The Hitch in My Get-Along

Finally, a great ride! 75 miles. Perfect 70 degree sunny weather. Pushing hard but feeling good. Working the momentum; cruising up the hills. Staying hydrated and fed along the way. Maybe I can do this after all. Maybe it will be as fun as I hoped. The french fries must be working! (Did I tell you about the new secret to my success? Seriously, Trader Joe's frozen fries for breakfast before a big ride. Seriously. Major carbohydrates.)

But in the last few miles my knee started complaining. And loudly. Ouch.

The next day, carried by the excitement I got out on my bike for a short follow-up ride (gotta finally start getting used to two days in a row). But the constant stabbing knee pain was still there, and I had to turn around. Grrr.

So I tried walking around Greenlake with a friend to at least move a little, but a vague muscle ache in my hip that I woke up with got steadily worse until I was limping around the last part of the lake. My friend noticed and told me I had a "hitch in my get-along", a phrase I found so charming that it was almost worth the pain and frustration.

But really?! Where did that come from? Can't I catch a break at some point?! And now the opposite calf is painfully tight, I think because of favoring that side. I finally do what I supposed to do and get myself where I'm supposed to be, and I am falling apart! How is that karmically fair?

Urrg.

Too Darn Hot

New Rule: 92 degrees is too hot for a bike ride.

We did an amazing Monroe - Lake Stevens - Arlington - Granite Falls ride on Saturday. I knew it was going to be hot, but the weather reports were saying upper 70s for that area. So I headed out with the "see how far I get" attitude, knowing that Saggy Bill could rescue me if necessary. Turns out it was a good thing I was able to take care of myself because Bill and his able assistant Erin were plenty busy with the 4-5 people who did need to be extracted from the course. Yikes.

Just to give you a little background info... I am personally NOT good in any kind of heat. I am from rainy Seattle and start to get really uncomfortable and not able to function somewhere around 81 degrees. But I made it! (Although we took a short-cut and only did 73 miles instead of the whole 80 as it seemed like people were dropping like flies.) The key was drinking lots and lots of water! And some with a good dose of electrolyte powder in it. I put my mind to it and drank, drank, drank all along the way - which I am normally not good at. At least twice I started to get signs of the dreaded dehydration headache, but I listened to it as a warning and drank lots more. It's amazing what our bodies can do, even under adverse circumstances. Especially when we know how to listen to them and take care of them.

Yes, we did it and we are proud to have perservered and conquered. But how about something in between freezing wet and roasting? Spring - ever heard of it?! Now would be a good time for those 70 degree sunny Saturday rides I was counting on. (On the bright side it appears I've officially broken the rain curse...)

I Heart the Slow Group

I finally made it on another big weekend ride! Between volleyball games, being sick, and awful knee pain, it had been at least a month since I had been with the group. Now volleyball is finally over (we made it to the league semi-finals!), and I have actually be doing my physical therapy and finally able to ride 40ish miles at a time pain free on my own - so I thought it was time to jump back in with the group.

But I was scared to go back. I was not really confident in my reasons for not following the training plan as perfectly as I think I'm supposed to. I've didn't think our volleyball season would last so long (I've never coached such a winning team). And I have been really frustrated and humbled by my recent pains and injuries. In the past, I have had to learn to deal with physical pain during both chronic and isolated injuries. But recently my body hasn't recovered like it used to. So I don't know what to do and waste a lot of time wishing reality was different. I'm used to being pleasantly surprised by what my body can accomplish. I'm not sure how to deal with new limitations and not sure when to give up. (I was genuinely worried that I would have to send out a "sorry, just kidding - but thanks for your money anyway" notice.)

But I remembered I could ask for help (which then meant I didn't feel like I needed to). And I mentally repeated words of wisdom from you all like "just do your physical therapy religiously".

And I decided to ride with a slower training group. Apparently I've been pushing my knees too hard - my average rpms need to be higher. I've gradually come around to realize that despite my apparent need to prove something through imaginary competition, I don't have to prove anything if I don't want to. Really, this is all probably enough exercise without pushing myself all that much along the way. I needed to realign my internal compass. My real goal is to fulfill that dream of completing STP and feel connected to being part of a collective good - or as my college roommate said "connect to our humanity".

And the funny thing? I love the slow group. I felt more connected and had more fun with the people this week than I had in all the other weeks of flying at maximum speed. We had great conversation while we rode, laughed a lot, and stopped for pie! Yes, it may have been the pie that won me over.

We did 60 miles from Marymoor Park to Snohomish to Monroe to Ames Lake to Marymoor Park. Well, it was 60 because we accidentally took the long way (aka got lost). FYI: realizing the you are lost after riding 50 miles - 1/2 of which was in the rain - is not a great feeling. But we dug deep, figured it out, and made it. It took like 6 hours (including that pie stop and a few others), but we made it! And I have the sore muscles to remind me of my accomplishment all day long...