Spin Cycle

As I wallow in the self-pity that invariably accompanies the enforced absence of running due to injury I have decided to diversify. If it "works" in the world of investing (and I certainly hope YOUR portfolio is diversified because the markets are going down the crapper faster than Tiger Wood's sponsorship contracts) I figure it should also work in the world of recreational exercise keeping fit staying healthy land.

So, Sunday morning I drove (shudder!) to the gym for my first Spinning class. I did not know what to expect and I was a bit nervous about how my groin injury would react. However, given that I bike to and from work every day I was fairly certain that the actual motion of pedalling would be OK.

The room was dark, the stationary bicycles looked expensive, and I was a bit out of my league with running shoes on unlike some others who had come prepared with cleats. Nevertheless, I identified myself as a newbie when the instructor asked, nodded politely when she said, "if you find this tough just back off and spin easy through the difficult sections. This is going to be a very challenging session."

She didn't exactly know who she was talking to as I take that kind of trash talk as a personal affront. Back off?! I don't know the meaning of the term.

We started off into a nice warm up with some crappy music and I was into the beat right away spinning quickly. Good times.

Then we went into a series of five different sets that included fast "racing", hill "climbing", virtual competitor "catching", and general sweating to some more crappy music.

Did I have fun? YES! Was it a tough workout? Well, I made sure that it was since I think in these types of sessions you make it as tough as you want it to be. In any case, whenever I did a quick check of my heart rate in the recovery periods it was around 150bpm so I think I got more than just a good aerobic workout. Next time I will endeavor to bring my heart rate monitor to see what actually happens throughout the entire session.

But no matter what I will definitely do this again. It was, at the very least, a nice alternative to indoor rowing...

Up Yours, Groin Region

Yes, that's how I'm feeling right about now. Up Yours, You Stupid Groin! The capitalization is very necessary, thank you very little...

Also, I feel like renaming this blog "Waiting, Wonky Ankle and All". Or, "Sucking, Wonky Groin, Ankle, and All". Better yet, "CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!"

You get what I mean I suspect.

But for the sake of writing SOMETHING on here let me expand a bit. Last Friday I went out for my first run in a few weeks. It was hot out, I was creaky, and I wore my heart rate monitor to keep me honest. Although the heat meant that I went up over the intended 140bpm I did manage to keep things very slow and easy. It's not even worth noting just how slow, but if I'd been in a race with erosion I'd have lost.

Anyway, the run was pretty shitty. My Achilles on the right and heel on the left were OK, but just OK. My groin was nowhere near OK. As I ran the pathetic 5km it slowly began to dawn on me that this is a bigger problem than I'd previously allowed myself to admit.

Now I'm facing the worst case scenario given my goals for running: taking an extended break. This also means that more than likely I will not be able to run a Fall marathon. It also means that I should probably go see some professional about this. I'm scared to find out what the actual problem is and the words "stress fracture" keep rolling around in my head. The possibility is remote, but it's there nonetheless. More than likely I just pulled a muscle, wrenched a tendon, tore some tissue.

Whatever the case may be the result is the same. No running for the indefinite future.

And on top of all that I missed posting on what was my three year anniversary of this blog (July 28)!

Ah, yeah. Who cares...