Hernia and cycling

The pain was sharp and crippling. It dug straight in the guts and doubled me over. Fortunately not many were in the office at the time but one joker still had me laughing at the pain and causing more. The indignity of it all. The next day the doctor was quite pleased when he was sure he found it. A job well done for him though he was a bit apologetic when he explained that the NHS wouldn't look at it for 6 months. Hernias ain't urgent apparently. Felt like it at the time.
It seems that evolution has made this a problem. Something like 300,000 ops per year for hernias in the UK which is a lot. My first thought was how can I do my training now. Will I have to bail out of the Tour of Wessex?
I was gutted. A few hours had me positive though. If I couldn't do the ToW maybe I can keep fit-ish on the turbo.
I read all sorts on the web about this iguinal hernia and found a few options to get it fixed and a few techniques. The NHS was out, no insurance, so I would have to stump up the Benjamin's myself. The options ranged from £1600 to £2500 and I almost booked one - get it over and done with, pay the cash, a few weeks of the bike then back to full swing in time for the ToW. Then saw another technique. A Canadian one. It seemed better but I was clearly at the mercy of advertising.
Probably the best plan would be to see if the pain could subside. Maybe the doctor had got it wrong. If I could get through the spring and summer then maybe a quick op in the winter.
Originally my training plan was to be have done a couple of consecutive 90 mile training rides in time for a Hell of Ashdown sportive. This sportive was simply an early season training session, at speed, for Wessex. I had 4 weeks left till Ashdown and now I was immobile.

Since then I have taken about 8 days completely off the bike, laying down on my back at night and waiting as the pain did subside a lot. At that point the area was tender, a bit worrying, but no sharp pains. I think I was concerned that it might come back at any moment. But I tried sitting on the turbo. I did 20 minutes of low power and felt pretty much the same when I got off as when I got on. So that was good. For a couple of days I did the same. The pain was not getting worse. Then after nearly 2 weeks I decided to do a proper training session. No too hard, tempo and steady state. No problem. Maybe a bit less pain. The next day I did the same. Good. Then a climbing repeat session. After a few days I was doing 2 hard session per day, with no pain, and I did that for three days on the trot. Excellent. The pain had gone. It was now friday and just over a week till the SportiveStrength and fitness was coming back and the pain was gone.
Saturday. I did a hard 60 miles. The calves struggled, and unfortunately, so did the tummy, but not till later. The tenderness has returned and standing up pulls a bit - so I sit down.

I'm going to keep riding this week, maybe 1 hour per day, most days and see if the pain goes a bit. I can ride through this pain as it isn't that bad. I just don't know if I'm doing more harm. Ok I know I am but ...
Today hasn't been great. It's Monday and I ride next Sunday in the freezing cold wind. It should be dry though. If theres a lot of ice i might bail out as my tummy wont like a crash or two.
So much to look forward to. Why bother? I'm not a pro and I'm not that good.

Training for the season's rides - #1 Back on the road

I've decided that I'm going to keep a diary of my thoughts in preparing for the year ahead. My last post or so was about the turbo over xmas. This week was my first back to work, so the first back on the road. Only Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so a short week.
The weather - Wed was dry, 3C, 8mph wind going to work, coming home was torrential. Thursday and Friday were around 9C and dry.

So how did it feel?
Well it was interesting because I felt ok on the bike, I did't seem too heavy or laboured,  and I seemed to be going at a reasonable speed so I guess I wasn't damaged by the Christmas scoffing - but did the turbo sessions make a difference? I wondered this a few time on Wednesday's ride to work and when I arrived, and all things considered, I think I'm in a better place. The subsequent days were fine too, I didn't tire or ache and probably had the benefit of some freshness because I hadn't been on the road for a couple of weeks. That must have made  a bit of a difference, but really the benefit was from the turbo.

I suppose first I should briefly describe the ride. It's a simple ride, with a few junctions at the start, then an 18 minute stretch of straight, gentle up hill ( highest 5%, lowest 1% typically about 2.5%) so it's a great road to get into an interrupted session. It's a bit rolling but that's good. After this section is a 5 minute uphill, of about 7 or 8%, there's one bit at 12%. After this, is a fast down hill, not too technical but often wet. So all in all I'm fortunate to have this ride every day. I can use the steep hill to gauge how    the ride so far has taken from me and gauge my general fitness.

I can measure power and heart rate and I have in fact recorded all my ride data for many years, but for maybe a year I've gone all retro and prefer to rely on how I feel and just compare the time it took. So I wont have many metrics in these diary entries, instead I think I'll comment on my perception and how I work with that. Of course, if anyone is reading this, then please don't think that I think that I'm an expert. I'm not. I'm just trying to figure things out with the benefit of quite a few years of pondering  about this stuff. In fact, I think its this big puzzle, the challenge of getting better and interpreting signs and ideas, that make s cycling such an interesting and challenging hobby. That and the expensive toys of course.

Anyway, how did I get on. Well the first thing I noticed was the improved peddling technique. I have worked on this before over the years but I'm sure that getting back on the turbo with the Carmichael DVDs has re-focussed my attention on this. It is pretty much second nature now and I wasn't thinking about it, but my usual big mashing press on the down-stroke seemed to have crept back into my stroke before Christmas. I was really pleased when I noticed my smooth stroke. So using this, a a steady heart rate in the Tempo region I did ok. The hill was a bit of a struggle. No where near as sprightly as last summer but then I am carrying a bit more kit. The ride him was bloody awful on Wednesday. So wet and hideous in the dark. Thursday and Friday were great and I think my fitness and energy levels didn't diminish.

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A couple of months to prepare for the Tour of Wessex

I have a tough event for me this year - the Tour of Wessex.
For many this three day event is hard, but for me it is really hard.
I managed it last year, three days of about 110 miles per day and I was a bit of a mess at the end.
Day one was good and I achieved a silver placing.
Day two was ok - and when averaged with day one my time was still silver - just.
Day three was real pain. Going up over Exmoor my vision was blurred but I was not in a good state, but I persevered and got around ok.
The highlight was whizzing down some endless hill with a car behind me. I was tucked in and flying. At the bottom I got some applause form the people in the car which was nice. Just what I needed as I was alone and struggling with probably quite a few miles yet to go.
SO. I thought I diary my training for this years event.
The date today is 1st Jan 2013 and the Tour of Wessex is 25th May.
All I need to do is:

1. Improve my fitness
2. Improve my on the bike nutrition
3. Book the ride
4. Sort out accommodation
5. and turn up.

I hope I can continue this log and I hope it is of use to either me in the future, or to someone else.