Getting Better

Ok so things are...getting better. My other issue has been taken care for now at least. So, I have been able to get some more training in with the lower stress levels. Today was a great ride - over an hour and pretty heavy on the effort. I clicked down a few gears on the Orbea (on the road) and cranked up the hr. I can finally stand and pedal with little to no forgiveness on the left leg - only for about 5 minutes though before some soreness starts up (tonight was a good dose of ibuprofen). I'm curious about how things will feel tomorrow.

Last weekend was Sarahs golden birthday and Saturday night many from her running club came, so it was great to be around a group of athletes - all talking running for the most part. BUT I did get some good tips for hill training on the bike in St. Paul - something about Ramsey St or Ave or something off Sunnit Ave...and then the "High Bridge" (Smith Road?) I've seen that before as I drive up Shephard Road. It looks like it could be a nice longer steady 5-6% grade climb - will have to check that out...hopefully soon! Then some other road - Ohio Street I think. Full reports to come later as the leg heals.

I'm Riding!

The transition back to hard training and riding after the ankle break has been slower than I anticipated due to...wellllllllll...say life's curve balls?? The last two weeks have been extremely full - some really good...but a lot of stuff that I wish would smooth out or go away so I can just relax and enjoy life. Its interesting to me how some people are like robots. And honestly, I don't think they'll ever realize what they're missing by living life the way they do. Its also interesting though, to watch how easy it is to get sucked into that same lifestyle by them...and those are the people I feel sorry for the most. The ones that wake up 10 years from now or more and say, "wait...what just happened?" Nope it didn't just happen it took 10 years for you to realize it did. That's as far as I will go on that one.

Good news though! I went out for my first ride on the road today! Ohhhh now that really felt great. I met Sarah after work and we went out for a little over an hour around Eagan - which has some nice hills by the way. My left leg definitely is NOT back to even with the right leg yet however. Last Thursday night I attempted a few lunges. Lunges 1-5 were good...so I thought. I went down for number 6 and didn't come back up! CRAZY charley horse in the hamstring and I could feel it twisting around my leg to make sure that the quad was gonna get in on that action as well. Yowza that hurt! That leg was sore until Sunday, even after massive massage work and active rest.

Yesterday and today though, I've been doing some more "weighted" excercises on it and I felt like the intial shock of work to the leg was over - I was right. Definitely still down on power but its working fine and now I can really start logging some miles and getting that leg back up again - still on flat pedals of course.

I'm Walking!!

The cast came off Friday and by Friday afternoon I was able to walk around!...albeit slowly...but I was walking! Ditched the crutches that night and really put my leg to the test Saturday morning by walking around Ritchfield to different spots to watch and cheer on Sarah in her first ever half marathon (The Urban Wildlands)- which she totally knocked out of the park by the way.

This was really REALLY inspiring, she looked so strong through the whole race. Talk about stepping it up, she improved by leaps and bounds dropping 15 minutes off her time from the training run the week before and beat 2/3rds of the women and half the men! Nice work first time out! Nice work period!!

Anyway, the whole time my leg felt great! Still getting the muscles and tendons used to moving again, and some soreness because of that but feels like it gets better by the hour. I wrapped it up on Sunday evening and was actually able to spin lightly on the trainer for about 45-50 minutes! Wow that felt good! I'm gonna work hard through rehab...no predictions on when I'll officially be strapping on a number plate this fall. I'm taking it day by day and gonna do it right...but I'm anxious.