Category Archives: Recovery

Recovery, Training Rides

Loving the ride and grateful for pain

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I am incredibly grateful to be back on my bike.  I have ridden outside 3 days in a row, and every ride has been so enjoyable.  I put no pressure on myself to go faster or harder, I just enjoyed being on my bike again, the scenery, even the other riders who wanted to draft off of me (but I did push myself a little bit to ride one of them off my wheel – what can I say, I’m still competitive).  I’m even grateful for the pain I feel from using muscles that haven’t been used for a while.

I was able to climb a little bit today – a couple of short climbs that maxed out at 6.5% – and it allowed me to get me heart rate up.  I felt silly breathing so hard on a climb that used to be just a warmup, but I stilled smiled because I wasn’t in bed or on a couch trying to recover.  I rode for an hour on Friday, (about 12 miles), 2 hours on Saturday (30 miles) and another hour today (12 miles again).  But with each ride I gain more confidence and more strength, and I’m grateful for every new pain I feel and every gasp for air I endure on the bike.

There’s a lot of very smart people out there who believe the key to success, happiness, etc. is having an attitude of gratitude.  I think they just might be on to something!  🙂

Recovery, Training Rides

Slow but steady

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After my doctor’s visit on Tuesday, I got the ok to ride “slow, like 15 minutes” from the doctor.  So on Wednesday, I did just that – 15 minutes on the trainer.  Thursday I increased it to 25 minutes and did a little bit of climbing to get my heart rate up and to see how I’d feel.  I was a little sore but otherwise felt great.

Today – I got back on my “real” bike and rode outdoors for an hour!  It was wonderful.  I took it easy – only covered 12 miles – but instead of worrying about how fast I was going or what my heart rate was, I just looked around and enjoyed my surroundings.   It was a little strange to ride with traffic after being away from it for over 4 weeks.  And trying to ride slow was a new experience – I’m used to pushing to ride harder and faster.

I spent the next few hours supporting my husband on his climb to Mt. Baldy.  While driving on a long, curvy mountain road I actually got yelled at by another cyclist.  I was coming around a blind corner – slowly, with my bike on the bike rack – when I came upon 3 riders riding 3 abreast coming at me.  Both I and the riders were startled.  I was even more startled when one of them yelled at me to slow the f–k down.  I was already going less than 20!  I really wanted to shout back to suggest that riding 3 abreast on a blind curve on a narrow mountain road was an idiotic thing to do, but decided to be the bigger person and drive on.  Unfortunately it’s hot heads like that who give other cyclists a bad name.

While I waited for my husband to finish riding, I sat in the park and read a book.  I can’t remember the last time I did that!  But it was awesome.  I figure I may as well take advantage of a beautiful sunny afternoon by doing 2 things I thoroughly enjoy – reading, and being outside.  Soon enough I’ll be back riding Baldy and wondering where I left my lungs.

 

 

Recovery, Uncategorized

Making a comeback

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I haven’t been able to ride my bike for 4 weeks.  4 very long, and at times painful, weeks.  It started in January when my gynecologist noticed a mass near my uterus.  It could have been fluid that would resolve itself, or something else.  90 days later I went back to have it checked, and it was something else.  And that something else needed to come out by way of a hysterectomy.

I was not prepared at all mentally for a hysterectomy.  But once I recovered from the initial shock, I asked the next most logical question – could it wait until August when I returned from my cycling trip to France?  My doctor looked at me like I had suddenly grown a second nose and said simply, “No.”

Thankfully, I was able to get a very quick surgery date two and a half weeks later, May 3rd.  My plan was to train as hard as I could the next 2 weeks so I’d be in top shape before surgery.  I started researching supplements that would help me with recovery after surgery.  I felt confident that I’d bounce back quickly and be ready for France.  My body had other ideas.

8 days before my surgery I developed a nasty respiratory infection.  I was suffering quite a bit when I showed up for my pre-op and was informed that my surgery would not occur if I was sick.  Thankfully my doctor gave me a prescription for a Z pack and sent me on my way.  The next week was awful – one of the worst infections I’ve had in a while.  I had no idea whether I’d be able to have the surgery, but I certainly couldn’t ride my bike.

I showed up the morning of surgery praying the anesthesiologist and my surgeon would be comfortable moving forward.  Thankfully they were, and then the anesthesiologist proceeded to describe how I would basically be upside down during the procedure.  All I could think of was how in the world  I would breathe with my head upside down and completely congested?  But the drugs kicked in soon enough and the next thing I remembered was waking up after surgery with a lot of pain.

I was able to go home the next morning armed with pain pills.   The flight of stairs leading into our house was tortuous.  Having my husband have to help me do everything (including get to the bathroom) was nothing short of humiliating.  Thankfully I only needed the narcotic pain pills for about 5 days, then I refused to take them any longer.  I don’t like the way they make me feel and the pain could be controlled by Ibuprofen.  The following Monday I went back to work.  My head was still pretty foggy, but everyone was very patient with me.

The biggest problem I continued to have after surgery was swelling in my stomach and lots of digestion issues.  It turns out the swelling wasn’t from my surgery, but from my bowels instead.   So my next challenge is figuring out what is wrong there.  I’ve had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) since I was a teenager but had been managing it pretty well the last year.  I now have a G.I. specialist helping me, and I am scheduled for a colonoscopy June 17th to determine whether something more serious is going on.   Can’t wait for that pleasure.

The good news is yesterday I got the go ahead from my doctor to get back on my bike if I feel like it for  “short rides” on my bike.  Like 15 minute short rides.   So I spent 15 minutes this morning on the trainer.  Not fun, but better than nothing.  I’m definitely sore from it but ready to do more tomorrow, and hope to get outside on my bike over the weekend.

I’ll spend some time on future blogs chronicling my road back to fitness on the bike, and I’ll spend some time explaining what supplements I used to prepare for and recovery from surgery,  in the hope it will help others facing a similar situation.  I was able to travel 12 days after surgery for my stepdaughter’s college graduation, and I was able to teach a 3-day program for work 16 days after surgery.  My doctor thought I was crazy, but allowed me to do it.  I’m paying for it in soreness and fatigue, but nothing I can’t manage.

OK, I’ve stayed up later than I wanted (8:15 pm local time) but wanted to get this post done.  I’ve been thinking about it for a while now but was simply too tired to sit down and write it!  Until next time…