Why exactly am I doing this again? My physical therapist, she whom we call TheHealer, told me to shave my left, lower leg for my next visit. And so I did. Wow, is that weird.
Next visit, she taped it into what she called a "fibular lift". It seems that my Fibula isn't allowing my Talus to slide fore and aft as smoothly as we'd like. My theory is that this is the result of an injury from a little race over twenty years ago. I had taken my son to a dude ranch for a weekend of horseback riding and hiking in the foothills of the Rockies.
We had just had a grand day hiking those hills and sneaking around spying on a herd of Bighorn Sheep. We were tired, but having fun. At day's end, I remember clearly seeing my old, green Jeep across the gravel parking lot and saying "race you to the Jeep!". And so we tore off across that gravel lot. Just a stride away from the Jeep my tired ankle turned under and I heard that distinct "pop" as a tendon pulled a bone chip off of my outside bone on the foot where it connects to the fibula.
I never put weight on it as I hopped my last stride on my "good" foot, hauled myself into the Jeep and drove us into town to the ER. I wore one of those goofy walking casts for a while, and that was it.
But on my last brevet, the Nighttime 200k, I ended up the last 50k or so with very mild pain down my left shin. I had issues here before, though not often. TheHealer theorizes that this rough fore/aft motion of my talus causes the muscles in front of the shin to work harder, thus the pain.
Well, we'll find out. Meanwhile, I'm still getting over the crud...again, and I'm a little frustrated. I had planned to do my 400k this weekend, but this recurring sinus crud isn't helping me along. I'm showing restraint, and a passage from the book I've been reading, Base Building for Cyclists by Thomas Chapple, has helped:
The athlete with a commitment to her long-term goals also knows that skipping a workout when her body is not up to the task will not set her back but will actually keep her moving forward. Committed athletes know the benefit of maintaining balance in their lives. When the committed athlete asks herself, "What can I do today to make myself a better athlete?" the answer may be "Rest." The athlete who attempts to train through an injury rather than adjust his goals always believes he is committed, but he is not. He is acting obsessively rather than remaining committed to his objectives. Remaining injured is not the way to progress, and by not resting he only creates long-term setbacks. This is when obsession is mistaken as passion or commitment.
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| The very athletic Bighorn Sheep, per Wiki. |
Keep it shaved and wrapped,
CurioRando
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