Its alive!

Looks like I'm back to normal. I've been sitting idle for almost two weeks while my foot healed. This past weekend I got to test myself, and the test was good. I was not daring enough to hit the off-road trails, but I did do approx. 9 miles of paved trail at Island Lakes, my home away from home.

Actually, it was very funny. I turned the wrong way out of the Trail Head, and ended up at the end of the paved trail, about 3/4 miles away from the starting point. That meant that I had to make up the 3/4 mile and catch up to Joe and Chris. I didn't think I was going to be able to do so, but I did. At approximately the 1/4 point, just beyond the tunnel, I was able to catch up to the both of them. I was full of energy and although tempted a little bit to slow the pace and stay with the group, I decided to pass them and just give it all I had.

One thing was different. This time I took my iPod Nano with me and was able to listen to music while biking. IMHO, its night and day. The music makes me forget that I'm working out, it makes it more like I'm just casually hanging out. Not to mention that when a hard song comes on such as, well anything by Static X, it gives you to motivation to just go out there and fuck something up. I channeled that energy into the drive system of my bike, which made me go farther and faster. I would recommend the two Static X albums, Wisconsin Death Trip and Start a War. Both are filled with bottled rage that will give you the go power you need.

I don't know if it was me or the music, but on my way back, there was some jackass heading right for me. He was on the left hand side of the trail, my right. He and his buddy decided that they would take up the whole trail width, but I didn't give in and played a little game of chicken with him. This kid wasn't small, but I'm very much used to crashing and falling off and getting hurt. He wasn't going to stand a chance. Not to mention that I was in the right. At the last minute, I could hear his grunt "oh shit..." as he swerved out of the way and onto the grass. My guess is that from no on he'll pay more attention and merge over when there is another person coming from the opposite direction or stay on the right side as he should have from the beginning.

This was a fun ride. I have realized that I love to go biking and that I'm going to be depressed when the weather changes and I won't be able to ride around the streets of Southfield and the trails of such places as Island Lakes. The fall is pretty much upon us, and already its raining. I know that its possible to ride during bad weather, but last season when I did that, I got sick the next day, so I won't be trying anything that crazy this year.

In other news, the Tour de Cure people emailed me with good news. Looks like that all of those people involved in this year's fundraiser were not only able to meet, but also exceed the goal.

"The 2006 Southeast Michigan Tour de Cure raised a record $297,000 exceeding our goal of $285,000. We want to thank all who came out and showed their support of the ADA. You have helped increase awareness and raised funds to support our mission, to prevent and cure diabetes
and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes."

As a result all of the people involved in this years event are invited to Carrabba's Italian Grill in Novi Mi. I've emailed all of my teammates and it looks like that Matt and I are the only two going. I will ask Nicki and Ana personally, perhaps they ignored the email. Should be a fun time, there are supposed to be door prizes and games.

As much fun as it was being a couch potato for almost two weeks, I'm am very glad that I am able to get back on the bike. I am looking forward to many more weeks of rides before I call an end to the season this year.

"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down." - Mary Pickford

R.I.C.E.

I guess I should start by explaining the acronym before I get sent to sensitivity training. The RICE acronym means Rest Ice Compression and Elevation. You're wondering why I'm explaing some medical term, and the reason is simple. I sprained my ankle and as a result I've been off the bike since last weekend. I did go to the doctor just to be sure that there wasn't anything real bad, and my guess was correct. There were no breaks, just a lot of swelling.

This is a big wrench thrown into the works, because I've just increased my distance, and I've been doing a good job loosing weight, and now I can't do anything active until I'm all better. The doc says I have to rest and take it easy for 10 days now. This means that the soonest I can get back on the bike is Monday, the 21st. And I plan on it. I need to get back to my 8 miles so that I can condition myself and eventualy push even harder.

So, maybe I'm pushing myself too hard? No, this injury was caused by everyday walking. I was walking through a patch of grass and it was dark out, and of the four of us, I was the one to find the only hole in the patch. My right foot went in on an angle and my body tried to compensate by acting as a counter balance. I heard a pop and I felt pain. I knew what had happened, because I had injured that same ankle in my college days while playing volleyball. This was not even close to the college injury. With the college injury, I had actualy torn a ligament in my foot to the point of being bound to crutches and a cast. I believe that it was the Calcaneal Fibular. That injury weakened the joint, and I was told that I would be prone to more injuries in my future. The doctor told me that I should be wearing an ankle support whenever I do anything active, and not to wear low cut shoes.

Since the injury happened so long ago I thought that I had healed it completely. That was not the case, obviously. Now I am taped up tight and I am able to walk. Still hurts a little, but I can deal with the pain. I've always been able to deal with pain. When this originaly happened, I probably should have taken care of it with ice and tape, but I chose to ignore it in favor of having a good time with some friends. I am paying for that decision now, but at the time it seemed like the better choice.

"We can be sure that the greatest hope for maintaining equilibrium in the face of any situation rests within ourselves." -Francis J. Braceland

July Fireworks?

Unfortunately no. I was hoping to end the month of July with a good ole trip to the blue and yellow trails at Island Lakes, but unfortunately that didn't happen. The only one who was gung ho about it was Chris. I, along with everyone else needed a break from it all. Everyone had other plans or some reason or another for not being there.

My reason was simple. I needed the break. All of this biking degraded my mental game and I just needed one weekend to relax. Well, that was the plan anyways. I got to spend some time with friends and cleaning the house, but at night I felt very guilty for not going to the park. So, instead of just letting depression engulf me, I decided I would step up and raise the minimum loop length. From that Sunday forth, each time I've gone biking around my neighborhood, its been a minimum of eight miles.

Today, I'm posting the blog, just moments after I've finished the eight mile run. This would make it my third this week. I've been taking every other day off for recovery. Its actually very weird that my cardio is keeping up with the pace. I am barely winded after an eight mile ride, but my muscles are being tested every time. I felt very sore that Sunday night, but today I seem to have only minor muscle akes. Its very possible that I'm ready to take it up one more notch and start doing twelve miles around the neighborhood. It all depends on this weekend's bike trip. If I end up going to Island Lakes, I will probably push a lot harder than usual. As you may recall from previous posts, the trails there have very aggressive climbs, well for someone my size anyways. I've always come very close on those climbs, and end up having to bail near the midpoint. My absolute best was when I was able to take two climbs upward on the yellow trail without having to bail. However, when I got to the top, I was ready to die. I hope this time around I am more ready for the trails, especial the climb parts.

Very weird to post that nothing out of the usual has happened. I am literally knocking on wood, because I'm about to make some claims. My bike has been solid. I haven't fallen off. No sprains or pains that last longer than one night. All in all, everything seems fine. Too fine. I feel as uncomfortable as when both of my dogs are in the house and I can't hear them playing around, which means that they're up to no good. So, what could this mean, I don't know, it could be that the forces that be are just planning something big. I guess only one way to find out.

"Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid." - John Keats