Week 3 of Recovery: When Life Gives You Lemons....
Perhaps the best thing to come out of this injury and taking some time off the bike has been the increased time I’ve been able to spend with Jordan. She and I met right as I was starting to ramp up my training, which meant our days together were often interrupted by long training rides or were limited by recovery from those rides. This past week was a good example of making the best of a bad situation.
In an effort to get some kind of exercise in I went for a trail run. The initial plan was to run on Monday, but rain cancelled that. So on Tuesday after work I dusted off my Nike’s and head off to Enterprise South. I was hoping to get in two miles, with the backup plan being a fast hike through the woods. From the start I could feel a slight pull from my right ribcage, but nothing too terrible so I kept on going. The rest of the run was pretty much what I expected given how long it’d been since I ran. The pain in my ribs was overshadowed by the pain in my legs. Two miles later I was climbing myself back into the truck and licking my wounds.
I was thinking maybe I could run again later in the week, but that was shutdown the next day when woke up to legs so sore that it hurt to walk. So the rest of the week was spent taking short walks and generally trying to stay more active then normal at work. The weekend is where the fun really began though.
Our plan for the weekend was to have a date night either Friday or Saturday and go on a hike to Snooper’s Rock at some point, weather dependent on which day. Rain Friday night pushed our date to Saturday. After waking up Saturday morning with no ride planned and looking like rain in the forecast for that afternoon, we decided to head to knock out some shopping. We hit up the Brainerd Market, Target, then went up to The Lodge Factory Store in South Pittsburg. While we were there we decided to grab lunch at Top of the Rock Brewery in Jasper Highlands and snapped a few photos while we were there.
Later that night we head out for our socially responsible date night. Which included dinner on the patio at Flying Squirrel, beer at Heaven and Ale Southside, and more beer at The Fountain Head Taproom before heading home to grab some sleep for the next day’s adventure.
The hike to Snooper’s Rock was fun. It’d been way too long since we’d been on an adventure together, so it was nice to get out and explore. The up and down, slightly technical, 6 mile hike to Snooper’s Rock and back was just what the doctor ordered. Good exercise and beautiful views abounded. Once the hike was over we finished with lunch at Basecamp on the Northshore.
Post hike while eating lunch we both agreed that we couldn’t recall a better weekend together then this one. After months of dealing with training for our various events and dealing with the fallout from the ‘Rona, it was great to return to some form of normalcy if only for a weekend. So despite being frustrated at all the injuries and setbacks throughout the year, the one good thing that’s come from all this is increased time spent with Jordan and the accompanying increase in the strength of our relationship.
I’m not exactly sure what’s coming fitness wise in the next two weekends, but with Shenandoah 100 taken off the schedule we’ve got some exciting plans in store for Labor Day weekend. Which has turned from a race trip to an extended weekend long celebration of her birthday. Keep checking back for updates!!!