Over Reaching

I've been ambitious in the last month, maybe a bit too much.

Cyclocross burned me out. I took a nice break, and ended it with a week of hacking cough and green mucous. Respiratory illness is dangerous for me, I've had pneumonia three times, as recent as 2008.

I occasionally forget that my body is more fragile than I realize.

Now it is February and I've been inside and outside getting work done on the bike. It's taking its toll. A long ride on Sunday with bouts of knee pain had me running to the ice-packs. After taking it easy for the last couple of days, I set out on a sunny and cold Thursday. After an hour and a half, I was in bad shape.

I limped from Concord to Ride Studio Cafe, where I had a very delightful pour-over. I might not know a lot about fancy coffee, but I know I like it.

To be quite honest, I'm surprised I didn't manage to injure myself sooner, as it happens inevitably every year. Instead of the same old thing, though, I get a new twist. Oh yes, the left problem knee is fine, it's the right one that you will have problems with. Of course.

Ironically, my first knee injury ever happened while cycling. It was summer, I was 16, riding a poorly maintained mountain bike on Cape Cod. Every bike I rode then, I would ride like a BMX bike, because that was all I knew. Naturally, while out of the saddle, the gear slipped and my knee went directly into the handle bar.

After three months of running cross-country, pain free, I started having issues at the beginning of the winter track season. Bruised cartilage in the knee. What?

The point is that these things sneak up on you. Sometimes the pain goes away, but the problem does not. I know I'll be off the bike for a few days and re-evaluating my bike fit. In the spirit of not ending a season before it begins, I'm totally okay with losing some training time in exchange for functional limbs.