Wednesday 28 December 2011

Injury Scare Thwarted

When I was a lot younger and I overdid it in any form of exercise or training I would feel a bit stiff the next day. As I got older I found I was OK the next day but started feeling the effects the day after. I didn't know this "delayed-action" reaction went on even further as one gets older, but maybe at a certain age some people get what they call common sense and start to ease off. Not me. Nooooo. I never had much time for that common sense stuff.

The result of all this is that on Boxing Day my knees felt sore and every muscle in my legs felt stiff. This carried over to Tuesday as well and I was seriously worried about when I'd be in shape to go out on the bike again. It is obvious that I had overdone it last week with 40 odd miles on Tuesday followed by 50 odd miles on Thursday. There is also the matter of a decent drinking session on Friday and the usual Christmas Day socialising which may have delayed recovery. I also realised that I had not been taking my glucosamine tablets which are supposed to help arthritis in knees. The jury is still out by the way. I actually bought myself some glucosamine while Christmas shopping on Saturday and have been taking them since so that will not be an excuse for much longer.

I felt a bit better today and the weather was fine so I ventured out and did a short, easy 11 miles. I felt OK at the end but, as I put my bike away in the garage, I noticed the seat on the new touring bike was about 40 cm lower than the seat on my other road bike. I hadn't checked them together when I bought the new bike. I just put the seat to where it felt OK and got on with it. It never really troubled me but it must have had an effect on the long rides I did last week. I have adjusted the new seat now and will see how that goes.

I finally bought a tent on Boxing Day together with a mega cheap solid fuel stove. After my little break I will slowly start to build up the mileage again but equipment must be the focus over the next few weeks. Hopefully, when I have all the camping stuff I will be able to do a few trial runs involving nights away in a field but I will have to find a field near a guest house or hotel. Just in case, you understand. It's called common sense - I think.

No comments:

Post a Comment