(no subject)

[moominmolly]

I had wanted to start today's entry with "Maybe the day after squat day wasn't the best time to start biking again", but I'd wanted to mean that I was creaky and sore but that I made it to work and felt pleasantly gimpy in that overly-exercised way. Instead, today's discovery is more like "I can create pain in my body at will!" So, like, yeah, I didn't finish my ride this morning. I turned tail and went home.

Last night, zsquirrelboy asked if it was a good idea to start back in with 2 12-mile rides in one day, and I responded (all cocky), "Sure, I mean, that's basically nothing to my body". After all, in May, things didn't start really hurting until 12 miles in, and this is months later! In April, I rode 100km mostly pain-free! In Amsterdam, I rode lots! And, in a way, I was right - 12 miles is nothing to my muscles. My tendon wasn't so sure, though.

I decided this past weekend that I'd start biking again this week, and so I'd had plenty of time to get excited about it. Strangely, getting excited made my tendon hurt. By Monday night, I had a fair bit of soreness slightly below where it normally acts up, but I thought, "eh, it's just nerves. Advil and water and sleep will make that better." I got my (yellow) bike all spiffed up and ready to go, set my alarm for way-early, and went to sleep happy.

I always seem to need an hour in the mornings when I'm biking or skating in. If I'm driving, I'm out the door in 5 minutes, but the slow preparations and careful eating of exercise mornings always take the full 60 minutes. This morning, I ate a Clif bar (crunchy peanut butter), took a long shower, did some weightless squats, and then stretched to make sure I'd adequately warmed up. I felt zingy, but also had the blood-in-the-area warning feeling in my ankle. In the past, when skating, this has shown up and then diminished after the first few minutes, so I decided to see it out. I put on the festive purple bike shorts and green shirt, laced up the shoes, and took off up Winter Hill.

I knew it was bad before I even got to the top, but I kept telling myself that I was making it happen, that it was just nerves and that I was inventing this feeling in my head. I tried to imagine that I was pedaling in a stiff ski boot and couldn't flex my ankle. But by the time I got to Powderhouse square, I knew I wasn't making it up. This was real pain. It had graduated from the watch-out feeling to the get-off-the-damn-bike feeling more quickly than it ever had. So, I went all the way around the rotary and headed back home, pedaling with my right leg.

I didn't feel as defeated as I'd thought I would on the drive in. Instead, I felt alive. A burst of aerobic exercise, even a small one like this morning's, seems to do me a lot of good. My legs felt flushed and happy and I felt awake and ready in a way that I haven't for a long time. I'm not sure why my ankle started to hurt over the past couple of days, after being silent for weeks, but I think the lesson is that I should have listened. I'm going to put the bike away for a few more days or weeks, and not take it out on some arbitrary deadline that I set for myself, but rather when I feel good and healed. I'm hoping to go for a spin this weekend. Weekend rides have no time limits. If I feel like 20 minutes, I'll go for 20 minutes. If I feel like 6 hours, well, then, I don't have anywhere to be, so why not?

Comments

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

i wondered what was up when i got up and saw the bike in the weight room.

maybe we should get you new skates sooner than we'd planned.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

new skates

shiny fast toys! wheels on my feet! I think this is a good plan.

Well I'm clearly better at giving advice...

[zsquirrelboy.livejournal.com]

than following it. I'm hoping that the pain I've had in my left sholder since last night will go away. On the other hand, my wrists are actually feeling okay!

I'm glad the exercise made you feel good. Here's to not injuring ourselves!