Saturday we did our long ride. Rode out around Creve Coeur lake area for about 2 1/2 hours. Felt okay. My right knee had been bothering me since mid-week ride. I think I just strained my quadricep/patellar tendon when I was pedaling against the wind. It was really bugging me towards the end the ride. That's also when I took my first road "wreck". I was turning around to head back towards home...turned right into the wind. Between the gust of wind, my right knee not as strong on the pedal stroke, and my questionable balance at times on the bike...I wrecked in the middle of the road. No cars were around. I was fine. I did hit my head (helmet on!), which bounced off the ground. I rode home...just scrapped up on my knee and side. I had a bad headache and stiff neck for about 2 days. Jesse was great to rub my neck/shoulders Sunday and Monday night...really helped me!! Right away I wasn't scared to get back on the road...now I am a bit. Back to overcoming fears and set backs. I feel like this right here is the theme to my Steelhead training. I want to be healthy. Hopefully upon race day I have reached good fitness and health, so I can go strong.

Today I'm going to try and get a "long" ride in. It's been stormy/rainy, so I'm hoping it clears up by early afternoon. I fly out to Dallas today and will be gone til late Sunday night, so I hope that my knee and the weather holds up so I can get time in on the bike. I'll be swimming, running, and lifting/core workouts the rest of the week/weekend at the hotel. :)

I'm excited for the Active Release Technique course in Dallas this weekend. I've been studying pretty hard...I'm starting to feel ready. I really want to do well at the course...learn a lot from other practitioners...and become competent at ART, so that my patients will experience great outcomes. I'm praying for good partners through the lab sections and that it will be restful amidst the all day lectures/intimidation of the practical test on Sunday.

Check out ART here: www.activerelease.com

long ride.

Today we did our long ride. The weather was beautiful, but seemed windy throughout the entire ride. We went down highway 94, pass New Town, and through all these country farmland roads. It was beautiful. I felt better today overall, but still some "issues". My right hand was going tingly the first half of the ride--I just shifted my weight and changed my grip around--seemed to help. My seat is still a bit uncomfortable after about 45 minutes. Again, I rotated my hips forward (anterior pelivc tilted)...not sure if I'm suppose to, but it gets the pressure off my "sit bones", which the seat seems to have zero give. I need to do some research on how I should be sitting on my saddle. I really wish that I had a girl to ride with. Jesse is kind enough to ride the first 10 minutes or so with me to get me to the route and through traffic, but he's just so much faster than I...we can't ride together.
I rode right at 40 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Very minimal hills, but I was pretty happy with that.

I'm sure glad that the two german shepherds that were chasing me on Silveres Road didn't bite me.

Lifting and core workout tomorrow. I want to start a Pilates class...not sure where to go and don't want to spend a ton of money, but I think it'd be awesome for me.

Back to studying for my ART (Active Release Technique) course...I want to be so good at this technique...I really believe in it! There's so much to do in the next 11 days until I go to Dallas for the course.