1st Week Back... Patience... Patience...

First day back was Tuesday. I rode a lack luster ride that night and really came away feeling like it might be a long recovery regardless of what I said in my last post. I took off Wednesday (trying to come back slowly)... I went out on a group ride on Thursday night... felt better, much better. I went out with the A group... a group of guys that are all great cyclists, but are no longer interested in riding with the racers that have developed in middle Georgia over the last few seasons. I hung in there for over an hour and had some decent efforts along the way... I dropped for two reasons... 1) my muscles felt tired in my bad leg, and 2) I bonked horribly. I don't know what the deal is, but since I have come back from injury, I seem to burn calories at a faster rate than before... even though the wattage is half what I am used to...

My NP for the effort was a little over 200Watts... up from 150 on Tuesday. I took off Friday and went out Saturday with Bret. My legs were not into it... my hip could feel the rain and cold when I got out of bed and I was disappointed with my effort. Sunday was better... I could sustain 200Watt+ efforts for the first time and even ventured into the 400 Watt range. My CTL is shot and I don't know what my FTP is now... I think I will list out some issues of interest... most of these are of interest because I am shocked at how far my fitness has gone down in three weeks...

• My legs and endurance suck, but my cardiovascular and respiratory system seem to be OK. Obviously, they are not stressed much in this condition, but even when I make a big effort, I am not winded nor does my HR shoot up.


• A two hour ride post hip injury feels like a 6 hour ride for me prior to injury. My neck, back, arms, and ass feel like I have never ridden a bike...


• I have heard/read that you lose half of your muscular fitness in 10 days of inactivity versus 20-30 days to lose half of your cardio fitness. I think this is right after this past week. I can see a major difference in my leg muscles... it is really shocking. When I look down on the bike, I barely recognize my own legs... especially my left. It shows me that when you talk about time to recovery for sickness and injury, sickness is not the same as injury unless you are bedridden with sickness. I had no weight bearing on my left leg until I got back on the bike, really. After 2.5 weeks with no activity, my legs are sickly looking and it is a major disappointment.


• I am projecting that I will be back to painless activity in one week. The difference day to day is still impressive. Today, for instance, I could stand on the bike and almost forget that I am hurt. Thursday, I was not close to that. I am only putting out around 300-350 watts, but it is still promising...


• I am walking with a cane now... I think Ronnie and Causey will enjoy knowing that I have officially joined the "old guys on bikes" race club...


• As a way to pass time while I sat on my ass for two weeks, I made some new purchases. I bought a new frame (below) and a new groupo... both slightly used, but both in great shape. I will be building up a new racing steed over the next few weeks and I am super pumped. I have never owned a high end bike... the one I currently ride, I purchased on Ebay for $1150 and the one before that, I bought used for $500. I am moving up from that.


• I am not bitter about this injury. I thought that I would be, but I am not. It is strange, but I am already looking forward to this winter. I know that I will be good again this season, but the way I was progressing, I wanted to see where my peak would be from a power perspective. I think, without injury, that I might have hit 330Watts or so for my FTP this year. I was at 317 Watts NP for one hour when I got hurt and I was on a steady rise. My CTL was at an all time high... with some rest and some racing, who knows... either way, I am looking forward to a good season and then really stepping it up in the off season to see where it can go... could I really be talking about winter in the spring... I need my head checked... I did break my helmet in that wreck... maybe it knocked something loose...