crashing, Kloden crashed a second time in his time trial, and its like, being on the bike for 6 hours isn't exactly comfortable WITHOUT bruising and a cracked tail bone--I really admire the perseverance to stick in the top 5 despite all the pain, physically and psychologically.
As for Vino, he already had my admiration for enduring the controversy about moving up in the GC on the final stage (but we've gone through THAT debate already...) but like, a stab of something bordering on physical pain shot through me when I read that he won the ITT. I had this sinking feeling he was going to pay for it in the mountains, but that fierceness in the face of adversity and defeat is one of the top qualities that stir my emotions. Its like a symbolic "fuck you" to all of the injuries and all of the people who would write him off. Its saying, this is what I'm really made of, you remember my name, cuz some year if not this year, I'll win the whole damn thing. Its the same quality about the younger Lance who wasn't afraid to attack and go, even if it meant that he faded out at the end. I feel like you can teach race strategy, you can teach someone to calm down and make smart decisions in a race, but ferocity and competitiveness are essential assets that are not learned behaviors.
Sunday 07/22: 41.7 miles, 2:30 ride time, 16.5 mph average. River Trails to the Santa Fe Dam and back. Was planning a longer excursion, but unfortunately this was thwarted by the inability to put down Harry Potter and the impending sunset. Made a large effort to pedal "roundly" or throughout the entire pedal stroke, rather than my usual mashing the pedal down with enough force to push the opposite leg up, then rest, repeat.
Set out like an idiot with my mismatched shoes... after a bunch of experimenting, I finally accepted that because my feet are so mismatched, the most comfortable combination was the 39 shoe on my right foot and the 38 shoe on my left. At least this decreases my Fred Index... Even after the rest day, my hamstrings complained loudly right off the bat about the technique change. It was extremely exhausting not to have the ~150 degrees of float time on each leg associated with the weakness to not be able to pull through the whole pedal stroke. I found though, that being vigilant about pedaling smoothly tremendously decreased the pressure on my forefoot, alleviating a lot of the first metatarsal pain from yesterday.
I realized that the tiny increase in fitness for me that has resulted in the existence of a slovenly pace that I can now ride without huffing and puffing has set me free emotionally. Pushing weak and untrained muscle through hours of repetitive motions is without doubt my greatest strength... I crumble emotionally from the pain of injury and the pain of cardiovascular incapacity, but this muscular pain is the sort that I can bear beyond reasonable means. There's now something motivating and freeing about churning out correct pedal stroke after pedal stroke, my legs burning and aching prematurely despite a low heart rate. It makes me feel like I'm actually training, and improving, instead of limping listlessly, suffocating under the strain of dragging a weakened heart and lungs like dead weights behind me.
Monday 07/23: 30.1 miles, 1:45 ride time, 17.2 mph average. Oh, mondays... did not get up in time in the morning due to schedule messed up by Harry Potter. Then was kinda late getting out the door in the evening... headed to the RB for lack of time and a better plan. This was another one of those easy rides that get ruined by chance and lack of discipline. Rode 4 easy laps concentrating again on proper technique before running into some of McKeen's friends, and ended up keeping up, partially for the conversation (makes going around in endless circles a bit less boring) and partially cuz per usual, I did not want to seem weak :). Big toe hurts a bit still, icing... gonna try for a real slovenly, easy ride tomorrow.
Tuesday 07/24: Stressed out, did not wake up in the morning, not enough time afterwards, so no ride. A bad day. Lots of crying at my desk... oh, Vino, say it ain't so... I feel like my conviction that there are some ones that are clean left is quickly crumbling...
Wednesday 07/25: 35.8 miles, 2:38 ride time, 13.5 mph average to Clear Creek via short way home. Failed in getting on the bike early enough, ended up picking my way home gingerly through the dark. Feeling kind of stressed about work, conflicted about the Tour, uneasy about my big toe... even though I knew it was kind of a bad idea, I just really needed this ride today... to get away into the mountains. Managed base to top in ~70 minutes and 10 bpm less than last time. Still need to lose 10 minutes and 10 bpm off of this route... but generally pleased with the progress. Made it pretty safely to the top this time without huffing, felt kind of impatient last few miles, so picked up the pace a bit.
Thursday 07/26: 32.2 miles, 1:58:30 ride time, 16.2 mph average to Encanto Park by the River Trails, and back. Mostly chill ride, felt distracted by philosophical ponderings, which seemed to cause me to pedal harder when I stopped concentrating on form and keeping the HR low... but didn't feel bad. Feeling pleased that I can now handle 30+ mile rides on a daily basis without the accumulation of fatigue. Progress feels *painfully* slow, but at least it appears at least to be happening :).
Friday 07/27: Did not feel like I needed a day off, but it happened anyways, due to busy-ness... Having a hard time with exhaustion... the "I haven't gotten a good nights sleep in a really long time" kind, not the athletically overextended kind. Can't get rid of low level headache...
Saturday 07/28: 21.6 miles, something like 90-95 minutes. ARGHHHHHH... intended: Red Box and back, actual: turned back only a mile or two into the climb up the 2... every so often there's like a workout that blows up in your face for no apparent reason. Was expecting to feel fantastic after the unplanned off day, but just felt like complete crap today. Legs felt like lead, everything else just felt like running on fumes. Decided it wasn't worth it to slog through a climb, so headed back feeling irritable.
Totals: 161.4 miles at 10:22 ride time. Disappointing given how good I felt until Saturday, but something about an exercise in patience... also something about a down week soon.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Week of 07/15/2007 - 07/21/2007 (Recovery Week 4)
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*.
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*.
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.
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