To make up for the lack of any real recent updates I’m going to cover a ton of stuff here. Rather than a bunch independent posts I’m going to cover this stuff with sub-posts.
Hip Pain
After the last doctors appointment I was having problems with pain in the hip joint. The physical therapist was a little perplexed by what was going on. With certain rotations my hip would lock up & hurt. Stretching was not really doing much because my hip locked up before any stretch was accomplished.
The general thought was there wasn’t much of a risk of injuring myself or causing damage by overdoing it physically. That being said I went on a ride that was more intensive than I had been doing. Karen & I set off for a cold, cloudy August morning ride. The ride ended up being about 35 miles, included some steep hills & our avg speed was respectable. The outcome of the ride…MY HIP FELT LIKE A MILLION BUCKS! I think what I needed to do was just beat it back into working properly. The physical therapist was a little shocked it worked but the important part was that it did.
Since then my leg hurts more around the incisions & the hip joint is doing pretty good. The more active I am the better it feels.
New Bike
Yes, the rumors true, I did buy a new bike before I was really even given the ok to ride. It was one of those deals that was too good to pass up. I had been riding a road bike that was set up to be triathlon friendly, the new beast is a true triathlon bike. At a glance there isn’t too much of a difference between a road bike & a triathlon bike. The major differences are aerodynamics along with the seat post angle. Technically the bike leg of a triathlon is a race against the clock or a time trial. Drafting off other cyclists is not legal so many aspects of the bike are developed to be aerodynamic. In traditional road racing cyclists are in a pack & aerodynamics aren’t required or could be considered dangerous when riding in a pack.
The other difference is the seat post angle, a triathlon bike has a much steeper angle making the transition from the bike to the run more comfortable. With the steeper seat post angle muscles are used differently than a traditional bike making the post bike run a little better.
The down side of a triathlon bike is the body position. The geometry make the riding position much more compact therefore being more aerodynamic. All the way around this can be a bit more taxing on the body, especially your hips. I finally got on the new bike & while it will take some getting used to…it is a hell of a ride! Its under 20 LBS fully built & ready to ride.
Work
Its taken a bit to feel back to normal at work. I’m finally feeling back to 100% in the office. August has been progressing on a normal rate & the outlook keeps getting better. With this monkey wrench in my year I was thinking that if I hit 75% of my annual goal I would be doing good & with some work I think its realistic. Speaking of work I’m not sure if everyone knows where I spend my days. www.bullseyecreative.net
Come Back?
Training with any consistency or real effort has been challenging. There have been days I totally talk myself out of a workout or a ride & days I have set off with grandiose plans that didn’t pan out as planned. One thought I have is getting a race scheduled for the end of September…check back for an update, I have some ideas.
