boring training post

You might want to get up, stretch, do some star jumps*, or jumping jacks, and refill you coffee, otherwise you might not make it through this one without nodding off.

My achilles tear seems to be responding acceptably, albeit slowly. This week I got in two 'power walks'. While it isn't anywhere near the level of intensity _or_ duration I had hoped to be at, it was productive in that I did 30 minute + efforts (if you can call them that) on monday and tuesday, with no ill effects. Wednesday I tried a jog for about 30 minutes, and again, no pain in the ankle, but my _left_ knee and hip felt stressed. I'm guessing this is because I was compensating for so long. I was surprised at the level of atrophy in my right leg. I didn't think six weeks in the cast would have that much of an effect, though I'm sure it only _appeared_ so because my left leg may have developed slightly from the extra use. The difference wasn't noticeable unless you looked closely, but I can tell during my walks based on the how the fabric stresses against my legs.

Yesterday (thursday) I brought my bike to work and went for a 20 mile spin at noon. This ride is incredibly flat. It's as falt as you get around here without riding along the ocean roads (rtes 1 and 1a salisbury and north). IT's actually the Northeast Bicycle Clubs' old TT route in Boxford. The TT course is 13.2 miles and has about 400 feet of climbing. From where I work the course is about 3 miles away, with another 50' or so.

I actually felt good from a fitness perspective, considering that it's the first time I've been on the bike since my trip to georgia. I managed to keep a reasonable cadence in my 42x16 into a slight headwind on the way out (from work the route goes due east, until boxford center, then takes about a 2 mile southward leg, the west all the way back). Then, the trip back had a slight tailwind, so I was in my 15 for most of it. The way back has the only 'hills' on the route, a series of little rollers in the 3% range. I just popped it up to my 19 and spun up those. I never went anaerobic or even reached my AT.

Last night I could feel it in my achilles though. It wasn't painful, but it definitely told me that was a bit too much. I iced the hell out of it and ate some tylenol and aspirin. I was going to start riding into work today, but I decided to put that off until next week.

My commutes can be as short as 9 miles with very little climbing (~ 200 feet). I figure if I just start doing that, it will build fitness and won't be long enough to inflame the heel.

* the links at the very top of oregon u. page are all broken, but the specific jump exercise links under that are all good. If you want to look at more pages on that site, the links at the _bottom_ of the page work.

ok, you can try to get back the five minutes of your life you just lost reading this post now.