..Stevies back, Mountain bikin'.
Finally got back onto some singletrack for the first time since my knee surgery(basically 1 year since I wasn't mtn biking in the winter). It felt great! I was a little rusty on some of the downhill spots but for the most part I felt really good. Burns and I went up to the Betasso Preserve at the top of Magnolia Road in Boulder. It is a 2.3mi loop with the bikers currently going counter clock-wise(every other month they switch it up), it's not too challenging with lots of fast dry single track and a few technical spots.
Today is going to be a run day after I bike home from work this afternoon as I continue with my training and Goal of finishing 3rd in my AG at the XTERRA Winter World Championships!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Ooohhhhhmmmmm
I've been wanting to try Yoga for a while now and with the Ski season fast approaching, my training plan in full swing and my knee still not at 100% but getting close, I figured it was time to try.
Note to self, do not do an upper body workout just prior to your Yoga session. This was a rookie mistake that just meant the muscles in my upperbody would be fatigued while trying to hold my body up in certain positions.
Yesterday's class was called Flow Yoga so you are constantly moving from one position to another with little holding or resting. It was hard to get my breathing synced up but I have heard that will come with time and practice.
All in all it was a good experieince and I look forward to making it a part of my regular routine. I am a little sore today but that means it worked(at least that's what I tell myself).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Long Road Ahead
Yesterday was an easy day. Roughly 20k of biking(mostly to and from work) then a few beers and chillin. Today is my weights/Yoga day and following that I'll be ready to sleep about 12 hours. This week has been dragging on and on...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Numbness
Been getting a numb(pins and needles) feeling on my left shin just below the knee. Most likely this has to do with the surgery, possibly some nerve damage near the repaired area. It doesn't hurt and is not too uncomfortable, it may just be something I have to deal with the rest of my life...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A little background...
...on why I started this blog, what I'm doing with it, my goals and my previous experiences.
Around February/March of last year a friend of mine got the idea to sign up for and start training for an XTERRA off-road triathlon. I ran cross country in high school, and had recently gotten into XC mountain biking, so this definitely piqued my interest. We signed up and trained for 16 weeks leading up to the competition in June. When it came to training I made a plan but had a hard time sticking to it, and when race time came around it showed in the swimming event. It was a 1k open water swim(water was 56 deg) and I struggled. The mountain bike was next and I actually did OK, had a better time than my buddy. 20 miles of trail riding at 9000 in Buffalo Creek, CO is no cake walk, the best(worst) part is the 3 mile climb up a logging rode back to the transition area. The 5 mile trail run that was the final leg of the tri was brutal, I had lost my water bottle without realizing during the mountain bike race and was becoming seriously dehydrated. I felt like they made the course as tough as possible, literally running up and down the side of a mountain, and by the time I was coming down the home stretch my hamstrings were refusing to move as I asked them too. I limped across the finish line and collapsed. time = 3:50:21, 114Th out of 149 overall and 8Th of 10 in my AG.
Not bad, not great, most importantly, not last. Lots of lessons to take away from that race and decided I would train harder and come back next year and demolish my pathetic time. On February 27Th, 2008 that changed. While skiing at Big Sky in Bozeman, MT with some friends from back east I decided it would be a good idea to throw a backflip over a 25-30 drop. I had my landing picked out, the lip was perfect, perfect rotation, tight knees, then, uh oh, overrotated-thought I could ride it out-then the skis took a different direction without releasing and POP! There goes my ACL. We were on the backside of Loan Peak, this means it would take forever for Ski Patrol to get out there, and me being me, I said I could ride back down. Needless to say it popped again on the way down and I had to push my self on one ski all the way back to the front side of the mountain, that sucked.
4/7/2008 - ACL reconstruction surgery, using a new procedure, Dr. Seng removed part of my ITB(middle hamstring, back of the knee area) and put it in place of the damaged ACL. He drilled a hole in my Tibia and screwed down the new ligament, reattached my separated medial meniscus and shaved my MCL as that was sprained as well. This is a fairly new procedure and the worst part was recovering from the harvesting of my own hamstring that was used to replace the ACL. Doc says the knee will be stronger that ever will the right training and a little dedication.
9/7/2008 - 5 months out of surgery, itching to get back into something. Road biking to work everyday and rides on the weekends are not enough, then I find www.xterraplanet.com/winter/events.html and I am pumped. Training has begun and I will post a schedule soon, still making lots of changes to tailor the training specifically to this race.
So there ya have it, a brief overview with many more details to come in the future as we lead up to the Race, and of course photos and results afterwards. Let me know what your think, am I crazy? Is this something you might be thinking of? Do you have any training tips or suggestions? I'm all ears.
Around February/March of last year a friend of mine got the idea to sign up for and start training for an XTERRA off-road triathlon. I ran cross country in high school, and had recently gotten into XC mountain biking, so this definitely piqued my interest. We signed up and trained for 16 weeks leading up to the competition in June. When it came to training I made a plan but had a hard time sticking to it, and when race time came around it showed in the swimming event. It was a 1k open water swim(water was 56 deg) and I struggled. The mountain bike was next and I actually did OK, had a better time than my buddy. 20 miles of trail riding at 9000 in Buffalo Creek, CO is no cake walk, the best(worst) part is the 3 mile climb up a logging rode back to the transition area. The 5 mile trail run that was the final leg of the tri was brutal, I had lost my water bottle without realizing during the mountain bike race and was becoming seriously dehydrated. I felt like they made the course as tough as possible, literally running up and down the side of a mountain, and by the time I was coming down the home stretch my hamstrings were refusing to move as I asked them too. I limped across the finish line and collapsed. time = 3:50:21, 114Th out of 149 overall and 8Th of 10 in my AG.
Not bad, not great, most importantly, not last. Lots of lessons to take away from that race and decided I would train harder and come back next year and demolish my pathetic time. On February 27Th, 2008 that changed. While skiing at Big Sky in Bozeman, MT with some friends from back east I decided it would be a good idea to throw a backflip over a 25-30 drop. I had my landing picked out, the lip was perfect, perfect rotation, tight knees, then, uh oh, overrotated-thought I could ride it out-then the skis took a different direction without releasing and POP! There goes my ACL. We were on the backside of Loan Peak, this means it would take forever for Ski Patrol to get out there, and me being me, I said I could ride back down. Needless to say it popped again on the way down and I had to push my self on one ski all the way back to the front side of the mountain, that sucked.
4/7/2008 - ACL reconstruction surgery, using a new procedure, Dr. Seng removed part of my ITB(middle hamstring, back of the knee area) and put it in place of the damaged ACL. He drilled a hole in my Tibia and screwed down the new ligament, reattached my separated medial meniscus and shaved my MCL as that was sprained as well. This is a fairly new procedure and the worst part was recovering from the harvesting of my own hamstring that was used to replace the ACL. Doc says the knee will be stronger that ever will the right training and a little dedication.
9/7/2008 - 5 months out of surgery, itching to get back into something. Road biking to work everyday and rides on the weekends are not enough, then I find www.xterraplanet.com/winter/events.html and I am pumped. Training has begun and I will post a schedule soon, still making lots of changes to tailor the training specifically to this race.
So there ya have it, a brief overview with many more details to come in the future as we lead up to the Race, and of course photos and results afterwards. Let me know what your think, am I crazy? Is this something you might be thinking of? Do you have any training tips or suggestions? I'm all ears.
I am not going to get up today!
Hard time getting moving this morning.
Yesterday was a bike/run day, I did ~16km on the bike on the road and then ran ~4k. After doing roughly 95km on the bike over the weekend the knee was definitely feeling a little sore. During the run I noticed a feeling of numbness below my left knee, kinda like pins and needles, not painful but odd and a bit disconcerting. I have an appointment with Dr. Seng in two weeks and if this persists I can speak with about it.
Two more weeks until I 'should' be cleared for plant and pivot movements, about time. I can finally start mountain biking again and play some basketball and , the big one, SKIING!
Today is a bike/gym day, biked to work this morning, 8k, and then bike to the gym after work for a leg/knee routine and then 30sec on/off sprints home. Pasta dinner and pass out.
Yesterday was a bike/run day, I did ~16km on the bike on the road and then ran ~4k. After doing roughly 95km on the bike over the weekend the knee was definitely feeling a little sore. During the run I noticed a feeling of numbness below my left knee, kinda like pins and needles, not painful but odd and a bit disconcerting. I have an appointment with Dr. Seng in two weeks and if this persists I can speak with about it.
Two more weeks until I 'should' be cleared for plant and pivot movements, about time. I can finally start mountain biking again and play some basketball and , the big one, SKIING!
Today is a bike/gym day, biked to work this morning, 8k, and then bike to the gym after work for a leg/knee routine and then 30sec on/off sprints home. Pasta dinner and pass out.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Ah ha! I've got it! Brain, how can I ever thank you?
Did 95km on the bike this weekend riding around Boulder. Sunday was a rest day and today was a bike in the morning then bike home from work followed by a 5k run then MNF.
Entering week 3 I have seen a slight improvement in my riding and overall physical shape. I am going on a nutrition plan beginning this week, I will post the complete plan once finalized but for now it includes oatmeal, fruit and juice in the am (~700 cal), then rice bean and some meat, chicken or steak, for lunch(~1000 cal). For dinner I will be focusing on pasta, rice, beans, veggies, fish and chicken(~1000+ cal). Initially I will be aiming for roughly 3000 calories a day and increasing that number as my workouts increase in intensity.
Counting this week I have 3 more of training before going to Amsterdam and setting myself back a bit, it'll be worth it.
Entering week 3 I have seen a slight improvement in my riding and overall physical shape. I am going on a nutrition plan beginning this week, I will post the complete plan once finalized but for now it includes oatmeal, fruit and juice in the am (~700 cal), then rice bean and some meat, chicken or steak, for lunch(~1000 cal). For dinner I will be focusing on pasta, rice, beans, veggies, fish and chicken(~1000+ cal). Initially I will be aiming for roughly 3000 calories a day and increasing that number as my workouts increase in intensity.
Counting this week I have 3 more of training before going to Amsterdam and setting myself back a bit, it'll be worth it.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wrapping up week 2 and Welcome to my blog
This is where I plan to share the pains and triumphs, trials and tribulations of training for The XTERRA Winter World Championships. I had reconstructive ACL surgery on April 7Th(left knee), and after nearly 6 months of rehab I am ready to get back on track.
I have 24 weeks from the first week of training(9/8-9/14) until the competition (3/7/09). Eventually I will publish my training and nutrition plan but for now I am honing it and making changes daily.
The first week of training contained 81km on my bike(all on road) and 6k worth of running. This was the first distance running(I know not very far) since my surgery and it was a bit painful, knee was sore after each run. Also some weights at the gym(one leg hamstring curls, one leg presses, calf raises, one leg balance on elliptical ball then sprints-30sec on off-home on the bike) to round out my training routine.
So far week 2 has been very similar to week one, all told I will have about 86km on the bike(on road) and 6-8km running. Weights at the gym twice this week and still haven't started doing Yoga but either Saturday or next week I will begin to incorporate that into my routine.
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