Dear Lance Armstrong,

I saw that you broke your collar bone. I'm writing to let you know that you're not alone because I feel your pain. Rather, I felt your pain.

The recovery is not fun and it will drive you crazy. Sleeping will be painful, showering a b****, training next to impossible, and don't even ask about wiping post-#2. You opted to have a plate and screws inserted at the break. So, you won't have the pleasure of feeling your new bone ends rubbing against each other like me. Wuss.

You shaved your legs, put on skin tight spandex, went for a leisurely bicycle ride. You girl. I, on the other hand, was playing a real man's sport with the big boys, football, when I broke my collarbone.

Try to stay positive and remember what it's all about. You may say it's all about cancer awareness, others may say it's the glory, but we all really know it's just the little yellow stuffed lion from le Tour.

You and you and your cuddle buddy

Hope you feel better soon. Let me know if you want any recovery advice. Or advice on how to be more tough.

Brian

[Note: This is satire and I'm not even qualified to carry Lance's jock chamois]

[Update:  Lance already started training again...3 days after his crash. That's pretty tough.]

10 Day Hiatus

As all 20 visitors from the last week and a half have noticed, I haven't posted in 10 days. Haven't been in the mood. I didn't post about my 4 mile run from a week ago Sunday. My legs actually felt normal before, during, and after the run. Exciting times that didn't last long. Another 4 miler on Wednesday went ok. Thursday, the legs were screaming. No, they weren't screaming "are we here yet?"

                                  You Tube has weird stuff

A five hour car ride to NYC didn't help on Friday either.  But NYC was awesome as always and lots of fun.  I had planned to run through Central Park for a 5 miler on Saturday, but the legs weren't having any of it.  I was really looking forward to that...extremely disappointing. I did go down to lower Manhattan with Jeff for a couple hours.  We probably walked several miles.  That counts right?

Tree lined path along the Hudson river

Sweet eagle!  Some sort of WWII memorial.

As close as I've ever been to the Statue of Liberty. See it back there?

I've given up trying to stick to a training schedule for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler (5K?). I'm just...whatever. To perk up my spirits, I'm riding in my first ever MTB race this Saturday...I think. Kevin e-mailed some guy who says he'll give up his registration, but the transfer hasn't happened yet. I don't even know where or what the race is. I'll post an update about the race...hopefully, within the next 10 days.

This Is Why Safety Gear Exists

Instead of running my scheduled 4 miles on Saturday, I planned to go ride the Baker's Dozen MTB race course.  However, rain showers were already attacking Manassas and moving north toward Leesburg by noon.  With an hour drive to get to Leesburg, the forecast wasn't looking good for getting a ride completed.  

Further to the north near Catonsville, MD lies Patapsco state park.  Kevin and I decided to go there to get away from the rain and a MORE post indicated the trails were ready for primetime.  Correct on both accounts.  

The trails were in great shape.  Not many ruts.  No mud.  Smooth trails ready for a butt whoopin'.  Unfortunately, it was Kevin's butt that received the whoopin' because he decided to jump the rock.

For some reason, The Rock kept saying "You better ask somebodyyyyy!"

Kevin made it over the rock.  Regrettably, he landed almost vertically on his front wheel.  Never a good thing.  Over the handle bars, he tried to turn it into a headstand, but to no avail.  The failed headstand turned into a somersault, which ended with Kevin's back squarely across a downed tree trunk.  This is what happened to his helmet. 

These things happen, but it's a good thing Kevin wore his helmet

The helmet worked as intended.  You should check out what happened to Kevin here.  THIS IS WHY SAFETY GEAR EXISTS PEOPLE.  USE IT!

God bless his spirit, Kevin is tougher than me. After collecting his thoughts...and quite possibly his unmentionables, we continued on.

Patapsco is awesome. It has lots-o-trails for variety and good climbs that turn into great downhill sections. Patapsco is a step up technically (rocks & roots mostly) from the trails I'm used to. So, it offers challenging terrain for me to improve my skills upon.

Continue riding. Stay safe. And always wear your helmet.

Blah

I haven't felt like posting much this week because I'm getting tired of writing about leg issues.  I did get a foam roller, which is for self massage, core strengthening, and relieving muscle tightness.  It helped my sore hamstrings, but it seems like that soreness just moved up to my glutes. The foam roller definitely does something. I'm just trying to figure out exactly what. This instructional video helps.  

If (future) Dr. J won't massage my legs, the Go Fit foam roller will

I'm skipping my scheduled 4 mile run today to go ride the Baker's Dozen MTB course. I believe it's the same course as the Snotcycle race, but riding clockwise instead of counter.  The course is on a private farm and the owners are gracious enough to open it up today.  Difficult to pass up.  So, I'll squeeze my 4 miler in tomorrow and adjust this week's runs accordingly.  

A Possible Cause

I may have discovered a biomechanical cause for my sore hips. Yesterday, I noticed that when I tense my glutes (yes! buns-of steel), that I could feel the burning. Weird, who would have thunk a tight tush would cause such issues.

Ever since then, I have been trying to make a conscious effort to relax all my leg muscles. So far, so good.

After a cookout and 4 adult beverages yesterday (thank you warm weather and DST), my legs were tight this morning. A recipe for frustration lately.

This afternoon, I warmed up, stretched (which didn't do much) and ran my scheduled 1.5 miles. Granted, I ran slow and stopped for a 4 minute stretch break about 5 minutes in, but I concentrated on making sure my legs were relaxed. Lo and behold, I sat in a chair all afternoon without much discomfort. YEEHAW!

Hopefully I figured something out, or maybe I just had a good day.

Daylight Savings Time...I Love You

DST rules, just like O'Doyle:



DST is awesome. Now I can bike, run, or walk the dog after work in daylight (as long as the temperature cooperates). DST is so great, I don't understand why regular time exists anymore...just get rid of it! The USA should be the anti-Arizona and refuse to recognize regular time. Actually there is a part of AZ that follows DST...a donut-shaped part. Turns out the Navajo Nation observes DST while the Hopi Reservation, which is completely contained within the Navajo Nation, doesn't. Interesting.

Another interesting DST story:

Terrorists (on DST) prepared time bombs and smuggled them to their counterparts (just switched back to standard time). As the bombs were being planted, they exploded, an hour too early, killing three terrorists instead of the intended victims.

Not the most upbeat story, but sweet, ironic justice none the less. Check out other interesting DST history and facts at WebExhibits.

Some Say Suck It Up

I had some interesting discussions yesterday with Kevin. He's been laid up all week, recovering from wisdom teeth removal. I wanted to head over to REI to spend my 2008 dividend on another bike mount for my rack. Kevin wanted to go too. I suggested that we get a short road ride in because of the 60+ degree (F) temperatures.

I had a 3 mile run to do before I could go out. To make a long story short, I finished the 3 miles, but I had to stop at least 4 times for thorough stretching during the run just to finish. 37 minutes of run time (really slow) took me at least 50 minutes clock time. Needless to say, I finished, but my legs weren't in that great of shape.

I decided that a road ride wasn't the best idea as I need to give my legs as much rest as possible. This disappointed Kevin greatly because he had been waiting all week to ride. As usual with the two of us, the mood was a bit adversarial because everything has to be a competition and neither one of us likes to admit defeat.

Kevin told me to suck it up and quit whining about my legs. I tried to explain that I wanted to ride just as much as he did and that I was dissappointed too. I may have thrown an "I hope you get a repeptitve injury some day so that you might understand" in there. Uncalled for, but boys will be boys. My point was that I am sucking it up in an attempt to still run the Cherry Blossom race.

So what's better, sucking it up by playing trough the pain or resting?

If I rest, then I shouldn't be training at all for the Cherry Blossom race, and I probably wouldn't train for much of anything at all because it seems that something always aches more than I'd like. That doesn't work. But I don't want to suck it up when I shouldn't and cause real problems down the line.

It's a delicate balance. Yesterday, I drew the line between my run and a road ride.