Starting Another Journey for myself and Others.

I realized it has been a while since I posted on this sight.  I was hot and heavy with it while living in San Diego and working with CAF (the Challenged Athletes Foundation).  It had a purpose and still does.  It's right in the title, "Find Ways To Help Others".  

Maybe if I explained where this comes from it might make more sense as to my purpose.  It started when I was just 10 years old.  I signed up for a, what they called in those days, Bike-A-Thon, for Diabetes in 1969.  Same concept as today, to raise awareness and funds, but the process was different.  I had to find people to pledge an amount per the prescribed distance.  The amount varied, $.10, $.15, $.25 and such.  One of my first events was 35 miles and I completed it on my Banana Seat, Monkey Handlebar, Single Speed bike.   I did another event a Swim-A-Thon, which was one hour in a pool to complete as many laps as I could.  If I remember right I did 90. No goggles and on the way home my eyes where burning and watering, from the chlorine, making it difficult to see.  I was lucky that I didn't have a crash.

As I think back with the knowledge and experience I have now, that was crazy talk.  My parents were very supportive though and it was not too difficult to find pledgers. I went door to door in the neighborhood and hit up relatives, and friends.  What was challenging was collecting after.  It took a few months. I like the prepay system we use today.

So what is my plan?  It's been a few years since I have raised fund and ridden an event.  My excuse is that we have moved around a few times in the last 3 years and some medical challenges.  But what's been nagging at me is this internal desire to get something going physically, mentally and spiritually the 3 pillars in my life.  When I'm not challenging any one of those I'm off balance.  I'm a big believer in the 12 Universal laws.  Lots of info on the net on that and I'll weave it when appropriate.  

I'm itching to train, raise funds and ride an event here in NC but I am on hold for a while. Late this October I'm having hip surgery.  The hip replacement has a cup glued into the bone that is slightly angle wrong and rubbing against my hip flex tendon.  Feels like a pulled groin.  I'm happy we have figured out the issue but it will take a bit to regain my fitness and strength.  I estimate I'll be ready for an event in early spring. 

In the mean time my plan is to find a program and start preparing.  Along the way I'll detail my progress with the hopes that others can benefit.  

So the question is, what might you want to read about?  There is a ton of information out there but what is missing?  Is the personal interaction with a coach or trainer?  I'll do my best. Maybe it's the ideas around fund raising, where to start and not spend a ton of money out of your own pocket? I've done 30 or more programs from $300 all the way up to $10,000.  It will be more challenging for some than the training. 

I'm going to start down this path and see where it takes me.  Like the Scott & BR radio contest with the CAF, I had no clue as to what it would entail but that was the challenge.  What's the event or program...? Let me do some research for things in this area and that time frame.  Come join me, follow along or find what you where you reside. 

Your job is feedback.  Respond, send me notes, ask questions, etc.  I'm hoping I can provide several tools to do this.   Lets together "Find Ways To Help Others".  One of the Universal Laws is "For every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction?"  What better action that positive?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and input.

Lets Ride.  

ILTs Baby and They Burn



Too Tan To Be My Legs

It's happening.  Each week and almost each day I feel the leg getting stronger.  Less and less pain, little to no meds, sleeping soundly at night...it's all starting to come together.  But, I'm still a ways away from fully recovered.  I can't fully kneel on the ground, there is a tender spot on the outside, and the strength in that leg is only at 60%.  Many more miles to go before I am complete (Sleep).

I jumped on the trainer this week with a goal of adding in ILTs (Individual Leg Training) which I think is a key ingredient to building strong legs.  I've mentioned in past posting that this is a training tool I learned early on in my focused cycling training from Dr Arnie Baker.  He always put it in the context of lifting weights on the bike. 

Some may not know what this is so let me explain how this works. I would recommend trying it first on a stationary before testing it on the road.  You can get a bit off balance if you're not paying attention on the road.

Find a gear that seems pretty easy to medium when you have both legs pedaling.  You shouldn't be breathing hard.  Un-clip one of your feet and place it either on the back of the trainer where I find it easy to rest the toe of my shoe or on a short stool.  Continue to pedal with the other leg.

It may seem easy at first but usually about 30 seconds into this you'll start to feel a burn and maybe have a clunk in your stroke at the top of the rotation as you pull up.  That's OK because you are learning that you need to work on the pulling action of your pedaling.  If this is still too easy then shift to another gear.

I started with 1 minute and then shift to the other leg for a minute and then back for a total of 5 intervals.  Next week I'll add 2 minutes to each leg for 4 intervals.  The following week I'll add 3 minutes for 3 intervals.

I'll also mix in easier gear and faster rotation along with harder gearing and slower rotation as I progress.  Faster works on smoothing out your pedal stroke and the firing of hip flex er.  The slower method builds greater strength.  Can't you just feel that burn?

I also added in standing for 3 minutes, 2, 1 and 30 seconds.  Lastly I've put in 1 minute intervals X 3.  The beginning and end of the session is filled with warm up and down by spinning slowly and increasing the RPM every minute or 30 seconds.

While traveling this week I had called ahead to the hotel I was staying at in LA to see if they had a stationary bike and I was told yes.  When I got there and went to the fitness center it was true they had one but it wasn't working and hadn't, according to the receptionists, for over 6 months.  So I used the elliptical instead which wasn't too bad on the knee.  It's such a smooth motion and close to pedaling.  I added resistance and speed to an hour long session and walked away with the thought I might do that more often especially in a pinch.  I did have to ice that evening. 

Good week on the road and training.  I'll mark this one up as progress and a step forward in the right direction.

It's Not Always Mileage In Life

This week the knee feels absolutely fantastic. After the ride last week...outside...I had a new energy to take it to the next level.  I could see miles of long roads ahead with green fields and blue oceans.  I had a vision that was not to happen this weekend. 

Like often is life and we all have a lot of responsibilities.  I have many commitments that I have sign up for and one of them that is actually key to my recovery is the LLS TNT Tahoe program.  (By the way, you can make a donation at the link to the right or even better yet, come on out and join our program).  This past Saturday was the StageCoach Century a 100 miler east about 1 1/2 hours from San Diego.  It's a great ride because it's an out and back with no stop signs and light traffic.  You can turn around at any point and this time of year it was perfect.  Cool, little overcast all day and no wind.  Our Tahoe program has committed the last few years to help out with the first and last SAG which is located 10 miles from the starting point. In return we have a booth at the start line, get the word out about our program and the send us some funding.

Myself and Rick Knaggs, my co-coach for this LLS TTN program, where there bright an early on Saturday morning at 5:15 AM and if you do your math and build in a half an hour will realize I got up at 3:30 AM.  We set up our location and I didn't leave until 4:30 PM.

To tell you the truth it was the most rewarding thing I've done in a while.  If you are a rider you should take one event and be a volunteer every once in a while.  Believe me you will know what I'm talking about at the end.  You'll be able to provide some thoughts at the SAG for the rides that some time non-riders who volunteer don't realize.  I now think I know what a doctor feels when so many people say thank you for being there.

We fixed bikes, passed out food, provided water and mix...it was a great day to be out there cheering on other riders.  I have a portable PA system that I've been itching to see how many hours I could get out of the batteries.  6 hours in total with my iPod hooked to it with music I like.  The last 2 or so hours the Boy Scout Troop who manned the stop with us had a few iPads of their own music.  It was the perfect mix of the old and the new.

So, because of this I didn't get the weekend miles that I had planned to do on Sunday.   After almost 10 hour on my feet on Saturday I had to give that knee a break today with plenty of ice. The CAF organization had put together a reunion ride that left Solana Beach and went to San Clamente and back.  My goal was to ride up to the Marine base to get in around 30 miles up and back.   I did get plenty of riding during the week with stationery miles.  I focused on time in the saddle and increasing the resistance.  I'm up to an hour now and pushing 150 Watts for the majority of the time.

Last week was also a time to reach out to others.  Since I've started writing about my experience I've had some people send me a note or two on the side with questions, thoughts along with details about their own knee replacement.  During my first replacement a friend of mines mother was having both her knees done at the same time.  We once a week would send a note and or respond to the other with an update.  Sharing was helpful and provided a sanity check.  I'm currently corresponding to Cammy who just had her knee done as well.  She was struggling for a while.  I made a few suggestions and checked in a week later.  She was much better and had turned a corner towards recovery. 

Your doctors and nurse can tell you a lot but if they haven't had the experience it's from a different perspective.  I would highly recommend you connect with a person and help each other.  It won't be the same issues all the time but it will help to share them.  This is a mental game as well as a physical recovery.
So this week I'm going to start adding in ILTs, Individual Leg Training, to my time on the trainer.  I'll also get the miles I need on the road next weekend and even move towards hills.  Nothing drastic just more up and down.

Week 10 Hit the Road Jack

Wow, did that feel good.  It was like having a piece of chocolate pie when you haven't had it in years.  It's smooth with a crunchy graham crust and leaves the chocolaty rich taste in your mouth.  That is what my first ride on the road felt like today.

I started at the Home Depot near my home where I parked.  My home is situated on a hill that I knew would be too much at this point for me to climb.  I rode up Black Mountain Rd to where it changes to Kearney Villa Road once it crosses over Mira Mar Rd.  The course didn't have a lot of climbing.  My Garmin recorded 299 ft in total.  The first little hill at 4% grade was about a 1/2 mile long just before the change in street names.  My expectations is this is where I would feel pain or a problem because of the additional muscle strength need to climb.  To my surprise, it felt great.

This was not a full out hard ride to say the least.  My goal was to test the legs and iron out any problems.  So I kept the pace at a nice easy moderate rate.  I wasn't breathing hard at all and again was impressed with my average speed on the way out, 20 MPH.  Of course that was with the wind at my back.  The return route I was averaging 14 MPH.  The end average was 16.5.  Heart Rate average was 165 BPM which is good for me.  I'll need to retest my max rate which in the past has been as high as 205.  I have a resting rate of 50 when laying down and 55 when sitting. 

I scared myself when I put on my cycling gear which is mostly black.  Those legs were albino white.  Even a little bit of color would be an improvement and night send the children off screaming and pointing at the ghost.   I was impressed with the muscle definition at this point.  The calf at least has some tone.  Crystal likes my legs too...she's a leg woman.

The knee over all feels good now that I'm sitting and writing but I can tell I'll need to ice for about 30 minutes after a quick shower.  Prior to the ride I went down to the Kolby Swap Meet with Crystal and walked around for 2 1/2 hours.  So again, coupling that with the cycling today I think I put the knee through it's paces and the end result is very positive.  Just have to keep up this process and focus.

Tomorrow I head out to Colorado on a business trip for 3 days.  I'll take along some workout clothes and my iPad with some training videos.  I don't want to stop now.  Things are just starting to come together.

The LLS training will begin at the end of the month and I now feel a bit more confident in my ability to lead this group.  You don't have to be the strongest rider in the group but you certainly don't want to be hanging off the back.  It's a matter of putting the miles now to gain back the endurance while slowly adding in strength and power.  For now, I'll focus on the endurance and start increasing the time in the saddle.  Today was less than an hour but over 30 minutes. 

Start of Week 9

I was really looking forward to hitting the road over the holidays.  I had a few days off from work and I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to find some flat stretches and just enjoy the view.  Unfortunately I wasn't ready for that yet. 

I've moved over to the stationary training where I have my cyclo-cross bike set up.  During the season I primarily ride a road bike and once in a while go off trail on a mountain bike.  However, I also have a cyclo-cross bike that can do either.  I take that on trips to Tahoe and places where I want to do both road and off road riding. 

The Cyclo-Cross is set up in a Saris PowerBeam Pro.  What's great about this setup is the unit measures heart rate, cadence and watts or power.  That's not super important at this point but it is providing me some feedback on how I am progressing especially in comparison to where I was before the knee replacement. 

I'm using really light resistance at this time starting at 50 watts and progressing up to 150 watts of resistance.  This in comparison would be about 12 to 15 MPH at 150 watts on the road that was flat with no wind.  The muscles are still getting used to flexing many times and when I step down I have some swelling in the knee.  However before icing I move over to other exercises for another 15 to 20 minutes.

When standing and pedaling on the bike the knee doesn't feel comfortable with that as of yet meaning all the pieces are not moving smoothly; the strength is lacking and there is a choppiness to the stroke.  It's not super bad but I won't go out side and ride without more confidence in that.

I'm looking forward to starting ILT (Individual Leg Training) which is an exercise I learned from Dr Arnie Baker.  He has been a fantastic coach and mentor to me over the last 16 years.  ILT is using a single leg to pedal either in stationary or on the road.  It's one of the best exercises I've found to build strength and there are a lot of different ways to adapt this exercise.  More to come on that.

My other focus is building back the endurance.  It feels like it's been a year since I've put in over an hour on the bike.  My body is screaming for a long ride up the coast.  For now I have to settle for watching DVDs while I train from EpicPlanet and Sufferfest.  At least they provide a great view of the world and I feel that I'm in the pack competing.  Below is a interview of Allen Jones the producing of EpicPlanet(Ride) videos.

Week 7 Progress

First off I have to say Happy Holidays.  We are so very fortunate to be were we are in life.  We both have jobs, are healthy and have plenty of food on the table.  But most importantly we have each other and a clan of family and friends.  Add to that 2 dogs and a cat and life is just about as complete as it can be.  Crystal and I hope everyone will have a wonder 2012.

Next I have to say I'm sorry for not writing anything in the blog.  I had to take a bit of break for another issue that came up.  I have very fair skin and because of that I get skin surface issues.  The dermatologist found some skin cancer that he had to cut off my temple and cheek.  I won't be seeing any modeling contracts in the near future but I think I was about done with that any way.  Tom Cruise doesn't have to worry any more.

So the progress and recovery is coming along but has slowed some.  I'm too the point where I'm mainly focusing on building back up the muscles, creating better balance and reducing the swelling.  I've found that I can be working on these aspects of the recovery just about any where during my day.  Today, as an example, while at the dog park I use the benches to do step ups, work on balance and do lunges while exercising the dogs.  During the business day I meet with customers and while seated I'll bend the knee back under the chair to continue working on the flexibility.  While driving back to San Diego from LA I can do isometric exercises by tightening the quad and hamstring muscles. 

My biggest issue right now is swelling.  The knee has less and less pain but the swelling from exercise and standing for 30 minutes or more is still there.  Ice is still my best friend and something I'll be using for a while.  Pain meds are still there but I'm off Percocet and now using Vicodin.  Also, I go 6 to 8 hours between use.  Getting away from drugs as soon as possible is very important to me.  This body is a temple though I'm still not sure which religion it represents.

It's at this point that my mind starts to again say when will this end.  It's good thing I've done this before.  You want to believe at 7 weeks it's all good.  I have to keep in mind that I had pieces of plastic drilled and pounded into my bones.  That process puts a lot of stress on the muscles, nerves, and bones.  They are going to sell and complain for a while.  The more I move, the sooner these different parts of my body start to understand, adapt and over come.

Tomorrow I go out on the road and ride my bike on a flat course.  Most likely it will be 5 to 10 miles down Miramar Rd if traffic is light.  If not, then I'll take Kearney Villa Rd.  Either way, I'm just testing the waters to see how my balance is and what type of strength I have in the quads and hamstrings.  I'm looking forward to feeling that wind in my...helmet.

5th Week & Orthopedic Follow-Up

This past week was particularly exciting for me because I had my first follow up appointment with the doctor who did my knee replacement, Dr Steven Copp pictured here on the left.  He did my first replacement last year and one of the main reasons I selected him was because he took the time to listen.

I had seen several other Orthopedics over the years and all agreed that knee replacement was going to happen in the near future.  But most ran me through their offices like I was a piece of paper.  Dr Copp, on the other hand, took a great deal of time to discuss my situation and what I wanted for the outcome which was to continue to be active.

The follow-up appointment went well and he was very impressed with my progress.  Some X-Rays were taken and everything is aligning well.  He did point out that my hips have some issues...great, one more thing to deal with in the future.

He didn't want me riding on the road for a few more weeks until I have greater strength in the leg and I have 100% balance.  Dr Copp was happy with my knee flexibility at this time.  130 to 135 is far enough.

This actually brings up a point.  This blog has gotten out to a lot of people and I weekly receive emails and responses to my posting.  The subject of how far a joint can or should be bent back to the hamstring has gotten the most response.  I spoke to Dr Copp about this and he was fine with my progress in this regards and mentioned that it's going to be different for each person.  Several factors come into play but one the biggest is range of motion prior to the operation.  I've always had outstanding flexibility and stretch often to keep my muscle limber.  I do this for cycling, surfing and other activities but often just because I feel my muscle need to stretch.

The next phase of this program is going to be building strength around these muscle and putting back into balance all the different parts of my body.  Many of the exercises I currently doing have already started me down that path.  A key element of strength as we all know is our core.  The challenge many of us have is that we don't focus enough on the core but should.

Here is a listing of a few of the exercises I've been working on:

• Quadriceps -Wall Slide
• Knee Flexion Stretching/Flexibility
• Knee Extension
• Hip Abduction
• Planks
• Standing on one leg through ball (balance)
• Monster (band around ankle and slide sideways)
• Single Leg Squats
• Hamstring Curls using the Exercise Ball
• Stationary Cycling
• Side step overs (stepping up and over a box sideways)

I'm now up to 20 minutes on the bike and 150 watts of resistance.  Well, that's what the bike at the Physical Therapy places shows.  I've also been using a recumbent bike at home the PTS Turbo 1000.  I picked it up on Craig's list for $25 because I knew I wouldn't be able to ride my road bike for a while.  I had to start riding this with the seat pushed back further than normal so that I could get the full pedal stroke.  Over time I've been bringing it back down.  This recumbent makes that an easy task.  I'll start riding my road bike which is in the CycleOps trainer, PowerBeam, this week.  It has watts and other features I'm missing on the recumbent.  My goal is to go to 30 minutes and 175 watts.  I'll start ILT, Individual Leg Training, in a few weeks when I have more strength.  I like to use EpicRide and SufferFest videos...see ads in this blog on the right.

One other subject I wanted to touch on this week has to do with the others who are supporting me during this process.  The main person in my life is Crystal my wife.  She has seen all the ups and down times and been a wonderful mate to have on this journey.  When I have greater amounts of pain she can see that and knows I'm frustrated.  But on the good days I've tried to do my part around the house and not let everything fall to her.  This is extremely important in our marriage I believe and one of the reasons we've been married 25 years.  I appreciate everything she does and we both take the few seconds to say, "thank you", each time we do those little things like take out the trash, do the dishes, wash the clothes, etc.  But I've tried to work harder and saying thank you for her support.  There are still times when I need to rest and can't go to the store or take the dogs to the park.  Thanks Crystal for understanding.

My boss at work has also been supportive.  I can't fly for another 3 or 4 weeks and see customers. I cover 13 states here in the west and you can image that's a great deal of the time on the road.  I can start driving longer distances and this week I have my first appointment up in LA which will be a minimum of 2 hours one way.

I'm looking forward to this next phase of the process.  I've seen huge progress so far and it will be slower but I like the fact that I can now start sweating and coming away with the feeling I had a good hard workout.