Injury Woes

20/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Well, after a decent start to the season I'm going to have to take my medicine and rest up for a while.  What started as a niggle in February, a pain in March and a load of ice packs and ibuprofen in April and revealed itself to be Achilles Tendonitis and a calf strain/tear.

My injury appears to have been caused by a couple of things: 
1 - Biomechanics
2 - Not enough base work
3 - Not listening to my body

The biomechanics issue, which is just a hunch at this point based on some feedback that I've had from other riders and viewing forums on the internet, seems to be that my cleats are positioned slightly far forward on the shoe.  Which seems to be causing more stress and tension on the Achilles tendon as it goes through a slightly larger rotation.  I've corrected this and will report back later...

Base Work.  Well, I took October, November and December completely off the bike then started back cold in January.  January was reasonably sensibly paced, 20 and 30 mile rides.  Building the power and duration.  Then came February and the panic... I stuck in a 100 mile ride when I had no business to be thinking about it.  The niggle appearing about 60 miles in. 

Come March / April, I tried adding Power and I wasn't ready for it.  There should have been another 1,000 miles in the legs before I started to put in hill sprints, but short sightedness took the eyes off the prize and I went straight for the fun stuff - balls out, HR bouncing off 180 and wanting to throw up.  That saw me through race one but by race two I was taped up and firing on adrenalin... which is great at the time but doesn't help for the following two days when you struggle to walk up the stairs.  

I had a crack at another Tuesday club session but the calfs were mooing a bit louder, cramping for the last 2 miles.  I decided on a self imposed ban for a week to see how it recovered but 5 minutes into the next ride the herd were mooing again, so I called on a Physio who gave me a look over... Jeez that hour was painful, I didn't know a muscle could have so many knots in it.  But after working through the knots, releasing the tension in the legs and finding out what else has to heal, I'm a lot closer to recovering part of the season than I would have been otherwise.

As they say, there's no such thing as a bad experience, just experience!  Hopefully this is one I'll learn from... listen to the body!

0 Comments

Race 2 - 10m TT

20/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Another excellent display from the Wheelers, picking up the team trophy again with Lee 2nd, Me 3rd and Jono 4th.

The photo shows most of the lads, some having to nip off straight away for family commitments.  I think we managed to post 5 of the top 7 times showing that our increased participation in winter training has proven a good yield on our time investment.

This race took place just 7 days after our triumph at the Massie Shield.  This week riding the dual carriageway from Laurencekirk to the flyover at Stracathro Services and back.  Potentially quite a fast course, however this day saw us cycling head on into an 18mph wind for the first half which scuppered most folks chances of a PB.  The other concern was the few notable potholes which had emerged after a long cold winter.  Out of the field of around 50 that started, there was 5 punctures (I think), 2 or 3 of which were Wheelers.  There would have been more if it wasn't for a couple of helpful Deeside Thistle lads standing by the blighters that scuppered their chances and guided the rest of the riders safely by (where possible).

The other concern I had before getting to the start line was the dual carriageway itself and how the motorists would react to 50 lycra clad speed demons, setting off 60 seconds apart, trying to average as high up the 20mphs as possible.  But after the first mile or so I felt totally at ease.  All the cars, vans and trucks crossed over to the right hand lane and were very respectful.  It has to be said that the marshals did a great job with the signs, flags and colourful jackets.  I won't have any concerns attending another Deeside Thistle event.

As for my performance, I managed to knock 3 seconds off my PB, getting down to 22m 51s.  A step in the right direction, but hopefully more to come if I can get an honest run.

0 Comments

Race #1 - 25m TTT

1/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
TTT - Team Time Trial

Well Race #1 for the season was definitely a Team event, not just the format of the race but the format of the preparation.

Prom a personal point of view it was a team effort getting me to the start line as much as the finish line.  When I joined the Wheelers this year, I didn't join a club, I joined a team!  I still know nothing about bikes or equipment but I am slowly learning from the more experienced riders.  Enough that I managed to rebuild my bike from the bare frame and a bunch of components of the garage floor.  It took me 3 nights right enough but with some helpful comments and tips from Facebook and SMS, I managed to make it to the start line with at least 11mins to spare.  

My top 3 balls ups were:
1 - Ordering a disc wheel at considerable expense with a Campagnola freehub instead of Shimano (which until recently would have meant nothing to me).  I got some workaround ideas and the offer of another member's disc wheel but on the day I decided to play safe with my original wheel and clincher.

2 - I got the bike assembled and decided a road test would be in order, 41 seconds later I had dismounted the bike with a broken chain.  I thought it looked a little on the worn side as I was rebuilding but didn't have anything else available.  Glad that broke on Saturday instead of Sunday. New chain and cassette purchased and fitted on Saturday night.

3 - Sunday morning came and I checked and double checked I had everything before heading out to the van.  About 10 miles down the road, I was reflecting on some advice the captain had given when I realised I'd left my cycling shoes.  I pulled a U-ey on the next roundabout and nipped home to get them.

Even getting to race headquarters was an effort as I had to phone another member to get step by step directions.  That's the thing with the Wheelers, always on hand and always willing to lend a hand.  

As for the race itself, well it was a rolling lumpy exposed course with a nasty cross wind, not tailor made for the best times.  I was a bit worried about my bike actually making it all the way round but moments before I set off, Lee advised me just to have fun and enjoy it which took the self inflicted pressure off.  

I set off but had no real idea how lumpy the course would be and I'd never ridden a 25m TT before so had no real idea how to pace myself, so I just set off fairly hard and tried to maintain it just below threshold.  This seemed to work fairly well and I was pleased not to have been passed by any riders by the time I hit the turn.  On the way back, most of the hills were in my favour so I clicked it up (and by "up" I mean down the cassette into a higher gear) a couple of gears and spun home.  The cross winds and the unproven tri-spoke wheel on the front meant that I struggled with the confidence to put down the full power as I was constantly trying to compensate for the gusts.  With about 2 miles to go the confidence began to grow as the wind switched round to my back and I got the speedo nearing 40mph on some of the short descents.  As I crossed the line I called out my number, "30" to make the time keepers job a little easier.  I was instantly relieved that the bike had made it round, then I became happy that my time of 01:00:08 was fairly respectable given the conditions and experience.  Within 90 seconds Lee crossed the line in 57mins with Brendan (who seems to detest hills almost more than me) shortly after in 59mins.  I missed the hour but I was happy that there is room for improvement.  Thanks to Brendan and Lee's phenomenal efforts the Wheelers managed to beat the closest team by a margin of around 3 minutes, and so regained the Massie Shield for the first time in what is believed to be around 30-40 years.  The photo above is, from left to right:  Me, Brendan and Lee.

My next endeavour will be a 10m TT this coming Sunday.  Hopefully the weather will play ball and we'll all get an honest run, as I'd like to know if I'm getting closer to this years goal...


0 Comments