Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Almost there (I think) !

I had planned on taking part in the race at the Pheonix park last night, but needed to get home early to do some stuff. It was a pity as the reports coming back are very positive about it. There is another evening race coming up in May so I will do my best to get to it.

I also missed Team WORC's Kilmashogue Hill climb. A mass start point to point race - 3.42 distance and 282 metres of climbing. Again, something on the to-do list for this year.

I did manage to get out with Gene for a fast 40-something KM around Kildare. It was just to test out the calf properly. Do some sprints, fast climbs in and out of saddle, and extended high-tempo stuff. Overall it went well enough. The original injury is cleared up, although my calf did feel pretty tight afterwards and this morning also. Its a crappy weather day today, so if it does not clear up this evening I'll get on the TT for a bit. Then tomorrow its Glending (probably forgotten how to ride off road at this stage). I'd like to cycle into work on Friday if I can too, then rest up on Saturday before the NPS in Carlingford. I've no expectations for this race, apart from just hoping I don't get injured again and just pushing as best I can in order to get some level of fitness back.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Road to recovery

Its a bloomin long road. Managed a few more evening spins last week on the road. Nothing over an hour. The front and back of the knee were achy at the start of the cycle, but after 20 minutes or so it faded away.

I was away all weekend and off the bike, so this evening I did an hour and a half on the road bike. I kept the pace up and pushed on any hills I found. Apart from one or 2 mild pangs it was pretty ok.

There's a road race on Tuesday evening (Paddy Sullivan Memorial) in the Phoenix Park I might do. I think it would be worth heading out and if the leg begins to act up I'll just quit. After today I really feel I've lost a lot of aerobic fitness, so any opportunity to work on that would be great.

Next Sunday is Round 3 of the NPS in Carlingford. I hope race, but we'll see how the week goes. Wednesday and Thursday will be spins into work, so I can use them as a gauge on where I am with the injury and general fitness.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Nasty goings on on the Tour of Turkey

This is shocking stuff - Darril Impey, the yellow jersey holder, just 1km from the finish, gets thrown to the ground by Theo Bos. And it looks like he got away with it!

Impey was in bits afterwards, but to win the race, he had to cross the finish line. So the paramedics stuck a neck brace on him, he hopped on the bike, and a team mate pushed him to the finish line while he was drooling blood!

Velonews article here.

Not related, but Tyler is finally giving up, after been caught using banned substances again (jeez, I'm really turning roadie here...)

MAXX-XC!

This is going to be great! Hosted by my own club to boot!

Injury Update

Have not bothered sticking up many posts recently - have seen little point in writing up moany - life is so tough - type blog entries. But today I've got slightly better news.

Pretty small bit of news though. I've nailed the bike fit on the Giant and went out on a 30 minute road spin. I had actually planned on not doing any cycling this week, but a physio acquaintance suggested that I should continue doing easy cycling (until the pain kicked in) - otherwise it could lead to other problems down the road.

So I headed out at an easy pace in beautiful sunshine. The first 15 minutes was just turning the pedals, but the second half I pushed on and felt pretty ok. There was some pain, so once it kicked in I dropped right off until it went away.

Amazing eh? :)

So, same again tomorrow - 30 to 40 minutes. If it goes ok, I might chance a commute into work on Wednesday.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

No round 2

Its official! Went for a spin this morning in Glending to see how I was fixed - not too good as it turned out. Once I started to climb at a reasonable pace - nothing to write home about - I could feel the top of my calf acting up. Its hard to describe the feeling - not quite pain, but a tightness which did not feel right. The front of my knee is not so hot either. So after half a loop I decided to call it a day. Later I brought the dog out and even a gentle walk was causing problems.

So, it would be nuts to go out and race - I probably would not have made it up the first climb. The next race is in 2 weeks in Carlingford, but if I'm being honest with myself, I am not 100% sure I'll even make that one.

I've 2 options now. One is to totally rest up - no biking whatsoever. Or I can gently get myself back into things by doing the work commute. I've no idea which is the right route to take a this stage. Probably number 1, which is the most boring. Its so frustrating though. Its only been 3 weeks since this cropped up but it feels like about 6!

Anyways, I'm off to drown my sorrows in some quality European beer :)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

To train or not to train

At a bit of a loss as to what to do really. Saturday I did a painful 30 minutes on the road bike. I pretty much wrote off NPS 2. Then Monday I hopped on the turbo trainer for 50 minutes doing a 10 minutes at half resistance, 10 at full and the leg felt pretty much spot on. Fitness-wise I was not too bad - I have lost a fair bit but am pretty sure I could get it back quickly. I even weighed myself to find I only put on a kilo (there was some comfort eating over the past couple of weeks), so as of yesterday evening I was planning on doing the race.

However today I'm not sure. I cycled into work and about half way their the pain at the top of my calf kicked off again and remained all day. Cycling home was painful also. The thing is, its not slowing me down, it just hurts like hell. So I'm wondering if its worth doing the race with the aide of a couple of Neurofen plus, or am I just kidding myself? I won't make my mind up till Sunday and will skip the pre-ride Saturday also.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Week round up

Not much cycling to talk about. Just did a 30 minute easy road spin to see how the leg is. The first 15 minutes my knee hurt - just felt stiff. Then the real pain kicked in at the top of my calf - a shooting type pain. That was enough of a signal for me to call it a day.

I iced my calf when I got home but the pain stayed. Went to the physio afterwards. He pin-pointed the problem - another bursa sac at the end of the medial tendon (its another hamstring). He did spent 10 minutes giving it an intense massage which had to be the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Then to top it off he stuck on the electrodes and another 10 minutes of pain. I could just about walk out the door. 6 hours later and it still hurts like hell. Right now, there is no way I'll be ready to race next weekend. I might try another easy spin again tomorrow if I can straighten my leg somewhat.

OK, away from that stuff, I have been busy on fixing up the Cube. I have already replaced the drive train, and yesterday I replaced the rear Crossmark with a new Crossmark. It was a pain in the ass. I had to cut away the old tyre and rim strip as the walls had stuck together when I deflated it. I ghetto'd on the replacement - a much easier job than rim strips. Will stick a new tyre on the front this week also. After that, I might replace the pads as there is a lot of travel on the levers right now. It'll be like a new bike!My KCNC skewers arrived yesterday, so I stuck them on. Very, very light - actually, worryingly so. But will give them a test run in a couple of weeks. I also went nuts and bought a Selle Italia SLR Saddle. These are also worryingly light, but I was feeling sorry for myself and splashed out.

Finally, I decided to go Oakley and get a pair of Flak Jacket XLJ. These won't be for the bike - my Tifosi glasses are fine for that. This pair will be used solely for posing :)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ouch, me Bursa!

3rd visit to the Physio today, things are improving, more massage, ultrasound and laser. Basically the Bursa is inflamed. The hamstring is fine. It does not hurt as much to walk on now, I can climb stairs without feeling it, but my usual bounding up 2 or 3 steps a time is not a runner. The physio says to try a flat road spin on Friday and head in to see him afterwards. Mountain biking is out for another week as its hard not to put pressure on the hamstring when climbing up and over stuff.

So, I'll just play it by ear as to whether I'll do round 2 of the NPS. There's going to be loads of races in May and June, so no point in coming back early only for it to become a long term injury.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Oh the pain!

OK, not much update this week as I'm been off the bike since the race on Sunday. I definitely felt like I was making progress on the injury during the week - to the extent I headed out on the mountain bike last night for a test. I was careful not to go too fast, or fully extend my knee. But after less than an hour it was getting quite painful. So I called it a night and got ice on the back of the knee when I got home.

It was sore again this morning. And the physio was not too optimistic about full recovery - 3 to 4 weeks. He gave the hamstrings a good massage, did the ultrasound and laser treatment on it also. I'm going back on Tuesday to see what progress has been made, but absolutely no biking for me until next weekend, and I'll be taking that at an easy pace.

So it looks like NPS round 2 might be doable, but could be my first spin in anger in over 3 weeks. Ah well, these things happen.