I called Nilesh, my sports med doc, and managed to get an appointment for the following morning. This would allow me another day to feel better, though that didn’t seem to be happening, and a chance to put in another ride to see where I stood…or to assure that I’d go in with massive pain and he’d have something to investigate. Anyway, it seemed like a decent plan.
I called Kim to ask her if she cared to join me. She’d seen me the previous evening struggling to get off the floor after trying to do some light stretching exercises.
“Are you sure you want to try riding?” she asked with some concern.
“Tell me you’ve never tried to train through an injury,” I countered.
“Well…if I did, I’m sure my coach would have been giving me a ton of shit over it,” she said…not having to mention the coach was me.
“Do as I say…blah…blah…blah...and besides...Lance would ride,” I answered.
I rode to her place, which is 10 minutes away, with only mild discomfort, though once there, I struggled getting off the bike. She watched this and again wondered aloud if this was the best thing for me.
“Look…I’m gonna ride and if you’re along and I can’t make it, you’ll help me back,” I said.
“Um…good luck with THAT!” she answered.
Kim is very mercenary. Once she starts a workout, it’s all about her, though I suppose I could have whined long enough to get her to stop and call someone to pick me up. Such a sweet girl. We made an abbreviated ride through Waite Hill and I stayed in the saddle on all climbs since standing and riding is what I feel led to the back pain in the first place. We maintained a decent pace though, riding about 17-18 mph and managed to keep going for 90 minutes. As the ride progressed, I was pretty sure my back was loosening…at least that’s what I told myself.
Once home, I went for a swim in the neighbor’s pool. I hobbled over and up the ladder, but once in the water, I experienced instant relief as the water buoyed me weight and relieved my back. I got out and toweled off and the pain quickly returned to the point that, once in the house, I needed to ascend the stairs on all fours. I hopped in bed, lying on an ice pack for 30 minutes. I followed that with time in a chair and later, while watching the Olympics, more time with the heating pad. By 9 p.m., I was actually feeling pretty good and walking rather normally. Tomorrow though, I was sure I’d get some answers. I have a great deal of faith in my doc…I coached his off-season running during his high school years, after all.
Bike Duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1250.
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