2010: A Slow-twitch Odyssey (part 1)

And the saga continues .......

Following the triathlon and cycling introductions of 2009 as well as new bicycles for the entire family at Christmas, 2010 had loftier aspirations.  First up was Julian who ran a 5k in the February cold with his Aunt Lesley (my sister and fellow blogger of Racing It Off fame).  He ran a quick enough pace to take 1st place in the Under 10 division and leave his aunt out of breath.  She has since gone on to complete a marathon and Julian will be trying to set a new 5k PR on New Year's Day.


The first big target for Ang and I was BikeMS, a 2-day 164 mile ride from Frisco to Ft.Worth.  Ang and I both started riding a bit more regularly to prepare but neither of us did as much as we should have.  It didn't help that the rally we had planned a month before in Sulphur Springs got called due to storms.  So there we were on May 1st lining up at the start of day 1's 86 mile route with storm clouds looming. Ang and I ride different paces so we tend to separate and text each other at each rest stop so we have some idea how things are going.  For me, the first half of the day was great but after lunch was much tougher.  I was tightening up and slowing down, no longer able to hang with the same group of riders I had been with to that point.  Still, I crossed the finish line in a reasonable time.  Ang's day started similarly, cruising along till sometime after lunch when quad cramps kicked in.  She had to hitch a ride in the SAG wagon for a bit but sheer determination to finish under her own power led to riding in from the last rest stop for a daily total of 66 miles.

This is when everything changed.  The morning of day 2 I was barely able to get out of the bed as both knees had locked up on me.  The short version of this story involves preexisting damage to the cartilage in both knees, IT band syndrome on the left side, and a partial tear known as jumper's knee on the left as well.  This led to months of therapy and greatly reduced riding leaving some of my goals in question.  This along with therapy Angelia had earlier in the year for her hip left us with a lot of rehab knowledge, new stretching routines, and fulfilled health plan deductibles.  On the bright side, while all this was going on Angelia and I both agreed to ride the Mesquite Rodeo Ride with Julian.  This is the only time all 3 of us have ridden the same route together at an event.  It was Julian's first group ride and still his best pace ever averaging 13.6mph over 21 miles.  A week later the 3 of us rode the local Hot Rocks rally.  Ang and Julian took on the short route together while I tried the 45 mile route.  After a very fast first hour, both quads cramped severely at the 34 mile mark and the last 11 miles was the most brutal riding experience I've had to date.

The rest of the summer belonged to the boys ......

Connor was bitten by the cycling bug and started riding more often.  He gets that 12" bike going awfully fast and gets angry if he doesn't ride at least a mile and a half.

Meanwhile Julian took a couple laps at the local criterium (a short, lapped high-intensity race).  He came in 4th amongst some tough young riders.

Stay tuned for part 2 which includes Angelia's running, 3 major cycling events, and The Crash.

To be continued .......