Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Better

I have finally reached a point where the pain is gone, but I still am taking it easy. I have decided that it is time to get back into training. (No pun intended...haha) I want to focus on doing the Croom Crumbler with my good friend Gabrielle this September. That will be a good birthday present for myself. I will have to get the running thing under control and the doc said swimming would be good low impact exercise as I start building myself up again. Geez! I am so out of shape it's not funny. When I say that to people they look at me and say - "can't tell by looking at you." I appreciate that, but I feel like a slug, and my upper body is way out of competive condition.
Anyway, pain free, so that means I can start pushing myself again. July 3rd will be my regular 34 mile road ride. If I can make the time for that 3 times a week and at least 20/25 off road on the weekends I'll have 120/125 miles a week of biking. Throw in some kayaking and speed walking and hopefully my endurance and strength won't be far off.

My bike. Oh my sweet Sugar Race. It has had some transformations of late. Just replaced the main pivot and it is back to it's quiet, speedy, nimble self. I also finally replaced the crankset to a SLX outboard bottom bracket. That should alleviate the occasional chainsuck problem I have had in the past. I have disc brakes sitting on the shelf waiting for the funds to grab a killer deal on a set of Bontrager Race Lite center locks. Abc Bicycles says they can set me up with an unbelievable price for a really nice set. I'll need to act soon or the chance will go away. This is a new frame as of January and is all black. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I really liked my red bike, but it looks cool!

Well, that's my update for now. Excited about training and NOT overdoing it! Croom Crumbler lookout. This should let me know if Spring is good to get back into racing.

Great rides to all.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Update

Finally went to see the Orthopedic this morning after a couple of weeks of Chiropractic didn't help. He diagnosed me as have a sprained left lumbar muscle, which explains why it is so very painful to get up out of bed or up from a sitting position. And turning or twisting? Yeah, not so good. Tough deal as a window cleaner too!
Anyway, a few doses of steroids, 4 more weeks of physical therapy, and then reassess in 6 weeks. He's betting that it is not a herniated disk; I'm going with that bet too because that means surgey!!
Good thing is I get to ride my bike during this time. Bad thing is I can only ride it easy just to keep the joint and muscles of that area fluid. Oh man - rehab all over again!
This past week was a painful one. I'll give the bike a try in a day or two after the steroids kick in. Hopefully this will be a short period of PT and things start to get back to normal for me. The whole idea of scar tissue removal, and/or surgery does not appeal to me at all. A few days in the hospital and a few weeks of recovery is not in my plans!