Speedy is home!

I took him for his first spin on the indoor trainer today. He's super sweet!  Didn't even realize the paint job had a matte finish. Couldn't tell that from the photo. He's really a beauty. But looks are secondary. This bike rocks. He may not be top of the line, but for a newbie, he's amazing. Super light aluminum. Disc brakes. Front suspension. Did I mention that he's gorgeous?  ;-)



I found out right away I need some real bike shorts. Chafing!! I've never chafed during my two years of running, but on my first ride, I chafed right away! Bike shorts that come down to mid-thigh should take care of that. heh.

I was thrilled to get my bike today but I did have one setback. During bike fitting at the shop, I was learning how to clip in and out of the pedals. Clipping in was no problem, but the torque placed on my left upper leg while trying to unclip found me screaming in pain. I thought I was healing up quite nicely, but now I know I have a long way to go. Perhaps unclipping will be a good gauge of the progression of my injury? :-)

Lots more time on the bike ahead for me!

a new toy for an injured red!

Here's some good news... I did lunges (without weights) today with no pain in my left thigh! I've been avoiding any kind of weight-bearing exercise for my upper legs for the past two weeks - biking only. The last several days I've been walking around normally. I almost get to the point where I forget I'm injured... then I torque the upper leg just right and get a reminder. Or I do something stupid like try to carry the vacuum up the stairs and pain shoots through my entire left quad. Yikes!

Since I handled those lunges just fine and am finally walking normally, I'm going to give the elliptical a try again in a few days - maybe Tuesday. Elliptical is weight-bearing but non-impact, so it'll be a good transition. I'll still be biking for the majority of my cardio-training, but I'll slowly incorporate elliptical and maybe stairs as my leg allows.

The return to running is still not in sight.

Today I did the biking version of "cruise intervals" on the recumbent for one hour. It was great! It was one of the pre-programmed workouts. Glad I found it. The bikes have many workouts to choose from, but I'd never seen that one before.

After the speed work, I jumped over to the upright bike for another 30 minutes of easy riding to total 1 1/2 hours on the bike (26.5 miles). I feel good about that! Afterwards I did an hour of strength training.

Speedy is finally ready to be picked up from the bike shop! I go in tomorrow for bike fitting and then he comes home! Woooo!!! (Speedy is my new Trek 6700 WSD hardtail mountain bike) :-))))

My fist "50-miler"

Okay, okay. I didn't run that far, but this little redhead biked 50 miles today!!! Took just over 3 hours on the indoor bike at Lifetime. I did 2 hours on the upright and 1 hour on the recumbent. Glad Matty let me borrow his padded bike shorts. lol!!!  I've never biked anywhere close to that distance or duration before. Ever. Happy happy.

Take that, Injury!!!!  hahahahaha!!!! 

YES!! 

red's injury woes - update

Just thought I'd throw an injury update up here.

It's been a full week now with no running and my left thigh feels only slightly better. My return to running is nowhere in sight. I've been at the gym nearly every day since I stopped running, mostly on the stationary bike, splitting my time between the upright and the recumbent. If my legs get tired on one, I'm usually able to switch to the other and keep going. That way I can get the same amount of cardio in that I would have had running, at least time-wise. I'm trying desperately to keep my fitness level up so I can at least complete Boston, even if my time goal is now impossible. There's always this fall at Chicago!

Today I even did an interval workout on the upright stationary bike. It was great!  It really got my blood pumping and legs burning. I was a little worried about adding too much resistance to the bike, since the whole point in biking is to keep weight off my left leg, but I didn't feel any pain with the increased resistance, so I went for it. Now I know I can add harder workouts into the mix along with my "easy rides" and "long rides".

I tried doing the elliptical and stairmaster this week too. They were both a no-go. I could feel my injury. I also tried the rower. While my new injury didn't bother me on the rower, my chronically unhappy achilles were stressed, so I crossed that one off my list too. And since I hate swimming.... biking it is!! :-)

"Speedy", my new mountain bike, ordered well over a week ago, has still not arrived. They said it would be in within the week. So much for timing... I wish they had overestimated so I wouldn't have gotten so excited for nothing. Grrr.... I was hoping to be able to ride Speedy on our indoor trainer this Sunday during what would have been my long run. I was hoping to do a 3 hour ride. I could manage on Speedy because I could put in a movie while I ride. Can't do that at the gym! (No, I don't listen to music. Just not interested in music.)

So that's where everything stands after one week. I need more healing vibes sent my way, please. :-)  Thanks!!