It's killing me but..........

[Felt_Rider]

BP, you are having an epic cycling season in my book. Two times to an island for prime climbing, Spain trip coming up and now signing up for the big Geneva event.

I would like to say that I am not jealous of your season, but.......

Sounds like a really fun cycling year.

 

[Bigpikle]

Thanks Felt - Geneva is next year though so I have something to look forward to! I'm going with Marmot Tours again and they already have some 2014 trips fully booked!

 

[jsirabella]

It may not be Genevia or Spain or even Miami but I must say that Huntsville, AL is hilly. Got here yesterday for a convention and when I landed the airlines lost my ritchey bike case. I was bummed as could not ride yesterday but it may have been a good thing as have never slept that much in a long time. Anyway the bike came at like 5am this morning, put it together and was able to squeeze in 90 minutes without having a clue of where I was going. All I knew was that I saw mountain ridges all around me, kind of reminded me of Vegas without the desert and as you headed out to the mountains it was much steeper but was not as consistant.

Anyway I came back, looked at the ride and my NP was off the charts but my AP was pretty much normal. The other thing was my IF was way at 1.02. I really do not know how to read this ride. I have my FTP set at 220 now cause that was my best actual hour in the last 6 mos. But according to today, my best 20 minute AP was 200, yet the NP was 245 and my hour best had an AP of only 180 but my NP was 225.

I guess it calculates IF based upon NP.

-js

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by jsirabella .
...I guess it calculates IF based upon NP...

Yeah, IF is defined as NP/FTP

 

[jsirabella]

There are days like today when cycling is just exactly the way I dreamed of it (atleast for me). It is not about the watts all the time but I found one of these perfect roads by luck here in Huntsville and headed all the way out and than on the way back got lost around the downtown area and found this hidden gem of a dive/diner with a counter top right out of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives called 3 Skillets, had an amazing 3 egg omelete, got back to the hotel, showered and ready for a day at the convention. The sweet tea is amazing here.

And the ride data was not bad either with a 100 TSS for about 1:45 minute ride. Fun times indeed!

-js

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by jsirabella .

There are days like today when cycling is just exactly the way I dreamed of it (atleast for me). It is not about the watts all the time but I found one of these perfect roads by luck here in Huntsville and headed all the way out and than on the way back got lost around the downtown area and found this hidden gem of a dive/diner with a counter top right out of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives called 3 Skillets, had an amazing 3 egg omelete, got back to the hotel, showered and ready for a day at the convention. The sweet tea is amazing here.

And the ride data was not bad either with a 100 TSS for about 1:45 minute ride. Fun times indeed!

-js

Welcome to the south!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
Sounds like a great day indeed and I know the weather had to be great because I was in it just a few hours east on a long ride.

 

[jsirabella]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider .

Welcome to the south!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
Sounds like a great day indeed and I know the weather had to be great because I was in it just a few hours east on a long ride.

The South is a nice place dude well atleast here in Huntsville. Not so much for convention sales but for riding it is really nice. This morning I really wanted to get in one last ride before I had to check out of the hotel. It takes me about 45 minutes to put the bike back into the Ritchey case.

Got out on the road at 7am and it was a nice 70 degrees, the roads were beyond empty and I took the same route as yesterday and could tell my watt output was looking good. I took this right at the bike sign that said 30 cause it looked interesting yesterday and it was an amazing nice 5 mile round trip that ends at the Red Stone (?) arsenal and would be perfect for short TT's. It was me and basically a 2 lane each side highway with no one anywhere.

I finished my entire ride at ~9am right outside the 3 Skillet and had another amazing breakfast for $6(?), I was like why so cheap? She explained cause I seated myself it is less money. I could not stop thinking the garbage we eat in NYC for ~20. I gave her $5 extra and said you guys are crazy for charging so little and said your stuff is great food and the sweet tea is to die for.

Anyway I got back to the room and saw I pretty much hit a 225 AP but my NP was 235 so I am thinking of raining the FTP to ~230. Not sure yet. I love the riding here, the sales not so much and would come back just to ride again. I mean at least I did better than break even.

The town is a govt town the locals explained as without the arsenal and space program it would just disappear if they pulled out. Most say it is a great place but it is also a bit boring and for culture you go to Nashville or Memphis or Birmingham. For a city boy, a few days here is a delight. My next excursion is a family trip my wife booked for St. Lucia and she made sure there is some riding so I am a bit excited about it. I figure it will be way different.

You are a lucky guy Jess to have areas like this to ride around and there are plenty of hills around here if you want to enjoy the pain game. Hope you had a great ride also.

js

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by jsirabella .
You are a lucky guy Jess to have areas like this to ride around and there are plenty of hills around here if you want to enjoy the pain game. Hope you had a great ride also.

js

Good and bad.....good in a sense I like spinning the cranks anytime I can. Bad in a sense that around the 20 mile mark I stood up on the pedal at an intersection to get started, twisted around to look to see how close an oncoming car was and somehow in all of that I really tweaked my lower back and right hip area (sucks getting older and being prone to such things). I went on to finish the 80 mile out and back route rather than calling it a day and still enjoyed the being out on the bike. It was so bad at the 40 mile turn point that I could struggled to get off my bike and could not stand up straight, but I could tolerated being tucked in aero and could still deliver some power in that position to get home. Very uncomfortable on climbs, very discomforting trying to do active recovery yesterday. Spent a good time stretching this morning and that has helped alleviate the discomfort some. I should be back to normal in a few more days.

Oh well been through this before and I will keep pushing forward.
So I will conclude with, "Yes, I really did have a great ride on Saturday."

 

[jsirabella]

felt, FWIW, I am in no position to give you advice given your background with bodybuilding but just keep in mind we are older and you are doing double shift between weights and biking so just be careful.

For myself my plane came in late and I did not get to bed till about 2 and the next morning I had jury duty but luckily I got out of it in one day. No more for 6 years now. Yesterday was really a great ride in that I was doing my usual like >200 intervals and decided to do three and could tell they were too easy. No sweating, socks were dry so I believe the 230 is at hand and will eventually give a test soon.

Bout to get on the bike and give it a whirl. I will try again the same workout from yesterday and see if I cam do it or take it down a notch.

In the end, glad you were happy with your ride.

-js

 

[Felt_Rider]

It turns out to be a SI joint sprain injury. I've been told to take it easy and let it heal.

I've been spinning light (60% or less of FT) for the last several days and finally got in to see the doc today to get this dianosis. My dr thinks that may be okay to spin light since I have already been doing that with it not getting worse. I am able to walk a bit more normal now, but still have trouble getting my right shoe and sock on.
/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Edit: I am really hoping that he misdiagnosed this. He did a few resistance tests of my right leg and just said "I think it may be your SI joint". So hopefully it is not as severe. I feel like it is improving each day and by reading some pages on SI injuries those seem pretty bad with very long recovery times. I go back on Friday for some more tests.

 

[Felt_Rider]

I am starting to think that my SI joint is okay. As the hours go by the inflammation is reducing with the pinpoint area of discomfort seems to be near L5. I still cannot lift my right leg very far and putting on shoes, socks and even pants is still a little difficult, but at least today I feel more hopeful. I am getting a little more mobility each day and able to lift my right leg a little higher without extreme sharp pain.

Just a couple days ago the injury was bad enough that the entire hip area was swollen with inflammation and it was hard to pinpoint where the injury was. I believe my description may have influenced the docs thoughts that it was my SI joint. Still not sure so I am being cautious. He was being cautious too and did not really want to stress it much yesterday with tests.

I am hoping to get out on Saturday and use the ultra flat MUP for easy spinning low watts.
Thankfully the forces on the bike are low and the range of motion is short, but I have to watch my posture and not make any sudden shifts in the saddle.

I hate to see where my CTL is now so I am avoiding peeking at WKO PMC at the moment
/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[jsirabella]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider .



I hate to see where my CTL is now so I am avoiding peeking at WKO PMC at the moment
/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

FWIW, I would not be worrying about it much now and just get better. Your description sounds a bit severe. You know your body but maybe more rest is in the cards for now till you are ready. The CTL slope will always be there waiting for you.

 

[ambal]

Originally Posted by bgoetz .

Well turns out someone got a great video of my crash and I have confirmed 100% that I totally clipped a pedal. I took an outside line that I had never taken before so I could move up and just kept pedaling through. Problem was I was on the outside of the crown of the road and just nailed my pedal. Wish I could figure out how to get it off of Facebook it is really a great video of what NOT to do.

Link it up please, everyone likes a good crash video.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by jsirabella .


FWIW, I would not be worrying about it much now and just get better. Your description sounds a bit severe. You know your body but maybe more rest is in the cards for now till you are ready. The CTL slope will always be there waiting for you.

Thanks js
I know you know all about lower back issues

It immediately clicked over from a fitness concern (loss) to a immediate action for healing and recovery. This was one of those times where the pain is so severe there was no choice but to forget about everything concerning cycling fitness to a point of thinking this is pretty serious or could be pretty serious. Now that the inflammation is reducing I can sense or pinpoint the area of concern. When it first happened the entire right hip was affected with discomfort radiating out so that it was difficult to tell how much damage and there is not really an inexpensive way to determine soft tissue damage so I had to wait.

What made me nervous was that I had been stretching and the one thing that would have been bad is to stretch when it it could be torn or strained soft tissue. I am fairly confident now that it is not in the SI joint and if it had been the SI the position on the bike, stretching, using an inversion table and spinning light would have all made it worse.

I went with my gut feeling that it wasn't the SI and more toward the spine. The light spinning was and is for therapeutic intentention of trying to keep blood circulating in the area and help with inflammation. The other part was trying certain hip, leg, abdominal stretches and inversion table to open up the vertebrae to help release the inflammation and because all of those muscle groups are trying to lock down as a reaction.

Now I am at the point of playing it by ear and just keep moving. Sitting around (better yet bed rest) is the appropriate thing when soft tissue is strained (torn) to allow healing and then start to introduce therapy to keep scar tissue from forming, but I feel like this may be nothing more than a severe back and hip muscle spasm as a result of a pinched nerve. Regardless I have to take it easy for a while, but fortunately light cycling or walking may be a good therapy for keeping the blood flowing and it seems to help relax those muscle groups that are trying to lock down (spasm).

I've been training for many years and there is always that fear of having a really significant injury that is either permanently crippling or requires surgery. The first couple of days of this I had some of those thoughts trying to creep in because the pain was so severe. I got back on the bike for light spinning for the physical therapy, but also to quench those discouraging thoughts that were trying to creep and to keep hope in the forefront.

 

[Bigpikle]

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery from your injury Felt - hope it doesnt set you back too far.

If I may pose a quick question to the collective knowledge, as I'm now 2 weeks from the big day out and wondering what could give me that final % for the big day?

This week I managed some VO2 work in the form of 4 min intervals on Monday, a 10TT on Tuesday and Wed was an hour of L4 at 270w AP. Then rest on Thursday and today I hit a 6x3min VO2 session averaging 350-360w for each of the 6 intervals, which is the best I've ever hit repeatedly. Now I have 3 days over the weekend and Monday then an enforced rest on a trip to Poland for 3 days and I doubt I'll touch a pedal in any form, and then I have 5 days to train as I like before we fly out. When we get there the plan is for 2 easy days riding a few climbs before the event on the Saturday 22nd.

So, I have a block of 3 days, then 3 days rest and 5 days, which I need a plan for. I know there is really very little I can do now but am wondering whether devoting most of that to a variety of VO2 intervals might give me a quick final boost? I have only EVER done a handful of L5 intervals and am wondering whether I might be able to tap into a quick VO2 boost by packing in as much VO2 work as possible? Is there a downside to trying this? Could I see any drop in other areas of fitness? Could I possibly just get a bit of a 'pull-up' FTP boost? I'm happy to spend to some of my CTL as this is my A event for the year. The alternative would be to pack in a load of L4 work but as I have a long history of L3/4 work the last couple of years I'm wondering if there would be much value at this stage...

Appreciate people's experience and viewpoints please.

 

[RapDaddyo]

Originally Posted by Bigpikle .

If I may pose a quick question to the collective knowledge, as I'm now 2 weeks from the big day out and wondering what could give me that final % for the big day?

Well, in reality you have 1 week for training and 1 week for tapering. For your training week, I don't think it matters much whether you do L5 repeats or SST/L4 work. What matters most is total training volume. I recommend maintaining your recent weekly volume of total "quality" time (i.e., SST/L4/L5). As to your 2nd week, I'm sure there are lots of good threads here on tapering and you will get various opinions. My approach to tapering is simple. I do the same weekly structure I have been doing but about half the total volume. So, if I have been doing 15 hours/week with about 50% quality time (SST+), then I would cut that to about 7-8 hours total time and 50% quality time. The one thing to avoid in this taper period is to avoid adding weight due to the reduced training volume. So, watch what you eat. Good luck on the ride. I think it will be your best ride ever.

 

[Bigpikle]

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo .

Well, in reality you have 1 week for training and 1 week for tapering. For your training week, I don't think it matters much whether you do L5 repeats or SST/L4 work. What matters most is total training volume. I recommend maintaining your recent weekly volume of total "quality" time (i.e., SST/L4/L5). As to your 2nd week, I'm sure there are lots of good threads here on tapering and you will get various opinions. My approach to tapering is simple. I do the same weekly structure I have been doing but about half the total volume. So, if I have been doing 15 hours/week with about 50% quality time (SST+), then I would cut that to about 7-8 hours total time and 50% quality time. The one thing to avoid in this taper period is to avoid adding weight due to the reduced training volume. So, watch what you eat. Good luck on the ride. I think it will be your best ride ever.

thanks - sounds like a plan!

I'll let you know how it all goes.

 

[jsirabella]

Originally Posted by Felt_Rider .


[SIZE= 13px]Sitting around (better yet bed rest) is the appropriate thing when soft tissue is strained (torn) to allow healing and then start to introduce therapy to keep scar tissue from forming, but I feel like this may be nothing more than a severe back and hip muscle spasm as a result of a pinched nerve. Regardless I have to take it easy for a while, but fortunately light cycling or walking may be a good therapy for keeping the blood flowing and it seems to help relax those muscle groups that are trying to lock down (spasm).[/SIZE]

I know when my issue first started, it was very difficult to not get back on the bike. Going back to your original description of the ride, it may have been the continuing to ride after the first significant signs of pain that aggravated it a bit more and has you in the situation you are in now. In any case, if it is a pinched nerve may I suggest more standing and walking and not too much sitting or riding at this time. Ice and Heat are your friends also, well atleast for me and when I really want to get over the strain pain I usually wear my back support during the day.

I find the best is to simply lie on the floor in a mini cobra, watch some TV and put some ice and heat for a day if it is bad. Just my experience and the one thing I have learned about back issues, no two are the same.

Good luck, rest up and you will be back on the stead before you know it.

-js

 

[Felt_Rider]

Originally Posted by Bigpikle .


thanks - sounds like a plan!

I'll let you know how it all goes.

BP, I bet you will do great. At least you have done your work this season as I have witnessed the efforts.
Best wishes on the managing the last two weeks and most of all I hope you enjoy the miles and the adventure.

Originally Posted by jsirabella .

Good luck, rest up and you will be back on the stead before you know it.

-js

Thanks JS

All good advice. I didn't see this until after my ride today, but I think it went okay for an easy spin.

My chiro gave me the "okay" yesterday during a checkup with conditions. I don't think understood how far I was going to go, but I did keep the intensity down and it was mostly flat so I at least followed those two conditions that he laid on the table and I laid on ice packs when I got home. As I mentioned to BP elsewhere, I am a bit stupid and stubborn at times. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif

 

[Felt_Rider]

Yesterday's easy spin ride was a roll of the dice. Waking up this morning I have a bit more range of motion in my right leg and can put on socks without a struggle so I think things are on moving the right direction.

I think I will be able to ease back to my normal training routine this week and begin to add more intensity. I hope anyway.