So, I am recovering from the accident in a VERY speedy fashion...I have been attending Don's PT sessions (along with Greg who is not only quite knowledgeable but extremely funny at the same time! Oh and he bought me a chocolate bar the other day too, so that bumps him up a notch on my list!)... I have also been continuing the water jogging (I use AQx Sports water jogging shoes and special flotation belt made for smaller women...FANTASTIC!!) The trainer workouts on the bike are getting better and better as I become more familiar with being inside and pushing the watts in one position. I also got an MRI, and just as Don suspected..."severe bone bruising", but that's about it! I escaped a major hit with a car with nothing but some bad bruising, and while that will take a while to heal, I am grateful that nothing is broken or torn!
So, back to the bike and the trainer. Usually I despise the trainer, but since I have no choice but to ride it right now (I may have my first outside ride in 2 1/2 weeks this weekend) I am beginning to really like it. It enables you to really focus on a steady effort and good form as well. I find it to be difficult, but I am becoming a fan the more I do it! I have also been able to focus on pushing in my new aero position. PLUS the weather in NY really sucks right now, so it's nice to put shorts and a jersey on, pop in a cycling video and do a quality session inside! Don't get me wrong, I've been known to ride in gnarley weather with wind chills in the single digits. Weather where your water bottle freezes after a half hour, but this is a NICE change to bundleing up and suffering in the cold!
After Hawaii, Mike, George and I decided that I was losing too many precious minutes on the bike due to an aero position that just isn't very aero! For my size, I am pushing high watts without a huge effort, so the decision was to lower the position and slip through the air a little easier.
About a month ago I went to Babylon Bike shop and Mike lowered the bars...a lot! The aero bars were lowered 3.5 cm, the saddle was moved forward 1.6 cm, while rising up 3 mm "to maintain nearly the same relationship between the femur and the hip". It felt CRAZY low for the maiden ride, but I seemed to adjust quite nicely. Just before my accident, I did a "marker workout" to test how responded so far to the new position. Two sets of 20 minutes as hard as you can maintain (somewhere around threshold) with 5 minutes easy between each effort (2x20's). I did this workout one week in the "old position", and the next week in the new aero position. While I didn't hold the same watts (that takes a few weeks), I was roughly 10 watts lower in the new position. I thought this was a VERY positive sign!!! The next day was the accident, but looking from a positive standpoint, I have since been able to push on the trainer in the aero position without being disturbed by lights, or other distractions. It has been a "blessing in disguise" and I'm sure I will be rocking the new position once I get back on the road!
Included are some pics at Babylon Bike Shop taken by Brian Fallon...Thanks Brian!
1 comment:
Blog looks great, Dee. Keep it coming :-)
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