ladymorella

So for the car vs bike for January: 

Bike still won! There is a silver lining to needing both legs in the car. Bike was frozen at a certain mileage at day 15, but other than someone driving my car back that day so was the car mileage. 

@darna Thanks for the the option. I had decided to let it heal and I can try again some other year. Turns out to be an ACL tear anyway. That hike sounds like it is pretty cool. I do enjooy hiking as well. 

So I passed one week after the injury. I had the ligament tests and they think they are fine. However I think I tensed up when the one test I was actually worried about. Xrays show everything is fine. I'm not really sure what the next step is. I moved funny again a few days ago and it felt  really bad. I still only have little range of motion on that leg. I still have issues with swelling.

I tried to row with only my upper body yesterday and man does that tire quickly. I was going to go for 30 minutes, but I decided on 15 minutes instead. I am hoping I can slowly build instead of potentially overdoing it. I'm not sore at all today. I probably could have gone further.

2 hours ago, Xena said:

I'm so sorry to hear about your knee. The century might be out, but do what you can to have a fast and full recovery. Icing etc.

 

You've got a lot of us cheering for Team Bike...we need that knee at 100%.

Thanks. I have been trying to focus on good recovery. It is hard to just wait for the weekend to be done so I can go to appointments. I have been wrapping, icing, Arnica just in case it helps, and working the range of motion I have.

As of lunch today it feels a lot better. I started wrapping it another way for better support so I think that is part of it. Also swelling has gone down a bit and it seems a bit better. I can actually walk around a little without assistance. I still keep something nearby as some steps are still weird and I don't want to fall and make things worse.

I went for a short walk in my back yard with trekking poles. It was nice to get out. The weather is great. So I guess right now my goal is to be able to walk the 1 1/4 loop that I do sometimes. My dog would appreciate it.

Occasionally I think maybe it isn't so bad and things will be fine, but then I move a certain way and  think hmm no. I guess I will find out soon.

For my side quest I suppose the good news is that I am sort of stuck at home so unless I borrow a car the stats I posted is the final score for the month. Haha. This is the down side to driving a manual transmission.

Cycling: 1/2 I got one ride in 15.43

PT: 2/3

Protein: 2/3

Side Quest:

The end of the week was going well. Had a lot of energy. Got a ride in Thursday. Friday I hit the bike shop to get a saddle and ended up getting an adjustment instead. Turned out to be the best thing since there is only a 30 return. Also got some new shoes. The ones I had were not a good fit. I ran out to go for a ride and promptly messed up my knee.

I suppose hindsight is 20/20, but I guess should have checked out the shoes a bit more cautiously to note any changes or maybe it didn't matter at all. A slow cyclist was coming so I went to let him go, but he was so slow. I was just slowing down, then realized I had to put a foot down because he was going so slow, but leaned the other way than I unclipped. I unclipped that side in time, but slid out and my one leg was going out while all the rest o f my weight was going down. My knee dislocated or something and went back properly, but it is very messed up. Why was he going so slow? Did I mention he was slow? Why?!?!? Was he slowing down?

I tried to call the doctor to see if I needed to go to urgent care, but they just made a teledoc appointment. I was trying to call before they closed so I wasn't really thinking. I didn't remember until too late today that we have an orthopedic urgent care in town that I probably should have gone to. So I guess now I have to wait until Monday to figure out what I need to be done.

I am very disappointed. A knee injury has always been one of my biggest injury fears.  Also it means the century is done. I don't know what the recovery time will be, but soft tissue always takes a bit of time. My knee still feels pretty weird and am not even sure what all the damage is. I didn't tell anyone I was doing this thing outside of here. I told a couple I was thinking of it, but didn't want to get my hopes up. I finally thought it was possible enough to tell some people in the last week. And boom it is gone.  I really feel cursed sometimes.

I probably should have tested the shoes out a little more, but I was going to do that at the turn. I use that path all the time at least 1 or 2 a week since Oct. I have had to stop for someone twice counting that time. I have had to slow maybe once? I have used clippless pedals for so long I have hundreds of miles on them in the last 6 months. If I had arrived at that junction 10 seconds one way or the other it wouldn't have been a thing. If I had gone left instead of the sharper right it wouldn't have been an issue. If I had left from my house instead of driving to the multipath it wouldn't have been an issue. Maybe the new cleats contributed, but looking at the damage on the cleat, I really don't think the new shoes contributed. I won't know for sure unless I can use the shoes again.

Some times it seems I can't ever have what I want. I knew it was going to be difficult to make sure I could beat the cut off time for the century. But I had stopped doubting that it could be done. Now I can't even walk unassisted.

On 1/13/2021 at 9:57 AM, bgvanbur said:

I also love the side quest.  At first I was like how can you track the car miles until I remember odometers exist   But do you use an app or just a spreadsheet and chart?

Haha. The quest has been a fun one. It helped motivate me to get more miles in for the beginning  months when I needed to up my miles on the bike. At the beginning of the month I set my car trip counter to  0 and my cycling computer as well. However I do track on a spreadsheet in case I ride my mountain bike instead. And I have found the daily mileage information interesting. The car is more tedious to track daily mileage so last month and this month the mileage per say is more of a guess, but the total remains accurate.

Was there a gap week? I don't recall. I got a new distance record 40 miles on the 2nd. It was on flat ground and I tried to do it at such a chil heart rate that it took forever. Ok not really, but after a couple hours I realized I needed to go home so I could eat and maybe get something else done that day. I was happy though that I felt perfect after it. 

Cycling: 0/2

PT: 1/3

Protein: I made a roast some day recently Sat? Sun? and have been eating left overs. 

Side Quest: Do you remember when this was close? When it was within 5 miles one way then 5 miles the next? I rode my bike to the store to try to keep things competitive? Not much of a thing anymore. I wandered around in my car. Hmm is that bird store open to buy food? Does that other shop still have the broccolli pack I like? Hmm, I'll drive over and see. 

I have been working on training for a century. Will it happen? Who knows. Covid cases are higher than when they postponed it. I'll continue as if it will happen. 

Cycling twice a week

PT at least twice a week preferably 3-4

Eat more protein 

I have started working on hill work some. Last Saturday I found a great place to ride not too far from my house and it is quite pretty. The only issue is for short workouts I need to figure out a way to warm up. I might just do an out an back on the road adjacent, but it feels silly. But the incline is more than anything on the century and I think is a good training hill. I stopped 3-4 times on my completion. Not great, but it had been many years since I drove it in my car so I wasn't sure how to pace it on a bike. I'm eager to try it again soon. 

Side Quest: I have been doing a Bike vs Car side quest. The current score is Bike 1: car 2 I might as well continue it. This side quest goes by calendar month and for once is almost entirely inside one challenge. Miles on the bike are compared to miles in my car. 

On 1/1/2021 at 1:03 PM, Kestrel Grey said:

Considering you spent part of your December traveling and or quarantining, you did well this month.  You said you are eating a little better, you got lots of great biking in, and you are continuing to work on the exhaustion.

 

For the PT, maybe you just don't feel it is that urgent? Like sure, if you are rehabbing then you feel the difference.  When you are not injured, you just hope it makes a difference because statistics say so.  Do you have trouble getting yourself to floss too?

Yeah, it's one of those things right. In light of everything it seems the progress was ok, but as time passes it seems like not much has been done. You are right. Under the circumstances it seems good.

I do notice the issues. So it's not just injury prevention. I think its just the first part of PT always feels like not much is happening. I have a set of exercises that I know works, but its really hard to do right now. Like coordination wise. The exercises I have other muscles try to do the work, but I have to make sure to isolate correctly. And unless it is done right it isn't helping. Since I am fatigues so much I am always behind on something. So it's hard to prioritize.

On 12/24/2020 at 1:53 AM, Mr_Willes said:

Curious to see if you could keep it up, the Bike VS Car throughout december?

Indeed. Thought not as meticulous on the daily totals for the car. 

On 12/27/2020 at 11:47 AM, Kestrel Grey said:

If you have the time, let us know how your December was!

December didn't go so well for my challenge. That is kind of why I just fell off posting. For work I travelled in the start of the month and when I came back I was pretty tired. So I was trying to rest. Also self-quarentined just in case since I had a tiny bit of a sore throat. But turns out it was just my normal allergies this time of year. I got a covid test to be sure since the holidays I was going to see a couple family members. 

This however did wonders for my Bike vs. Car side quest. Even though my first ride wasn't until the 11th it really wasn't ever really close. I wasn't meticulous on daily totals this month so I just have the final total and a couple points in between for the car. 

Bike: 140.51 mi and Car: 99.8 mi 

Bike won again. And a total of 140 seems decent for the 11th being my first ride. 

That is pretty much where the good news stops. I didn't ride as oft as I wanted. I was aiming for about 11 rides in Dec and only did 7. Granted part of that wasn't possible so the adjusted should have been 8 or 9. 

PT: I didn't do welll on this. I need to figure out a better way to get this done. I know I need it. It just not happening. 

Food tracking was inconsistant. However I did well at eating better. This definately needs to be a focus. My protien intake is kind of low and I do better at not getting munchy when I have more protein. 

To-Do  List: I didn't get a lot done on this. I was really tired for about half the month. 

Takeaway: Only so much could be done about the fatigue. So the riding was decent all things considered, but I really lost some time for my training. Big focus needs to be on my food. I need to start figuring out what I am going to eat on the big rides days so I have some ideas for the big day. At this point to I recoginize there is a chance this ride will get cancelled. Numbers here in my county are not great. I do believe worse then when they postponed the event.  But I will continue as if it will happen. I will likely ride 100 that day regardless of if there is an event. 

Fatigue is still a normal part of my life. I am working with the doctor on that. I am doing the supplements and recommedations, but I think for my load not eating well is contibuting. 

On 12/3/2020 at 11:54 PM, Kestrel Grey said:

How are you feeling?  Recovered?

I was. I recovered from the asthma pretty well. I was worried about a lingering cough and managed to avoid that. 

Well I had fully intended to ride today, but I am a bit fatigued and don't quite feel fully recovered from a minor asthma issue on Sat.  Mostly sat out due to the fatigue. I had quite a few things to get done today and there was no reason to push. Due to work stuff this week that means I will only have a chance at one ride on Saturday. I did go for a walk with the dog today though. I will take it east as work allows tomorrow as well as I will be up and busy most of Wed and Thu.  

Ride 0/3 - I decided to skip this today. 

PT 0/2: I didn't do this today

Food Tracking  1/5- Tracked today. 

Working on to-do list: 1/5 - I got some work done today

Side Quest: November Bike vs. Car Final

Bike 167.8 vs. Car 138.7 - Bike wins!!

Those keys are pretty cool!

58 minutes ago, Xena said:

Great job on the hilly ride. I hope the asthma wasn't too scary and am glad you were able to get it under control.

Honestly the part I was most scared of was a lingering cough. I have had that in the past. However with COVID every cough is suspicious and I have to be out in the field for work this week. I am fortunate to have mild symptoms. So the biggest concern in the moment was not to fall of my bike from the stronger coughs. Haha

1 hour ago, Jean said:

As usual, I'm going with the "decide to do something, then do it. Don't wait." philosophy

This always made the most sense to me. Unless the start needs some sort of plan or prep. But you already started that so . . .

Congrats on the promotion!

I have been working towards a century. Mostly I have been working on building an base by just riding. Preferably at an easy pace. It's time now to start working on some other elements though. 

1 hour ago, Kestrel Grey said:

Well done, on both the ride and on the challenge!

 

I get occasional exercise-induced asthma too. It's a pain because it happens so rarely, that I forget my inhaler when it does happen.  Strong black coffee is supposed to help too.

Yeah, I think it has been 2-3 years since I have had an issue for me. I saw hot caffinated drinks was suppose to help. But I really can't stand coffee. It's good to know if I get in a pinch though. 

So yesterday I decided to tackle part of the first hilly section of the route. I had a ride out to the area so I had about a 7 mile warm up which is more than sufficient. I got to the first hill that is kinda of steep, but not very long. I did ok on the first half, but then started to struggle. In the last little bit I actually triggered my astma. It wasn't too bad. I got over the crest and continued on, but I started coughing and I was having issues controlling it. I had to stop for a bit to get it under controll. The next section was pretty flatt so I decided to go for a bit to see if it would be ok and it seemed to be. So each little hill had me a little scared as it is now easier to trigger. However I did pretty good. Went out to just shy of the planned turn around point. On the way back there was one more hill that was a little big. I went up as much as I could, but bailed and walked the last bit. It was more important to not make things worse. 

Overall I did pretty well other than that first hill. In the end I managed exactly a 12.0 avg mph with stopping, going slow to make sure I could continue on, and with walking up that one hill. So I feel that was a pretty big win. 12.0 mph is what the cut off time is based on. There is an extra 30 minutes, I believe, from the 12.0 mph time for the century.  I had debated skipping that hill, I guess I should have. LOL. So the next time or two I will skip that hill again until I get a little more hill experience. I need to see about getting some medication again. I had stopped filling my prescription cause it is so pricey and I never need it anymore. I can't trigger asthma anymore with running. So I guess only cycling and rowing. I usually just hold back slightly on the rowing. I don't know how to do that yet on cycling I guess. I had no clue I had pushed it that hard. 

I looked it up when I got home. Things to do to calm asthma when you don't have meds. Interestingly there is a Buteyko method which is to "breathe slowly and calmly through your nose instead of your mouth. If you use this technique, the air in your body will stay warm and moist. This helps your airways become less sensitive when you breathe." I had found that cupping my hands in front of my mouth or using my shirt to cover my mouth seemed to prevent me from coughing. I had suspected it was due to the warm moist air. Thank goodness for covid. I had my mask and pulled it up and it helped me calm it down while still riding. 

Week Wrap up

Ride: 4/2 ✔ - Got another ride in. 32.40 mi This was my planned long ride. 

PT 2x a week: 2/2  ✔- Got two in, but I can't remember if they were the same day haha.  I think they were on different days though. 

Food: 7/2 - Had veggies and meat on hand so I did pretty well this week. 

Track water consumption: ✔   - I have sort of dropped tracking this outside my head. I have been good at keeping water near at all times.

5 minutes working on to-do list: 6/6  ✔ - I have adjusted the goal this week as Thanksgiving isn't the time to get things done really.  I did well otherwise

November Side Quest

Bike 167.8 mi vs. Car  129.6 mi - Bike surged ahead with the big ride. I do still have a few errands in the next couple days. I think the bike will win though. I hope to put another 10 on the bike tomorrow. I can't imagine the errands will exceed 30 miles.  

Oh man sorry to hear that. Good thing they were able to catch it though. It's hard to ahve a sudden change thrust upon you like that. It takes an adjustment. Which it sounds like you are. At least you can hike that is good. 

I think this week reminded me of the importance of keeping track of past rides. On Monday I went to a spot that I orginally started riding on the trail. I was looking around at old routes last night for some reason and realized that other than when I got a little lost trying to find a new route, the parts on the normal route were about 2 mph faster. I'm a bit surprized it was that drastic. Seeing I was just out to ride and wasn't pushing it at all. 

Today also I was reminded. I went for an easy ride and was surprized to come back and see the avg. mph was above 13.0. I think I have completed the building a base phase and ready to start adding in some climbs. I have a long ride with some climbs figured out. But a short ride with climbs I will have to figure out. It will most likely mean that if I continue the side quest in Dec. that the car will be more likely to win as I will need to drive my bike to the route. But side quests are side quests for a reason. And I will need to focus on my main quest. There is time to go back to the side quest later if remote work continues. This makes me all the more eager to make sure that the bike wins the November one.

Wednesday

Ride: 3/2  - Got another ride in.  13.81 mi This was my planned second ride. Just an easy 1 hour ride. 

PT 2x a week: 0/2 - Still no.

Food: 4/2 - Had complient meals for both lunch and dinner. 

Track water consumption: ✔   - I have sort of dropped tracking this outside my head. I have been good at keeping water near at all times.

5 minutes working on to-do list: 4/7  - Other than my bike ride I have spent almost all day on this. Deep clean on the fridge. I just have one more shelf to clean. And I got a few other things done as well.

November Side Quest

Bike 135.81 mi vs. Car  126.1 mi - Added miles on both the car and bike ride today, but the bike is back ahead!

20 hours ago, Kestrel Grey said:

I'm really rooting for the bike to win! That said, hiking is a good thing.

 

If you have to make up a vitamin D deficit, it takes a ton more than your normal daily recommended amount, so don't be alarmed by the handful of pills your doctor recommends.

That is good to know. I trust my doctor. It was just a lot. I actually went to a liquid as it was easier to take that much rather than a small handfull of pills. haha. 

13 minutes ago, Xena said:

There's sort of a pun in here, or play on words or something 🙂

 Haha, yes. I guess there is. I didn't mean for that, but sometimes you get more than you bargained for.

----------

Have some time off this week. I decided I want to try to get some time in outside. Went for a bike ride yesterday, but had to transport my mountain bike out to the trail. This allowed the car to surpass the bike in my side quest, but the ride was good. I was hoping to hike a couple times, but I am afraid of overdoing it. I haven't had that much energy recently so I am afraid to plan that much. Such a shame, but I want to make sure to get in two more rides and I want to get some house cleaning and projects done. Which is still a huge amount of energy expenditure expected vs. what I have had.

I have been feeling better in the last couple weeks though. We found I was low on vitamin D so my doctor has me on amount that seems like an awful lot, but only for a couple months. Also I started another treatment. I hate starting two things at once cause then you don't know what made you better, but also I would rather feel better. That said just the cooler temps can make me feel better. So I try to enjoy being better, but this has happened the last 2-3 years in a row. I feel better this time of the year then go back my norm come March. So I kind of know better than to expect more than that.

Week so far

Ride: 2/2  - Got in two rides so far. I got 16 miles in between the two.

PT 2x a week: 0/2 -

Food: 1/2 Finally had a chance to go to the store and buy greens again. 

Track water consumption: ✔   - I have sort of dropped tracking this outside my head. I have been good at keeping water near at all times.

5 minutes working on to-do list: 3/7  - Got a bit done. Actually was working on things I needed to do most of the day.

Nov. Side Quest

Bike 121.59 mi vs. Car  120.2 mi - Car surpassed the bike yesterday. I had some errands to do today and tomorrow. I decided to do part of them by bike. This allowed the bike to get back ahead. But just barely. I plan to  ride again tomorrow. Car might get ahead again though. I think the bike has a chance of winning unless I over do it this week. Or decide to go hiking.

Oh, I hope everything is ok. Good luck in sorting this out.

On 11/16/2020 at 3:09 PM, Xena said:

Is there any chance you might like it better after a couple of rides? I don't know much about biking, but I know people talk about having to get accustomed to time in the saddle in general. Maybe with some time the different shape won't seem as bad. Though it don't know, I can imagine that pressure not being too good...

Yes, there is. It's sort of like running shoes. Some things you know right away others you have to get use to and then see. That saddle sort of demotivated me from riding. I was thinking about it though and I have been wearing bike shorts with regular shorts on top. I was sliding around a bit on that ride. I did another ride without the over shorts and it is much better. I might just need to tip the nose down just slightly. However I got through 30 miles on it. So it might be ok. However I will have to wear the bike shorts only so I'm a little bummed about that. I possibly could find other pairs that won't be slippery, but it doesn't seem worth it.

-------------------------

Last Week

Ride: 2/2  ✔ - Got in two rides. I got 45 miles in between the two. I was hoping to get in three this week, but I felt best to take it easy. I had a few late nights at work that made going after work not possible.

PT 2x a week: 1/2 - This slipped my mind. I haven't noticed as much issues so I forget about it. But I know I need it for preventative. I think I need to be better about scheduling it. 

Food: 3/2 ✔ Got this in. Maybe even more times.

Track water consumption: ✔   - I have sort of dropped tracking this outside my head. I have been good at keeping water near at all times.

5 minutes working on to-do list: ?  - I didn't really track this. I was a bit short on time this week so I didn't sweat it.

Nov. Side Quest

Bike 105.51 mi vs. Car  87.0 mi - Results as of Saturday night. The bike has spent about 7 days ahead of the car.

6 hours ago, Kestrel Grey said:

Congrats on the bike getting a lead! It would be exciting to be able to hold it.

I was really hoping to get 20-25 miles in that would have allowed it to pull ahead I think. It might be exciting from here with the back and forth of who has the lead.

How is it going?