Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Winter Blahs and Injuries

Its Canada and it's mid March and we just had another dumping of snow.  Actually, the white, fluffly, full of grace stuff is still coming down right now (that was not so obvious sarcasm).  It all started with Wiarton Willy seeing his shadow and then came the bleak anticipation that we would be able to get outside and start training for the Paris to Ancaster that is a mere 6 weeks away.  I had a missed opportunity on one of the nicer Saturdays, but, life gets in the way.  Cornel made it out and came back with both him and his bike covered in mud, so, I was okay with my schedule.  I'm guess I'm a fair weather rider unless I'm forced to do otherwise.

I should be out there running and prepping for my 100 Miler at Sulphur Springs but since my six hour race in January, I have been recovering from a stress fracture and a diagnosis of Morton's Neuroma on my right foot.  It took weeks before even being able to walk on it.  The silver lining in all of this, is that I went looking for a new pair of shoes that would offer roominess and comfort to my foot.  I found a single pair of Altras at my local Running Room, which just happened to be my size and I absolutely love them.  With my falling arch, the toe box has continued to be a bone of contention.  It's confirmed, I have now crossed over the boundary of youth, looking for comfort rather than style, but, I am okay with it.   Just this past weekend, I had a 4 km trial run and all seems good.  The numbness and tingling were still present, but no pain.  Now to start ramping up the mileage.    

Zwift North American Tour - La Bicicletta, TO
But now, comes my night in shining armor,  Zwift!  I had not even used an indoor trainer until last year and then was introduced to the magnificent known as Zwift.  A digital destination for the global cyling community that alleviates the boredom associated to getting on a trainer.  It offers a variety of courses in a variety of settings: training sessions, social rides, races and just time on your own.  I think my second or third trial in this environment, I did 118 km as a training ride for last years Paris to Ancaster. It must have helped as I was able to hit my time goal on race day, minus the time spent waiting to clear the course sabotage of mature trees being cut down.  Who does that?  Certainly not someone that cares about the environment or someone that cares about the charitable needs of others that these races support.  So, I digress.  But really?  Okay, so you can customize your avatar and win achievements where you get to switch up your jersey for the fashion conscientious or tires and bikes for those that are the fanatical aero geeks.   

If you're a woman and have some free weekend time, try the ladies only social rides (you may even see the odd man joining in) that are offered by clubs like ODZ.  The group leaders offer helpful tips to assist in cadence and interval training.   Its such a great community and watching the screen lets you become absorbed into a virtual reality setting.  It even allows for a supertuck if you hit the right conditions; just make sure you don't get dropped while resting if you're in a race situation. Plus, all your efforts can be manually uploaded to Strava, proving to friends when you dominated the sprint sections of QOM.  It also offers a variety of challenges where you accumulate your distance and ride California or Italy to unlock presents which are presented as bikes (Pinarello Dogma F8 or Tron).

Well, I'm going to close off and do a quick Zwift session prior to heading to work.

Happy Trails my Friends and Ride On!  

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