1UP

I had a plan today.  It was simple and it made sense.  I put icy hot on my knees, taped/wrapped them up (you can see the tape did a lot of good. boooo), and basically had three layers of knee warmers.

After starting some prescription anti-inflammatory treatment today, I headed out on the bike.  I was very skeptical that I would be able to ride given the pain I felt yesterday.  My plan was to ride up to the road that goes along the mountain (Tramway), which is about 30 min from my parents’ house, and make the call.  If my knee hurt, no sweat, I could coast back home.  If it was not painful, I would keep riding.  I noticed that the knee pain would creep up slowly with consistent, continuous pedaling – exactly what road riding requires most of the time.  I decided that if I did a mountain bike ride, my knee wouldn’t hurt because 1) standing up to pedal isn’t painful 2) coasting isn’t painful and 3) the type of riding in the foothills is the type where you pedal for 5-10 minutes, then have a downhill or a technical section, then pedal again.  The perfect solution for my ailment.  If my knees hurt, I would simply just head back downhill.

The trail was my saving grace today, and it was a bonus.  I love riding on singletrack – what could be better?

It was a beautiful day today, with temps near 50 degrees. I love how blue the sky is in Albuquerque.  Much to my surprise, my leg muscles felt great today.  I guess only riding 2 hours yesterday allowed them to heal.  I had to monitor myself closely to make sure I didn’t go too hard!
I did a few big loops and a few small loops in the North Foothills, and headed to the South Foothills to do one big loop and head home. There were a lot of people out riding today. I even saw several women, and younger kids riding which makes me happy.

Today’s ride time was 6hr 45 min, and it felt pretty easy!  I started getting a little loopy at the 5 hour mark, but a few Gu energy gels pepped me right up.

I am sitting at 25 hours of training for the week. I have to catch a flight home tomorrow and only have time for 4 hours, so I’ll fall 1 hour short of my 30 hour goal for the week. Not too bad considering yesterday was a bust. Hopefully I continue to feel better tomorrow (I still can’t believe how much better it felt today). I may be hitting the trails again, but am going to try to ride the road.

After tomorrow, it’s 1 week of R&R meaning a few shorter rides, working a little more than usual (haha. meaning greater than 30 hours a week), and probably getting a massage.

Thanks again to everyone for your comments on the last post. I am going to get some Kinesio tape to have in my ride bag at all times.