Ups and Downs

It has been a while since I have had time to write. I have been very busy trying to exercise and do all the other chores of daily living. And of course there is work. If you think about it, we spend about one third of our lives at work and another third sleeping (roughly). That only leaves about one third of our day for all the things we want to do for ourselves plus all the things we have to do. Grocery shopping, laundry, cooking and cleaning, catching up with friends and family via phone calls, facebook, and email, reading books and magazines, and all of the other little things we do don't really leave us much time for exercise. Our modern life is filled with things that we need to do. Sometimes I actually just get tired and don't have the energy to write. And sometimes, I am waiting for something to inspire me-something new and interesting to write.

Since my last post, I have had some ups and downs. I have continued doing my PT about 3 or 4 times a week. I have also continued doing my upper body and ab workouts. In fact, I am starting to see and feel the results of my upper body and core workouts. My posture has improved I think and I feel stronger throughout my body.

Despite these positive outcomes from these workouts, I did have somewhat of a set back. On Saturday the 6th, I decided I wanted to do another ride followed by a run as I had done the previous Sunday. I rode for about an hour and then did just over two miles of trail running. This time around my left knee started bothering me afterwards more than it had in quite some time. In fact, the left knee felt much like it did before surgery. I did a lot of icing and the next day it felt a lot better. So I did a shorter but faster mountain bike ride that day. I felt ok during the ride but afterwards, the knee was complaining a bit. On Sundays, Melissa goes swimming with a swim team so I had time to myself for my PT which always helps my knee.

The next couple of days I was feeling a little down because my knee really felt like it did before surgery. The pain was not from the surgery itself. That pain has mostly gone away. My knees are a little tender and I still can't kneel on the ground but I can kneel for a few moments on the soft bed. Anyway, the pain I was feeling was exactly like the pain I had in the months leading up to my surgery. The only difference this time is I know what I need to do to combat the pain. I have to continue doing my PT, stretching, and icing. So that is what I am doing.

That said, by the end of the week, I was feeling a little better. The doctor said I would have some pain now and then and that I could control it with Motrin and ice. Of course I can't find Motrin anywhere since it was recently recalled. I have no idea when it will be back.

The following weekend was a washout. I did a lot of work on my trainer and worked on my core. When it rains it actually motivates me to do more core and strength training. There is nothing else I can do really since the rain puts a damper on things.

In a previous post I mentioned that I was looking forward to Daylight Savings Time. On this past Tuesday after work, I met my friends down at the river for a mountain bike ride. Before this ride, I had only ridden at Poor Farm. I love riding at Poor Farm but it does not really compare to riding at the river. The trails at the river are more technical with more rocks, twists and turns, and lots of elevation changes. It was supposed to be a "leisurely" ride but once you get five guys together down at the river, there is nothing leisurely about it. Sure enough we rode pretty hard. But I was able to keep up. Sure I was out of breath at the crest of some of the climbs but I was pushing the pace just behind my friend Mario for most of the ride. It was truly a blast.

After the ride, we were standing around the parking lot chatting when our friend Lee mentioned a race coming up in April that sounded interesting. Today when I got to work, I emailed Mario to ask about the name of the race. He send me the link to the race and I looked it up. It seemed doable and might be a good goal to get my more motivated. I sent the link to Melissa who also expressed an interest in doing the race. Throughout the afternoon, the trash talking between my friends was flying. I think I did enough to convince my friends to at least think about doing the race. I even was motivated enough to put together a training plan from now until the race. It is still not definite that we are going to do the race. We want to go check out the venue before we lay down our hard earned money for spot at the starting line.

The race is a Duatlon. There is a beginner and advanced category. The beginner race is a 1.1 mile trail run followed by a 6 mile mountain bike ride, followed by another 1.1 mile run. The advanced race is twice the distance 2.5 mile run/12 mile bike/2.5 mile run. The race is mid to late April. After thinking about this race all day and due to the really nice weather, I came up from work super motivated. Despite suffering from allergies and feeling like I should take a nap, I let my thoughts motivate me to overcome my fatigue. I did a 2 mile run in my Vibrams. But I also added some interval work on the second mile. After my run, I did my upper body and ab work.

Tomorrow I will see how I feel and start thinking more about doing this race. I am hoping to hear from the event organizers to see if we can go check out the course. So to summarize, I was up and then I was down but now I am back up again. We'll see how things progress. Thanks.