It's been seven and a half weeks since my crash, and that's really hard for me to believe. I'm trying hard to get back to normal as soon as possible, and everyone - family, friends, and co-workers - is telling me that I'm too hard on myself. Maybe, but maybe not. After all, how will I improve and get back to normal without pushing myself? And remember, for me normal includes biking - it's an important part of my life! I'm still trying to figure out what to do to help myself become closer to the Denise that I'm used to. Maybe writing down what I did from an exercise standpoint for the past week will help me to figure out how to help myself improve.
- Monday, July 5th --- no biking, walk: 75 minutes
Monday was a tired day for me. I clearly overdid the biking over the weekend, and luckily it was a somewhat wet weather day on Monday so I wasn't tempted to overdo it again. - Tuesday, July 6th --- Bike: 16 miles, walk: 50 minutes
In addition to getting back to biking, I'm also getting back to work. I spent 3 hours in the office and worked at home for probably the same amount of time. My walks today were a short walk in the morning, and another short walk after dinner with a stop at Starbucks for my evening decaf iced Americano. I took a bike ride at the end of my work day - a total of 16 miles, still at a very slow pace, so I'll count it at an hour and 15 minutes. Ouch! I've always been a relatively slow rider - but I've always been able to ride as far as I wanted. I wonder if my current slow speed will improve? To be honest, the time isn't what I'm working on - it's the endurance. - Wednesday, July 7th --- Bike: 15 miles, walk: 30 minutes
I was tired this morning, had trouble falling asleep last night. So what else is new? (OK, OK, it's new since the accident!) I turned the light out at 11, but the last time I looked at the clock it was about 12:30. I set the alarm for 7:30 and actually got up at 8. The alarm? I'm trying to retrain my body to sleep somewhat normal hours (for me that is). If I had been able to sleep from 11 to 7:30, that's 8 1/2 hours. My healing body appears to need between 9 and 10 hours of sleep, but I'm not OK with sleeping until 10AM to make up for not falling asleep at night. I'm hoping that if I continue to get up at a somewhat normal hour that my brain will get the hint that it's supposed to sleep at night. And I say somewhat because 7:30 just doesn't cut it if I want to exercise before work - or ride my bike to work! Because I woke up feeling tired, I opted to work at home today. I did manage to get in a late afternoon bike ride. I was still tired, but I felt like I needed to get moving. My ride was on neighborhood streets, not too far from home. It consisted of lots of small loops so I could get home easily if I misjudged myself and was really tired. Not so! - Thursday, July 8th --- No biking, walk: 70 minutes
I went to sleep last night at 10:30 - after the telecast of the Tour de France time trial - and set the alarm for 7:30 this morning. I headed into the office after breakfast and a 30-minute walk. I worked at my office today from 9:30 to 2:15, which is an improvement in time, but I knew it was time to head home when I started feeling dizzy. I drove home in an absolute downpour so today for a change I was glad I hadn't ridden my bike to work. I managed to spend some more time working once I got home, but I didn't ride today. It was time for a much-needed rest! - Friday, July 9th --- Bike: 16 miles, walk: 65 minutes
I had every intention of going to the office again today, but I was tired and a bit dizzy when I woke up so it turned into a work at home day. I guess I'm going to have to get used to being dizzy because it seems to be a relatively common condition for me lately. My morning dizziness did seem to abate by mid-afternoon and I didn't feel like I was risking falling, so I headed out for a 16-mile bike ride. - Saturday, July 10th --- Bike: 26 miles, walk: 40 minutes
Today was a day devoted to bicycles. I picked up my repaired and tuned up Pocket Rocket at the bike shop this morning. It was actually ready on Tuesday, but I didn't manage to drive over there before today... all better. I did a 26 mile ride this afternoon. It felt good, but I was definitely tired toward the end. I had no pain until I got off the bike - then I noticed soreness in my pelvis when I was walking. Funny - is that bone soreness, or are the muscles somehow involved? Time for a snack and a shower. Afterwards, as I sat watching a late broadcast of today's Tour de France I started feeling dizzy - or maybe I should say off balance. That feeling persisted for the rest of the day. It's a feeling I think I have to get used to. Not terrible, just not normal. I wonder if my body is trying to tell me I did too much today? - Sunday, July 11th --- Bike: 24 miles, walk: 45 minutes
I started today by watching the live coverage of the Tour de France. Then it was time for some more food before I headed out on my bike. It was a good ride although I started to feel tired at around 20 miles. At that point I had to ride another four miles to get home. After a shower and a snack - yes, eating again - I started to feel dizzy. I wonder why I don't feel that way on my bike... maybe I should ride further! Seriously though, that's probably not a great idea. I think continuing to increase my time on the bike slowly is the right idea.
So what did I learn?
It's becoming clear to me that I expect more of myself than is reasonable at this stage of my recovery. Luckily, no one else expects the same. No, I'm not back at work full-time yet. And I'm not in the kind of cycling shape I expect to be in by this point in the summer. I want to be back, and I don't know how long it will take to get there. I hope that my body is ready for my planned end-of-October trip to Hawaii. (Oops, I keep saying that, don't I?) There are certainly worse places to go for a non-biking vacation, but I have my heart set on biking it again.
I have to admit I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that being somewhat dizzy is a fact of life for me right now. But it's funny - I don't feel dizzy on the bike. I wonder if that's related to the fact that I don't attempt to start a ride if I'm already feeling dizzy. But the fact remains that I usually have absolutely no warning before the dizziness starts, and I have yet to find a pattern of behavior that causes the problem. I do feel somewhat dizzy within a short period of time after I get off of the bike, but so far no problems when I'm riding. I guess that's a good thing. And hey - maybe that means I should spend more time on the bike. (I know, I know - that's not smart, and I'm not going to try it. My plan is to continue to work up to longer rides. Just a thought...)
I seem to have lost the concept of a rest day - at this point I don't think walking for an hour really designates a rest. I feel like I need to walk (rather than have an absolute rest day) to help maintain my sanity. But I probably really do need real rest days every so often. I think about driving to the coast and sitting in the shade reading and watching the waves. But - that's a drive, and I'm trying not to do any extensive driving either. Wait - something's got to give here!
I'm starting to look pretty normal - if you don't look too closely, that is! There are still some red patches on my face, and there's still swelling above my right eye, but at this point that swelling is more evident to me than it is to anyone else.
