On Ice

Sometimes I am not sure what is worse, the injury or the rehab.

My back and sciatic ligament are feeling a lot better today. The ligament is still sore, but significantly improved. I rode yesterday afternoon and this morning and have pulled up okay. It isn't that sore.

However, part of the rehab recommended by Lee-Anne the physio was icing. Which means I am currently sitting here with an ice pack tucked down the back of my pants.

Niggly pain, or sitting on an ice pack. Hmmmm....

Riding last night went okay, I deliberately kept the intensity down a bit. Riding itself wasn't too painful, but I was pretty sore once I was off the bike. However, after some more ice sitting, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I pulled up okay this morning. It makes me think that at least some of the soreness I had yesterday was an aftermath of the physio appointment, with all the poking with needles and fingers etc.

The session this morning was much more intense, with some nasty hill repeats followed by a sustained piece. From the word go my back and bottom (lets call a spade a spade, that is where the sciatic ligament is) felt better on the bike. Much less sore during the actual act of cycling. Afterwards I also had much less pain.

One issue I did have on the bike this morning though was that I really struggled to hold the prescribed power levels during my long effort. At first I thought it was me, but the longer I rode, the more I started to think that perhaps it wasn't. I was absolutely smashing myself, with good speeds, but the power was low. Based on how I was feeling and the speed I was going, I was sure that the power should have been much higher. In the end I stopped and recalibrated my power meter, after which the power outputs were more in line with what I would have expected. Funny little glitch I guess. I have heard of the power meters mis-reading sometimes, so it does happen. Actually now that I think about it, I got a power meter low battery warning during my ride on Saturday. Hmmmm, possibly related....

At the moment the back and bottom pain is something that I am aware of when I walk. It doesn't really hurt at other times. It isn't really pain either, certainly not in an acute sense. More like walking on a recently corked muscle or something.

Daryl has suggested that I give the run tonight a miss, which I think is probably a good idea. I have swimming in the morning, which will give my back another day worth of healing time. Hopefully by Thursday we are back to all systems go.