Riding to recover

My calf muscles were pretty beat up from the Boston marathon. They have been hurting all week and I was stiff and had trouble getting up. At night I was restless and woke up many times. Walking did help but running was pretty much out of the question -until yesterday when I took a brief jog in a parking lot. So I have been riding my bike. Swimming might have helped better but we no longer have our pool membership so biking was my only option.

After flying back on Tuesday, April 20, I rode for 35 min on rollers Wednesday. Surprisingly enough I could ride pretty well and even spinning at a high cadence was no problem. Getting off the bike though was less than pleasant. It felt as if I had been sitting for hours. It is remarkable how different parts of the muscle are used for different activities. Sore from running worked fine for biking and I have experienced the opposite in IM races.

On Thursday I rode 28 miles, including a climb up Redwood Road. Then on Friday I rode the Briones loop, affectionately known as "The Bears" in Berkeley. I added Pig Farm hill just to top 21 miles. Saturday I took Alistair to the Wente Road Race and rode some 15 miles in Livermore, up Patterson Pass Rd. and up Altamont and Flynn Road. I climbed Flynn a few times which was great fun.

On Sunday I rode the loop over Altamont, Midway and Patterson Pass. The weather was great and the winds were calm, which made for a pleasant ride. Normally, the loop can be a real challenge. The west winds usually start before noon and one goes out with a monster tailwind, flying down Altamont at 40 mph, only to hit the wall at Midway and suffer a constant headwind up Patterson. None of that I am happy to say. Just a calm breeze to keep things honest.