once again

Just finished up another tucson tuesday night fun ride.
Rode the streets on the single speed for a few hours.
This week s ride was so much better.

My left leg is feeling better. I may try a run in a few more days.

Singletrack for the Single Speed

Rode for maybe 30 minutes or so hammering pretty hard on the single sp-eed.
Well I got 3 graveyard shifts in the next 3 days.

I will be running again soon...I hope
I walk fine now, once again the bike helped me rehabilitate.

I think instead of long runs for a while I may ride for a few hours and then run. Instead of the constant pounding of a long run.

I will be picking back up on the sets too.
I think my training for Hillsboro ghost town38.5 can start back up Novmber.

Convert

Friday 10/26/07- I converted my old dual slalom bike into a single speed.
Tossed a semi slick on the rear and took it out for a test ride.
I rode around for about 3 hours. Everything came out good. Even the chain length came out just right.

My hip is still a bit sore. Still probably not the best idea for me to try and run just yet.

slam

wed-afterwork I went out to fantasy island to ride some single track.

I took a nasty slam, ended up laying my bike out flat and catching the handlebars with my thigh.

Falls from 6 feet in the air usually end up bad for me. I launched off a big hip, one I've hit many times, just not in a few months. Apparently the monsoons have shifted things. As I eyeballed my landing zone from the air( one cannot see the landing from the other side of the hip).

I soon realised I was going to wind up wrapped in a tree. Eww that could be REALLY bad so I layed my bike out and ended up getting flipped undeneath it. I got the wind knocked out of me and ended up stunned for 2 or 3 minutes.

Rode for 1 hour and 1 second! :) I stayed in the big chain ring most of the time too.

does it count? does it matter?

I was told about a tucson tuesday night ride leaving from campus(think critical mass). It was a mellow fun ride that anyone could have probably done.The ride lasted 2 hours and concluded with a game of footdown.

If I'm off on a tuesday night again I will do this. Theres just so many people and its so fun.

gimpy

Monday 10/22/07-I went for a ride out at Saguaro east. I rode the loop and the north to south cactus trail and then back out over to the picnic area hammering the hills a couple times.

Later I went to the gym and bouldered a bit.

All in all my leg still hurts but my hip feels better. No running for a while, not when walking is still tough.

Men

So Saturday 10/20/07 After work C-lo and I decided to turn a couple miles over @ reid park.
I felt stiff so we stretched and hit starting off slow til we warmed up.

Well we turned the first mile Fast, under 6minutes! After 10minutes we took a one minute walk break. My hip started to get tight and then my whole left side got stiff...Well we kept going and were approaching the end and our last walk break. We could have skipped it and finished in 20 minutes easy but we didnt. @ this point my whole left side locked out and became very painful and my leg and hip would no longer bend. Well we finished out strong anyway,

3 miles in 22minutes 38seconds71hundredths, 10 minutes run 1 minute walk( 2 one minute walk breaks).
averaged out to about 7minute30second miles.

Other then my left side from the hip down I felt awesome.


REFLECTION- During our run, toward the end, c-lo and I had a brief conversation about ego.
He mentioned we could stop if I hurt, I said no way, he mentioned stubborness and the male ego.
I felt it was just me accepting all the hard training I've put in to this running/life thing and understanding it is painful.
C-lo has never ran over 6 miles @ one time so its a tough call.


So on the drive home I began to think-
From a very early age I was taught that a man works through pain and adversity.
Anything worth doing was earned and anything really good was never easy and was usually painful. Also a real man wasnt afraid or ashamed to admit he hurt but didnt let it stop him and didnt let it rule him and certainly didnt complain about it. Simply acknowledge it as another part of the process of working through to get to your end goal.

I was conditioned @ an early age to be tough.

Well the problem I run into is when is enough enough. As I've grown up I met climbers who taught me I had to listen to my body. I get overuse and over training injuries because I push very hard.
My climbing buddies taught me to back off and relax. I've torn tendons in both hands torn the major muscle group that runs from my back/shoulder up into my neck all from climbing. All from thinking I had to push and push to be really great @ something.

So the question is am I repeating the same mistakes over and over? Am I doing it again with running? Was I essentially taught wrong as a child or did I just interperete the lessons differently?

I was told sure signs of overtraining are a decrease in performance, being tired, feeeling sick.

I'm not, I have been getting faster.

What will it hurt if I take a break? I dont feel fufilled if I dont excercise @ least 5 or six days a week for @ least an hour plus a day. For me its part of my routine kinda like eating or showering.

I think I'll switch back to Yoga and perhaps ride my bike for a few days.

Nothing does it like running except maybe climbing. Tough to climb in the middle of the night!
These things have a way of working themselves out. On my last long run my hip felt bad toward the end...