Warmth

wellnessWeather finally broke today and temperatures slipped out of the teens and up into the low 40s; now if I can sneak out of work while there's still a tiny bit of daylight I can get on the bike OUTSIDE! YESSSSsssss.

What is it???

wellness What is it about "global warming" that makes Denver so doggone cold these days. It's not even the shortest day of the year yet and that spin bike in front of the TV is already getting that grungy used look to it already. The bikes in the garage are BEGGING to go outside and play, but snow, ice and daytime temperatures in the teens are saying NO.

Oh well, all the more time to pull out the bike magazines, brochures, go on web sites and check out possible rides and races for next Spring, Summer and Fall. Road? Mountain? Races? Non-racing Events? ...it's the biker's version of browsing through the seed catalogs, day-dreaming about next summer's garden.

I'm BAAAaaaack!

wellness
Been a while since I blogged. But now I'm back; cleaned out the spam (grrrrr) and will start getting back ointo the swing of things.
Been a busy fall; plenty of travel, some biking and best of all, my fractured knee is all healed and pretty much back to normal. Now I drop the eight pounds that crept up during my reduced activity, pump the cardio back up to normal and define a few leg muscles once again, and HEY it'll be SPRING. Birds singin', trees blooming, hormones moaning... all that kind of good stuff.
Plenty of news on the bike front to share also.

Happy and best Holidays ever to everyone.

JJJ

Sittin' There

wellness
biking
Saturday late afternoon; golden light spinning down onto the suburbs of Denver, kids happily playing outside the window. Air carrying that clear haziness of fall, temperature in the 70s. In short, a perfect biking day...
...and I'm feeling OK about myself because I did a good hard upper body workout before noon at the athletic club.
But... that was then; this is now. And I'm feeling like a slug, sitting there on the couch, my knee propped up. I'm reading a couple of books, one about biking and training of course, and the other the latest in the Dune follow-up series. Fine.
But soon I'm feeling restless; should go start a project of one sort or another. Jeez, what a loser... sittin' here on a day like this.
Only one answer; sorry, knee... but we're at least going to go down to the trainer and spin a bit.
"Spin?"
Oh, yeah, "Spin."
Sweat a little bit. Get in touch with what's real; feed our motion addiction. Get the butt back on the bike, even if it's just tethered to the trainer instead of cruising up Deer Creek Canyon.
Hey, it beats ice cream, or a cup of coffee or whatever.
"So that's where we're headed; Mr. Knee; you and me, our sinews and joints, muscles and fat, brain and soul, the whole enchilada.
"Come on."
Everybody else; catch ya later.
We'll all feel better then.

Healing

wellness
I heal.
Bone knits back together.
Pain becomes less; the limp is less gimpy. Every day there is gain.
Last night I slept through the night, not awakened once by that deep, throbbing ache that seems to permeate my whole leg, radiating both up and down from the fractured knee.
And on the bike, spinning the trainer, motion comes easier; peddling becomes more sure. The linear motion feels good and the effort lets me know that I can still sweat, that my heart still beats, and that my capillaries still dilate with effort, moving blood to where it is most needed.
I am fortunate; I'm healthy and healing fast.
Tomorrow will be three weeks since splatting on Monarch Crest.
No torn ligaments, no lasting damage to tendons or muscles. Just a bit of contusion and fractured bone. In healthy humans, it grows back together, good as new.
So now I repair.
Soon I will rebuild.
Then I will ride again.
The sun shines; the beauty of autumn surrounds me.
Maybe there will still be a few aspen leaves left in the mountain groves when I am once again able to ride joyfully through them.
Thank you, God.

Wrestling

wellness
OK, I'm having the wrestle with a couple of things right now, all under the header of, "Reappraising my Year." I made it to the Leadville Silver Rush 50-miler, but was sick as a dog... but still pulled an age-class win (all the fast Old Guys stayed home.)Then came the Leadville 100, one of my two major goal events for 2005 and I was so stricken with giardia that I couldn't even compete. Then comes...
...feeling better and getting my strength back in late August, followed by: "Ten Days Ago's mountain bike splat and broken knee. Next comes the 24 Hours of Moab in mid-October and the possibility that I may miss it for the first time in four years.

A definite downer of a possibility.

Question: should I just flatly rule it out at this point, allow my knee to heal well, and begin transitioning into early periodization for next year... Or should I keep Moab open as a possibility, try to train as hard as possible for the next 40 days and 'Go for it?'

One background fact to keep in mind: the Moab course has some nasty sand and rock technical sections that are pretty easy to splat on, particularly in the middle of the night when fatigue begins to grind away at you. So, skip it, or accept at least some probability of reinjuring a still tender knee?

Help!!! Please tell me what you think.

Am I just being a weeney here to even worry about this??

What's the right plan?

Right now I'm taking a wait and see approach; wait and see what healing progress my next X-rays show in a week.

Healing

wellness
OK, here's the deal. I went the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, got some more X-rays, talked to the 'Pros from Dover' and learned the following:
If you're going to fracture your knee cap, the best way to have it happen is vertically, not horizontally. YEA! I have two vertical fractures and no floating chunks of bone; bottom line, knee is in good shape other than the fractures; no torn ligaments, tendons, etc. So should be good to go, fully healed in six to eight weeks. Of course, I'm interpreting that to mean...

...That I can be back on my bike (road bike, at least)in three weeks if I'm careful; and 9 days have already passed. (and, yes, Katherine is looking a little askance at my math on all this!)

And for right now, spinning is OK; in fact is good therapy, as long as I don't push big loads. So at least I'll be able to do high cadence spins and get my heart rate pumpin'!

Yes, I'm a lucky guy in all this. Now what does this scenario means for my hoped-for solo attempt at Moab in mid-Oct? Haven't determined that yet; I'll get another exam and X-rays next week; see how the healing is coming.

Still haven't figured out how I slid out in the first place to set all this carnage in place though. Just tired late in day and going a wee bit fast I guess.

Sigh.

Monarch Crest Trail

nature

Monarch Crest Trail is a Colorado Classic...
...one of the best one-day mountain bike rides, period. It starts at the visitor center at the top of Monarch Pass. There are several bailout points to roads that hook back to civilization, but the best ride is the full one -- 30-some miles that drops down off the mountain ridges in a sometimes puckering descent to Rainbow Trail. Rainbow is a beauty; narrow cruiser singletrack with sudden thrusting uphills that give you true interval training at the end of the day, spiking heartrates and making legs wobbly. An awesome ride, available only limited months of the year when the snows are off the high ridges.

Labor Day

wellness
Life is funny. I finally got over the summer's bout with giardia, had an awesome 35 mile ride along the Continental Divide last Sunday... feeling strong, enjoying good health, looking forward to 24 Hours of Moab... and, then...
... seven miles from the finish of the ride, on a level, gently twisty trail I go a bit too fast. Net result: fractured kneecap.

Sigh!

Oh well.

All in all, not too bad; no twists or torn ligaments. I'm gimping around pretty well, and on Tuesday I gather up my X-rays and go to sports medicine specialists in Boulder to get the real scoop. I'm thinkin' it isn't gonna be too bad. And that maybe, MAYBE, the 24 Hours of Moab (Oct. 15 & 16) will still be possible, just at a bit diminished pace and distance.

And after watching all the folks in New Orleans, I'm feeling mighty fortunate; I have no problems at all.

Though watching the painful, costly bumbling of our federal government (for whom I work) brings me pain, rage, embarrassment and frustration. The folks on the ground are doing great, heroic work while the "show horses" in Washington spout meaningless bullshit about how hard it all is.

I think of that old adage: LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY.

'nuff said for now.

Great Rides

wellness
Had two great rides over the weekend, and what really made them great was: No stomach pains, No nausea, No cramping, No aftermath!

Truly a breakthrough; first such occurances since the end of July and the beginnings of giardia infection. What a blessed relief. Leg pain, general fatigue: hey, great; it felt so good to simply experience THAT type of "healthy" pain! And none of the other nastiness...

...Two easy hours on the roadbike on Friday, followed by a rest day on Saturday, then two hours of HARD, technical mountain biking on Sunday, with both rides being undertaken within beautiful weather conditions. Made me feel soooo alive again.

Thank you, Thank you, Mr./Ms. Universe.