Another Solid Week

I didn't set any distance, total mileage or time records on the bike this week, but I managed to log three solid rides (40.1 mi, 32.3 mi, 32.1 mi = 104.5 miles total). My legs felt a little flat on Monday and Wednesday, but I eased off the pace on Friday and noticed a little more life in them. We're in the middle of a heat wave (102°f here today, 106°f tomorrow, followed by another week, at least, of close to triple digits), so doing extra long or extra fast rides will be out of the question. In fact, due to my schedule, I'll probably only ride on Monday and Wednesday.

I'm at 390 miles for June and 988 miles for the year, so I should hit 1,000 miles on Monday.

Metric Century

A week ago today, I rode my first Metric Century (100k, 62 miles) with one of my riding buddies, Tom. The ride included a loop around Newman Lake (with plenty of challenging climbs, albeit nothing too long) and an encounter with an angry redneck who caused me to crash on the side of the road and gain yet more road rash and an extra-sore left wrist (I landed on it yet again). The road we were on was incredibly rural and quiet, yet this jackwagon passed us on the left, got back in front of us and immediately slammed on his brakes. He jumped out, scraggly beard and overalls a'blazin', and shouted that "this is a high-traffic road!" and that we shouldn't be riding on it. Well, good sir, thank you for the load of horsesh*t, but you're 100% wrong. It's NOT a busy road (we saw 3 cars during the 14 mile loop), and bikes have as much right to the road as do motorists, assuming we're obeying the laws of the road (we were). I found out where this hayseed lives, since we continued riding after he left and saw him walking from his red Jeep Cherokee to his shack, er, house. So...

That was the first of only two rides last week. I put in another 38 miles on the Centennial Trail on Wednesday (giving me 100.5 for the week), then took the rest of the week off since my mom is visiting from Florida. She'll leave tomorrow.

I got out for a moderate 40 miler today, with no plans for the rest of the week. I'll probably get in at least one more ride, but the heat is coming in a big way (projected 107°f high for Sunday), so I'll either be laying low or getting out very early for short rides. We'll see. I also have a ton of work backed up.

I lost 4 lbs. last week, which was a bit more than I wanted to lose. I'm now at my goal weight of 160 lbs. The added mileage is causing the weight to drop off. Obviously I need to increase my caloric intake or I'll end up where I was when I trained for my marathon in 2010 (i.e. too light and too weak).

That's about it from here. Speaking of calories, time to inhale some now...

153 Miles

I wrapped up a solid week of cycling yesterday, giving me 153 miles for the week. That's a distance PR, which I expect to break again before too long. I had to contend with heat and wind early in the week, but the last two rides (Thurs & Fri) were far more windy than they were hot.

I'm still not doing much climbing, but I think I'm about ready to branch out (i.e. not just ride back and forth on the Centennial Trail by the Spokane River) and find some new areas with a bit of climbing involved. Nothing too crazy, though. Not yet, anyway.

The legs feel just a bit tired, but they're not too drained, although I know if I tried to ride this weekend, I'd be feeling it. But my fitness is improving!

I'll ride with Tom again on Monday, which will probably be a long ride (50+ miles). I think we're going to head into Coeur d'Alene and explore a little. With my mom flying in from Florida on Tuesday, I probably won't have much riding time the rest of the week.

THIS WEEK

M: 32 mi.
T: 52.2 mi.
W: off
TH: 32.1 mi.
F: 37.1 mi.
S: off
S: off

TOTAL: 153.4 mi.

Long, Hot and Windy Ride

You know you're a newbie cyclist when you record your longest ride ever, and it's barely over a half century. But that's exactly what I did yesterday.

I met my new riding friend, Tom, at a local trailhead yesterday morning, where we set out on the Centennial Trail for a casual ride. We didn't have a set distance or time in mind, so we played it by ear. It was a hot morning and getting hotter as the ride progressed. We crossed the border into Idaho and decided to continue through Post Falls (a small town just across the border) with the hopes of finding a trail by the river. We failed in that quest, but managed to ride through a Strava segment named "Cruising through the Ghetto of Post Falls. Watch out for the drug dealer at the auto place!" Nice. We could tell it was a shady part of town, but I wasn't aware of that segment until I uploaded my ride data to Strava. Maybe we'll choose another route next time.

We had a tailwind all the way out which meant, of course, we had to ride back into the wind. It was approaching 90°f by now, so the heat was becoming a factor. After a few miles riding into the headwind, I could tell my tank was running low. I was okay through about 42 miles, but from then on I was running on fumes. I had just about polished off my second bottle of fluid, and my legs were toast. I hung onto Tom (a more experienced and more fit cyclist) and, after a short rest break to stretch and eat a granola bar, we made it back to the trailhead. Thankfully there was a working water fountain, where we refilled our bottles with cold-ish water (the water & sports drink in my bottles was warm for most of the ride, even though they started as mostly ice). Once I dismounted, I noticed that I was pretty lightheaded and dizzy. Tom had another 15 miles of riding — including some climbing — to get home. I knew if that was my situation, I'd be in trouble. It was 93° at this point.

I loaded up my bike, started my truck and sat in the AC for a few minutes to recover and cool off.

Once home, I ate, drank, took an ice bath followed by a hot shower, put on compression socks, then laid on the couch for 30 minutes.

I learned that, even though I'm improving on the bike, I have a long way to go. Heat + headwind are not my friends. Still, I'm happy with the ride and enjoyed Tom's company and conversation.

NUMBERS:
Distance - 52.1 miles
Time - 3:05:55
Pace - 16.9 mph
HR - 131 avg / 145 max

Cycling miles YTD: 714

Update, and...Inspired

It's been five days since my unplanned meeting with the road. I only used my crutch for a couple of hours before I got tired of it (and the swelling in my right knee diminished).

My knees both feel pretty good now, but my left wrist still hurts. I'm still wearing the wrist brace.

There's still a little swelling and some bruising on the wrist. I can pull with my left hand, but any pushing or leaning on the hand hurts quite a bit.

As you can see, my right knee is still slightly swollen and a little bruised:

My bike, thankfully, came away with very little damage. I picked it up from the shop on Sunday, having to pay only $28 for spoke straightening and wheel trueing.

I halfway thought about taking a short test spin today, but I was feeling a little under the weather and my wrist is still a little too sore. I may give it try on Wednesday.

On to my recent inspiration. I had an old Mill Creek Running & Multi-Sport Club friend, Dan, from the Seattle area stay with us over the weekend. He was competing in the Troika Half Ironman Triathlon. The race took place on Saturday in Medical Lake, WA. There were also some other friends racing (Garrett, Kenny and Sherry), so my cheering duties were plentiful.

Dan, finishing in 4:56, 13th overall, 3rd AG

Dan was first competitor out of the water, which was both surprising and NOT surprising. He's been an elite level swimmer for a long time (he may not agree with my assessment, but that's the truth), who's also a very strong runner and a very quickly improving cyclist. I used to train with him frequently (although at a slower pace) when I lived on the West side. It was his first time going sub-5 hours in a half ironman, and his first non-Ironman distance triathlon in 3 years.

Garrett, finishing in 5:02:45, 3rd in AG

 Garrett is another very talented friend from my old running & multi-sport club on the West side. He's quite a bit younger and a type-1 diabetic (which doesn't seem to slow him down at all). I ran the Ragnar Relay with him back in 2010 (we were in the same van) and enjoyed getting to know him a little. He had an incredible bike leg at Troika (2:29:48 for 56.7 miles)!

Kenny, finishing in 5:55 in his 2nd half ironman. A 49 minute PR!

Kenny is a fairly new friend who I met through our church, where he co-leads worship (and I play bass with him & the team). He's a super-positive guy with whom I've cycled a couple of times (with more rides to come) and have enjoyed seeing him improve rapidly as a multi-sport athlete. I have no doubt that he'll crush this year's time next year.

It's nearly impossible for me to attend an event like this and not be inspired. I've kicked around the idea of doing a triathlon for several years now, but have never really committed to it. Assuming I can get this knee taken care of and back into running shape, I'll probably set a triathlon in my sights so I'll have a goal. If I can run again, I doubt I'll ever be "just" a runner. I think my body has made it clear that I need to continue cross training in order to avoid overuse injuries. Unfortunately, triathlon is a very expensive sport, so that will come into play. But I at least need to take a shot at a sprint or Olympic distance tri, once I'm able to run again (assuming I will...and I'm very hopeful).

But until then, it's time to become a beast on the bike!

Dan and I enjoying a celebratory beverage

Oopsie

Yesterday was a beautiful day, at least weather-wise. Sun, low 70's, slight wind. I hadn't ridden my bike since last Friday, so I was eager to not only get out for a ride, but to get in a long ride. I started riding at about 10:30am, with the plan to ride for roughly 3 hours (a bit over 50 miles, most likely). I parked my truck in a local church parking lot and hit the roads heading east toward Liberty Lake. I made a loop around the town and met another solo cyclist at a stoplight as I was about 8 miles into my ride. We rode together on both the roads and the Centennial Trail for another 15 miles or so, where we went our own way (with the agreement to ride again in the near future, since our schedules are similar).

From the Argonne trailhead in Spokane (where we parted company), I made my way back to toward Post Falls, ID. There, I turned around and rode the trail back to Harvard Rd, where I had to get back onto the road as I headed south toward Liberty Lake again and, ultimately, west, to my truck. I came up to a roundabout, which was surprisingly crowded. I had to stop behind a couple of cars to wait for my turn. I was 49.7 miles into my ride at this point, with probably 6 miles to go. I was feeling good, but as soon as I stopped and unclipped my left shoe to put it down, my left calf began cramping. Once I pushed off to start riding again, the cramp hit full-force, making it very hard to clip in. My foot slipped forward and into the spokes of my front wheel. I was still in the roundabout and going fast enough at this point that the momentum caused me to flip completely over with my bike and land, hard, on both of my knees, my left wrist and my head. Dazed (and embarrassed), I got up quickly and grabbed my bike (and my ejected water bottles). An older couple stopped in their car. The man asked if I was okay. The woman said, "you should ride on the trail!" Thanks, m'am. I didn't tell her that I had just ridden 40+ miles on the trail and was on my way home. I did tell her that bikes are legal on the road, and tried to explain that my calf had cramped up. I decided to not get into an extended conversation and continued pushing my bike to the side of the road. I noticed that my front wheel wouldn't turn, so I rolled it on the back wheel.

Once on the curb, I started taking stock of my body.

Hematoma time!

You mean, one leg isn't supposed to have two knees?

A bump — a very large bump — started appearing above my right knee. It became difficult to bend the knee. As I lowered myself to the curb, I felt a very sharp pain in my left wrist. Once the adrenaline had worn off and I realized that I was pretty hurt, I decided I'd better call my wife to come get me. Once she arrived, we concluded that I should head to the clinic to get me checked out. Three hours and two X-rays later, it was determined that I hadn't broken any bones. I was given a wrist brace, a knee wrap and a crutch (plus a very small prescription for pain meds), with the instructions to ice the knee and wrist every few hours and to keep my right leg elevated.

"I'm a very good cyclist!"

Nearly a day later, the swelling has gone down significantly on my right knee and, although it's still sore, I can walk on it without the crutch. My left wrist, however, hurts quite a bit. I'm not 100% convinced that there's not a hairline fracture in there. I'll give it a few more days before getting it looked at it again, if it's still painful.

Kids, this is why we wear helmets

As for my bike, I definitely bent a spoke in the front wheel. Other than that, it might be okay. I'll take it to the shop next week to confirm.

I'm thankful, because it could have been much worse. No cars ran over me, and no broken bones (as far as I know). I lived to ride another day. This was my first real bike wreck, so I suppose I was due.

My fitness is improving and I'm starting to feel good on the bike, so I'm anxious to get back out there! It'll probably at least a week before that happens.

I wish I had a video of my self-imposed crash. I imagine I looked like an idiot! To the passerby, I was a cyclist who suddenly flipped over, like I had hit an invisible trip wire. Classic.

If I'm in that situation again, I'll definitely dismount my bike, walk to the side of the road, stretch and let the cramp go away before riding again (and bring a mustard packet with me). Lesson (hopefully) learned.

Speed Record

Last Friday, I had limited time to fit in a bike ride, so I decided that, if I was going to have to keep it short, I might as well try to make it a tempo ride. It ended up being more like a time trial.

The numbers:

Miles: 17.23
Time: 52:12
Avg MPH: 19.8

I've never averaged 19 mph on a ride before, let alone nearly 20! I think the key was staying down in my drops for about 95% of the ride (I had to get up on the hoods very briefly because my hands were falling asleep and it was getting difficult to change gears).

Granted, this wasn't a very long ride and I doubt I could sustain that pace for too much longer, but it was a nice change of pace, so to speak. Hopefully it's a sign that my fitness is improving and that my average pace for my less intense rides will start creeping upwards. I'm thinking of doing this ride as a fitness test every few weeks, just to see if there's any improvement.

That ride (my most recent) puts me at 548 outdoor miles so far this year (with another 53 on the indoor trainer). Still not the mileage I'd like by this point, but my plan is to start bumping up my weekly mileage now that running is temporarily out of the picture. Work has been very busy for me lately, so it's been tough to get out. As the weather continues to improve and get warmer, I may have to start doing early morning rides, even though I much prefer late morning riding.

Speaking of work, I better get back to it...

Weight, Weights, Wheels & Whatever

One of my goals for the first half of this year was to shed the weight I accidentally-on-purpose gained last year ("The Year Of Fat Assening"). After several weeks of losing a pound followed by regaining that pound, it seems like my body has finally shifted into weight loss mode. I've now lost 10 pounds this year, and 18 since April of 2014. I'm closing in on where I want to level off. Maybe another 3-5 lbs. will do it. Now that the momentum has kicked in, I need to make sure I can pull up the nose of the plane before crashing. The semi-controlled diet plus being more active (mostly via cycling) is finally working. I may yet have some abs to show sometime this summer.

I've also been lifting weights a little more intensely. I've decided to keep the weight relatively light, while focusing on my form and reducing rest time between sets. I'm not doing a cardio workout with weights, but I'm trying to be as efficient as possible. I'm starting to see some results, which is always motivating, even though I'm only lifting 1-2 times per week.

The cycling seems to be going well, although I do get bored riding the same course, alone, over and over. I do plan on addressing both of those issues soon. I've got a couple of friends I can probably ride with on occasion, and I'll probably venture away from the Centennial Trail and onto the local roads more often. It's been quite windy here lately, so I've had some interesting rides. I rode 32 miles yesterday (16 out, 16 back). The first half was into a headwind. I averaged 16.7 mph for that portion. On the way back, I averaged 20.0 mph thanks to the tailwind.

Since my knee screamed at me last week, I haven't attempted any more running. As I mentioned before, I probably won't be getting it checked out anytime soon. Something I haven't decided yet is whether or not I want to achieve my 10,000 lifetime running miles this year, even with the bad knee. If I do, I'll have to do it with short, infrequent runs in order to avoid the excruciating pain that shuts me down every time I try to run more regularly. Not a very sexy way to achieve that goal, so I'm still undecided.

Spring is definitely here in the Inland Northwest! In fact, this week it's starting to feel like early summer. Upper 70's to low 80's. Very nice! Better keep those wheels rolling!

The Vocally Gifted Woman of Size is Ready!

(Non-PC version: The Fat Lady is ready to Sing!)

I left the house not long ago, RockTape on my knee, ready for a short, slow run. The first three steps were pain-free. After that quick tease, some of the most intense knee pain I've felt so far kicked in every time my left foot landed. Even trying to land softly and with minimal impact doesn't alleviate any of the pain.

Damn.

So, I guess my quest for 10,000 lifetime miles is once again sidelined. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I may not be able to see a doctor anytime soon thanks to my insurance situation, so I'll have to focus on cycling and strength training until that time.

Those of you who have been through serious injuries know how frustrating this is. I've been on an injury roller coaster for several years now, and I'm beyond motion sick now.

Fortunately, the bike doesn't cause any pain to the knee, so I have to be thankful of that, anyway.

Time to change from loose shorts to tight ones...

Borrowed Time

So, the good news is that the running I've been doing lately is starting to feel pretty good, like I'm actually becoming a runner again.

The bad news is that "starting to feel pretty good" refers to everything except my left knee.

A few runs ago, the knee would hurt for the first quarter mile or so, then feel pretty decent for the duration of the run. Then, it would hurt for the first half mile. Then, two days ago, it hurt for a mile and a half before settling down. Today, I ran an easy 4 miles and the knee hurt for 3.5 miles of it!

I'm no statistician, but that's not a good trend. So, at this point, I feel like I'm running on borrowed time.

Yes, I know I'm sort of in the process of focusing more on cycling, but as a longtime runner, I can't stay away. I'm now 68 miles shy of 10,000 lifetime running miles. That number is seducing me more every time I run. I'd like to get it behind me. That's why I've continued running through the ever-increasing pain. Dumb, I know.

Not to get too personal, but another reason I've put off a doctor's visit is because of my lousy insurance. I'm self-employed and pay 100% of my insurance out of pocket. In order to afford my premiums, I've had to choose terrible coverage — basically, a catastrophic plan. I would pay a $50 copay for office visits, but anything beyond that — treatment, imaging, medical procedures — would come out of my pocket, 100%, until I meet my insanely high deductible. So that, plus the fact that we're still paying off the therapy bill for my daughter's recent concussion, is the reason that no action has been taken.

Of course, that doesn't excuse me from running on an already damaged knee.

Like I said, I'm dumb.

Anyhoo...I may have a little more running in me before the knee says "NO MORE," or I may not. Like I said, today's run was pretty painful.

On a side note, I've realized that I'm a tough runner but a wimpy cyclist. When I say "tough," I don't mean I'm fast, or even impressive. I just mean that I can run through pain, wind, cold, snow, rain, hail, hills, etc. and have no problem with any of it (I've run through all of them at once on more than one occasion, actually) but as a cyclist, I hate wind, cold, hills and rain. So, humbly, I will claim to be a tough (and dumb) runner but a sissy cyclist. So far, anyway. Hopefully I can toughen up on two wheels before long.

I also hope I can celebrate my 10,000th running mile on this blog within the next couple of months. After today's run, I'm not so sure it'll be that soon.

But it WILL happen eventually.