MOOTS!!

My bike is here!

It came in last night after dinner. To top it all off, Matt got me the Moots seat post and handlebar for my birthday. How awesome is that?!? He took it into Fat Tire today, got me a silver head set, and is already working on putting the parts we have together. This is one sweet bike!! I've decided to go with the gray fork,
rather than the white fork.

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to get on the Intense, and the single speed looks like its gonna be lots of fun, but the Moots...it's just a work of art!

So, Matt decided to join me at Defined tonight. It's always entertaining to go to the health club because people there think they are in shape. Unfortunately, they have no idea just how OUT of shape they are. Guys with huge, muscular arms have huge, jiggly bellies that they seem to forget about. Girls are there just to show off their tattoos, generally located on the lower back. Geesh, that's original...it really can't get more pathetic. BUT, the gym is where I have to be until I can get back on the bike like I used to, so I'm not going to complain too much. It's helping me keep my cardio in semi-good condition, and I am strengthening my hip muscles.

2/27/2006 Results

• Stationary bike 40 minutes (2 breaks, one at 15 and one at 25)
• Leg pulley exercises (3x20, 15, 10)--ouch, that hurt afterwards!

2/28/2006 Results

• PT Stretches and exercises, minus the pulley stuff
• (Yes, it's a rest day, but because the Moots came in, I didn't do these yesterday like I should have)

If Sally were reading this, she'd tell me I'd overdone it again. She's right, as my right hip has been killing me today.

Saw Dr. Schwend today and he's very impressed with my progress. He said the pain in my hip joint isn't inflammation. It's a scar tissue ache from me moving the muscles. The bruised feeling I have along the side of my leg where the arthroscopy and drain holes were are another scar tissue kind of thing. As the scar tissue forms and I move the muscles around where it's trying to form, it's going to cause mild pain. Take a pain reliever and be done with it, is what he said. I don't need to start on the anti-inflammatories again, which is good. I got another round of x-rays that show the bone healing, and no inflammation.

One crazy thing...right near the crest of my ileum, I've been getting a lot of itching. Turns out it's my screws!!! Yowza! Those 3 annoying little buggers are protruding from my bone. I just assumed they'd be recessed into the bone, but they are actually sticking out. The x-rays show it. Dr. Santore did this intentionally since he plans to remove them in a year. If he recesses them, bone often grows over the tops of the screws making the removal much more difficult. As usual, Dr. Santore knows what he's doing. I'll just need to be careful not to rub that area too hard or crash on that side of my body. Lucky for me, I'm a lefty when it comes to crash sides of the body. Better yet, I think I'm going to try not to crash at all.

Oh, here's a picture of Dr. Muldoon too. He's the one who ripped out a lot of my ligaments in the right hip joint--the arthroscopy. His work hurt the most in some ways. The little hole where his scope went in hurts and is quite noticeable on my leg. Eck. He was surprised how much damage I had done to my joint, according to Matt. I don't recall much of a conversation with him. I was still pretty heavily sedated.

Allergies...Uggghhhh!!!

It's time to see the allergist again. My hive-ridden eyes have been swollen and itchy for the past 3 days. The hives set in during a phone call I had with Matt at work. I'm sure that's a coincidence though. ;o)

I stopped getting my allergy shots when I went in for surgery, which means it's been over 3 months since I had a shot. I guess the stuff has finally worn off and worked its way out of my system. I'll make an appointment with the allergist tomorrow!

So, Matt went out with Jim and FooMTB crew to do some more trail work at the White Mesa. That place is going to be one beautiful trail system when the club is finished with it. It already is a wonderful place to ride!!

Anyway, I stayed home and did my exercise routine, laundry, grocery shopping, and other house type work that needed to get done. Fun, fun, fun...

Results 2/25/06

• UBE 45 minutes
• Stationary bike 25 minutes, no breaks!
• All PT stretches/exercises
• Upper Body (areas with asterisks only)

Results 2/26/06

• UBE 47 minutes (300 calories!)
• All PT stretches/exercises
• Upper Body (everything in my training log and then some!)

Progress

Had another PT appointment today. It's been almost a month since my first visit on 1/26/06 (thanks to this blog, I have it all recorded). When I first went in, I could only put 40 pounds of weight on my right leg when standing. I'm up to almost 100 pounds! That's a huge accomplishment, according to Sallie, my PT. She contorted me again and measured my ability to move in certain directions...all of my angles have improved, some more than others. The new goal is focusing on strength while continuing with the range of motion.

2/23/2006 Routine 6

Exercises:

• Hip Flexors-Lie along the right edge of a bench, hanging right leg off to the side, knee bent. Left leg should be straight on the bench. Slowly lift leg up on bench, knee still bent. Foot should be rest near the left knee. Make sure I don't slowly bring my foot up and start resting it lower than at my left knee. (3x6-10)
• Hip Lift--This is an advancement on Routine 3. Hip Lift--lie face up at edge of right side of bench. Place chair (about 2 inches lower than bench) beside it and put both feet on the chair, knees bent. Back should rest entirely on bench. Push with left leg first, bringing hips and right leg up. Switch and do the same with the right leg. (3x6-10)
• Quads 2--This is an advancement on Routine 5. Lie on back, prop right leg up on bolster. Add increasing weight on foot (5, 7, 10 pounds) and then back down again, (3x15). Lift leg up at the knee. Concentrate movement on the quad. Make sure knee cap is straight up and not pointing inward.
• Hamstrings--Lie on bench, face down. Place folded towel underneath quad, above knee. Place weights on foot (2, 4, 6 pounds) increasingly and then back down again. Lift leg up as high as comfortable. (3x15)
• Marching (kind of)--Standing straight, align my head with a central point in a mirror. Begin to slowly raise right leg up and place immediately back down on the ground. Do the same with the left leg. This should resemble marching, but should not be as fast as marching. Make sure my body stays as still as possible and that my head stays in contact with that "central point" in the mirror at all times.
  

As for my gait, I can start using a cane around the house. I should experiment walking without it, but only for VERY short distances. The key is to ensure I don't start over correcting and walking with a limp or sideways.

I tried to get on the Hardrock bike in the driveway at home yesterday. It hurt: 1) hard to swing my leg over saddle, 2) hard to pedal (I was able to get about 10 pedal rotations in).

I see Dr. Schwend next Tuesday and will get another referral to continue seeing Sallie. We may slow our visits down to every other week. We'll see. I'm really happy with my progress and am glad I decided to see a PT.

Bikes

Matt just showed me my very cool, new Intense Spyder XVP. It's almost complete. Once I get it done, I'll put up a pic. Very sweet with the tricked out Skareb 80/100 mm fork.



The Moots YBB SL isn't in yet...need to follow up with Moots to see how its going.






The Single Speed (my custom built Kind Cycle by Brandi Fabian) will need some work, but will be beautiful when done. It will look a bit odd with a 26" front wheel and 24" back, but I like the front end up higher anyway.



Oh, and then there's the old Hardrock bar bike and the Giant TCR Composite 1 road bike too...I'm very spoiled!!

I can't wait to get on the bikes!


On to the workout...
Results for 2/21/2006
UBE 45 minutes
Upper body workout (dips, chin ups, triceps, pull, shoulders, push)

Work Sucks!!

I'll tell you what, work is really starting to infringe upon my PT time and my screw around time. I'm not too happy about it. I wish I were independently wealthy. Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket...the jackpot is up to $365 million.

So, I'm already NOT following my workout schedule. Oh well...

Results 2/20/06
UBE 45 minutes before I went to work
PT lower body exercises and stretches in the evening

Wednesday night is the FooMTB meeting, so I'll use that as my REST DAY rather than tomorrow.

Anaheim

We're in "sunny" Southern CA...Except the sun decided to take a vacation or something. Actually, it's been peeking out every now and then, but for the most part, it's been cloudy.

I sent Matt off for his Butterfield Double Century this morning at 6:15. Didn't look like 198 riders started, but some could have taken off at the earlier 4:45 start time (Matt, no need to tell me my photo skills suck, I realize that, as evidenced by the pics included here). I think the rain and cold weather scared some away. Apparently, they had a really crappy day last year. So far, the day has been on and off showers that don't last too long. I'm thinking Matt shouldn't be too bad, although it would have been nice to have rain pants, I'm sure.

So, yesterday, I decided to try out 24 Hour Fitness (sucks) in Anaheim. They had this offer for a 10-day free membership, so I thought that would be a great idea! Unfortunately, I had to prove residency!! I ended up paying a $15 one-day fee for a gym that wasn't nearly as nice as Defined. Plus, their pool was outdoors! With the storm rolling in, it was too chilly for me to do the swim exercises, so I did the following below instead.

Oh, took Wed and Thurs off. I've been having a lot of joint inflammation lately. I need to see if I should still be taking my prescription anti-inflammatory meds.

Part of the issue could be that I've started to consistently use 1 crutch rather than 2. This will work out the muscles more and could cause the pain.

Results 2/17/06

• UBE 45 minutes
• Stationary bike 20 minutes (2 breaks at 10 and 15)
• Upper body workout (the entire one)

Results 2/18/06

• Decided to use the gym at the hotel instead. Not bad, but not that great either...
• Stationary bike 20 minutes (2 breaks at 10 and 15)
• All Lower body except the pool stuff and exercise ball. I used a Theraband (red) instead of pulleys for the leg weights.

UPDATE
Matt did awesome!! Here are the results of the Butterfield Double Century.

Nothing New

No significant news to report on the recovery process. Monday I worked out LB and today I did UB. Tuesday is supposed to be my rest day, but we'll be heading to CA for Matt's Butterfield Double Century on Thursday, so I decided to work out; I don't want to end up with 2 rest days for the week.

I'll have to find somewhere to work out in CA.
24 Hour Fitness, 300 South Festival Drive, Anaheim, CA 92808, (714) 637-4262
LA Fitness, 5757 Santa Ana Canyon Rd, Anaheim, CA 92807, (714) 282-3931

Training Schedule

Well, here's my attempt at getting my workouts into a reasonable time frame. I'm hoping I don't have to be at the gym longer than 2 hours any day (except weekends). The 2 hours includes the time I need to shower and get dressed as well.

I'm going to alternate upper and lower body exercises and see how it goes. Using this schedule allows me to cut the gym time down to about 1.5 hours, including the shower. Below are the descriptions for the Upper Body (UB) and

Lower Body (LB) workouts.

The Upper Body Hypertrophy exercises don't all have to be done. Those with the asterisk are required. I'll plan on doing all of them on the weekend, but only some during the work week.

Results: Saturday and Sunday I followed the schedule. My arms are killing me from the UB workout. A good sore though...it's been a while since I've done some good weight lifting.

I've been trying the cane around the house. I'm still shaky when using it, but can manage from the dining room to the kitchen.

Small World

I saw Mike M and Nat at the gym tonight. Got to talk to both of them! Mike's getting ready for the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo and is hoping the weather is good this year. He's going to be racing solo with his Dad crewing for him and the 2 dogs there for moral support.

Nat was working out at the gym since the weather is a bit cool out in the evenings...can't play golf in that! He came by and reminded me that I still need to donate money to Big Brother Big Sisters for him. He's doing the annual bowling event, which is actually a pretty big deal for the organization. Lots of people turn out from different companies.

Well, I've been slacking on the workouts, but will be doing the full thing Saturday and Sunday. Then I'm going to start breaking things down and alternating upper body and lower body every other day. Sallie told me that I'm working my muscles too hard and need to give them a rest in order to maximize my benefits. She sounds just like Dr. Ross in the Maximum Performance for Cyclists book. I'm going to try out his training program once I can get back on the bike.

Results for Thursday:

• UBE for 45 minutes
• Stationary bike for 15 minutes, 2 30-sec breaks, one at 5 and another at 10
• Pulley hip exercises--I had to do 5 pounds since that was the lightest weight. I used around 3 pounds in Sallie's office. I was able to do 3x6 with this weight, although I didn't have very good form on the last set. I may drop down to zero weight on the last set next time.

Results for Friday:
I was really tired today. Not sure why. I still squeezed out a small workout though.

• UBE for 40 minutes
• Stationary bike for 10, no breaks

Mr. Tokyo for dinner on Friday--salmon was great! Il Vicino for our normal Thursday ritual. I tried the Insalata Fresca--they have a new menu. Salad wasn't bad, but not my favorite.

10% Increase Max per Week!

Went in for visit 3 to Sallie. She said that usually, 6 visits is the point at which patients no longer need support, but it is sometimes different with those who have had surgery. The cool thing is that my sessions with Sallie don't count against my insurance, which probably has a definite limit on the number of visits.

I told Sallie that my 3 hour workouts are getting a little tough to manage. She's having me cut out the exercises that are too easy, and we added some tougher ones today. Also, I don't need to be doing redundant exercises in the pool and on the land, so I can cut out all of routine 1, except that I'll continue walking in the pool.

General rule of thumb from Sallie...don't increase ANYTHING more than 10% a week; otherwise, I'll be waking up in the middle of the night with lots of pain...just like last time. On that note, she also said I'm working out too hard and not giving my body time to rest and rebuild. I need to start alternating upper and lower body exercises, especially now that I'm going to be adding the upper body weight lifting. I need to give my muscles at least 1 day break for the exercises I've been doing in Routines 3-5. I'll start working on a routine for myself tomorrow.

2/8/06 Routine 5
Continue stretches and strength exercises from Routines 3 & 4, but feel free to cut out that which is too easy. The only one I can't cut out is the weight shifting exercise.

Here's a great link to remind me of what I'm working on.

Exercises:

• Quads 1--Lie on back, legs straight, lift right leg up, move out toward right as far as I can. Return leg to start position, (3x6-10). Make sure knee cap is straight up and not pointing inward. My foot will lean outward slightly.
• Quads 2--Lie on back, prop right leg up on bolster. Add increasing weight on foot (0, 2, 4 pounds) and then back down again, (3x6). Lift leg up at the knee. Concentrate movement on the quad. Make sure knee cap is straight up and not pointing inward.
• Gluteus Medius--Lie on stomach, left leg straight, right leg bent at knee; lift leg up, move out toward right as far as I can. Return leg to start position, (3x6-10).
• Abduction, flexion, extension--Using a pulley weight system with approx. 3 lbs and ankle strap, extend leg for full range of motion, (3x6). Sallie said that using a pulley is better than using Therabands because the weight is more consistent. This can replace the pool exercises I've been doing on these muscles.
  
• Upper Body--I can begin lifting lighter weights with my arms as long as I don't use the hip to lift weight. Basically, lift light enough that I'm not putting stress on the hip.

Pool:
I can use a buoy belt to do different leg exercises.

Scar:
This is healing very well. Continue as I have been using Karen's scar cream and the Neosporin Silicone Strips.

Don't Forget--I still need to address tip number 1 in the previous blog.

Good Tips

I couldn't help myself. After typing my blog last night, I went straight downstairs and did parts of Routine 3 & 4. I must have eaten something bad, because a stomach ache stopped me before I could finish. I didn't do any ab exercises (crunches/obliques), no stability ball, no weight shifting and no kneeling stretch from Routine 3.

This morning, I woke up bright and early, ate a light bite, fixed Matt's lunch, then headed to Defined Fitness to workout. Arrived around 6:45 AM, giving me 1 hr and 30 min to exercise, shower and dress because I have a conference to attend today.

Results: UBE 25 min, Stationary bike 12 min (no breaks, resistance level 2), 2 laps each for all "walking" type pool exercises in Routines 1 & 2, plus everything else I normally do. Nothing significant to report...no real pain today. Yeah!!

After the rather boring conference, I went to visit Sandy. Got some more great advice from her and notes to myself for my visit with Sallie tomorrow. Borrowed Sandy's cane and am actually looking forward to using it! Hair cut at Laru Ni Hati ended the day. Nothing major, but enough change to make Matt crinkle his nose at it.
Some things I need to remember for my next visits with Sallie. Great suggestions from Sandy:

1. Make sure Sallie is aware of the fact I'm meeting with SNL doctor for follow up end of Feb. I need to make sure the doc knows I need to continue therapy.
2. Ask about more advanced pool exercises.
3. Ask about any limits on # of visits I'm allowed.
4. Ask about what I should do to work on my scar.
5. Ask about upper body weight lifting.
   

Bad Idea

Note to self...don't push it TOO hard. I decided that since I was able to ride the stationary bike for 15 minutes, it was time to start increasing my resistance level next. What the heck, I decided to go from my usual Level 1 up to Level 7. Stupid.

Somehow I conveniently forgot that my surgeon said I wouldn't be able to do cardio with my legs until at least the end of February. He said I'd just cause too much inflammation on the joint.

I remembered him saying that early this morning around 2 AM when I was awoken by the pain from my inflamed hip joint. Duh....

Today is a forced rest day. I'll be working out first thing in the morning, bright and early, tomorrow. I have a long day ahead of me...workshop, visit with Sandy to pick up a cane she's loaning me, and a haircut at Laru Ni Hati.

My Arms Hurt

My arms hurt. They ALWAYS do. I guess I'd better just get used to it. I figured the soreness would go away after I got used to using the upper body ergometer (UBE), but that doesn't seem to be the case. I use it almost every freaking day, WTF?!? Oh well, I'll stop complaining and be happy with the fact that I can actually get some cardio into my routine.

So, here's the update:
Saturday--Routines 1-4 completed entirely. UBE for 30, stationary for 12--3 30 sec breaks (muscle pain at end of 10, pain level 4; pelvic discomfort near sit bones at 10 too). Nothing significant to report other than that.

Sunday--Routines 3-4 completed entirely, stability ball (can't remember if I recorded that in routine 4 or not, I'll have to check), UBE 45, stationary 15--2 30 sec breaks (muscle pain same as Sat; pelvic discomfort same as well--I'm alleviating some of it by pushing my feet far into the foot straps so that I'm pushing with the arch of my foot rather than the balls of the feet).

The Referral--Sallie

My job has a medical center it offers to its employees. That center includes a group of PTs. Sallie, whom Sandy recommended, works there. I got the official referral from my local surgeon, and now I'm off and running!

1/26/06 Routine 3
Stationary Bike--3 minutes, no resistance up to tolerated time limit

Stretches:

• Quadriceps--lie face down, bring R heel to bottom, hold 10+ secs (1x3); repeat with left
• Quad/Back/Hip--on hands and knees, sit on heels and bring shoulders toward knees, hold 10+ secs (1x3)
• Abs--After the Quad/Back/Hip stretch, stretch out on stomach and push up on lower part of arms (1x3)
• Groin/Adductor--lie on back with knees and feet together. Let knees fall apart as soles of feet come together. Use gravity only to stretch groin area. (1x3)
  

Exercises/Strengthening:

• Shift Weight, side-to-side, front-to-back (1x10)
• Hip Lift--lie face up, bend R knee more than L, push with both feet to lift hips (3x6)
• Leg lift--lie face up, bend R knee, lift thigh to vertical, straighten knee to 45 degrees, fix knee at that angle and lower foot to bed (3x6); repeat with left to greatest angle comfortable

Results: After 1 week, these became progressively easier, so I bumped up the reps for hip lift and leg lift to 3x10 for each. I had a lot of lower back pain after doing these, so will consult Sallie on this. I've added this routine to Routines 1 & 2 from Sandy. It's taking me about 3 hours total (including transportation, shower, dressing) to complete the entire routine. I'm up to 10 minutes on the stationary bike: 5 min (rest 30 sec); 3 min (rest 30); 2 min (stretch).

2/2/06 Routine 4
Continue Routine 3 and add the following.

Stretches (use a folded towel at top of sacrum for both):

• Hamstring--hold R thigh at vertical, straighten knee, pull toes down, hold for 10+ secs (1x3); repeat with L leg
• Hip--pull R knee toward L shoulder to stretch hip; stop if it hurts in front, hold for 10+ secs (1x3); repeat with L leg

Exercises:

• Add a plumb line to the weight shifting from routine 3; side-to-side, line should go from middle of body to the right, don't let it go to the left when standing straight; front-to-back, keep line in the middle as much as possible
• Knee Lift--lie on left side, knees bent. Lift R knee, but NOT foot (3x6) repeat with left
• 4 Point Crossed Extension--on hands and knees, lift and extend right leg to horizontal. Legs ONLY, don't use arms; hold pelvis still, imagine a water glass tray balanced on my back; repeat with left
• Stability Ball--sit on ball with legs hip width apart. Move legs/feet closer together and maintain balance. Lean forward and back, side-to-side with feet together, all the while attempting to maintain balance and keep even weight on both feet.

Results: As of 2/4/06, I've been doing these as prescribed. I haven't done the Exercise Ball yet. I need to get that out! I got up to 15 minutes continous on the stationary bike. Pain at 12 minutes. Lots of soreness/stiffness the next day, I may have pushed it too hard, so will back off a little on the bike.

You Have to Start Somewhere--Thanks, Sandy!

Hip surgery, actually, a periacetabular osteotomy and a hip arthroscopy. That's what I'm recovering from. The surgery was Nov. 11, 2005. I'm finally able to get into a fitness routine, so I feel it's time to start tracking what I'm doing.

PTs--my surgeon doesn't recommend them. He thinks they tend to be a little over-zealous with their work. However, I believe that's a bit of a generality, and have decided to seek the advice of a PT against my surgeon's wishes. I'm a creature of habit and tend to do better when given a regimine to follow, plus I've got a lot of PT friends, so I'm not hurting for advice.

I've noticed remarkable changes in my flexibility and muscle strength since working with PTs, so I think it's time to start tracking my progress!

My first session--Sandy
Sandy has been a pro mountain bike racer. She's an unbelievable athlete and someone whose advice I trust. She was the first to help me out with a exercise routine in the swimming pool.

1/13/06 Routine 1
UBE 15 -20 minutes

Pool exercises:

• Frontwards walking - concentrate on good form, heel to toe foot strike, neutral hip position (i.e. don't let your foot turn inward). 15 "1/2" laps or as deep as you can go
• Partial squats 2x20, increase to 2x30 as tolerated
• Heel raises 2x20, increase to 2x30 as tolerated
• Hip abduction 1x30 each leg (this is the motion where you take your leg out to the side)
• Hip extension 1x30 each leg (this is the motion where you extend your leg behind you)
• Hip flexion 1x30 each leg (this is the motion where you kick your leg out in front of you)

Results: By the end of 1 week, I was up to 25 minutes on the UBE and had increased to the max sets/reps recommended. Workouts were difficult at first and became easy by the 4th day.


1/24/06 Routine 2
Continue UBE

Pool exercises (do the above as a warmup and continue with the below):

• Backwards walking (4 laps)
  
• Marching (4 laps)
  
• 4 points (1x10)
  
• Squares (1x10)
  
• Sidestepping (2 laps)
  
• Front cross overs (2 laps)
  
• Back cross overs (2 laps)
  
• Braiding (combining front and back cross overs)(2 laps) - wait until you are comfortable with the cross overs before starting this!

Results: By the end of an additional week (2/4/06), I'm up to 45 minutes on the UBE and can do all the above exercises. I forgot about the Sidestepping!! I'll add that into the routine. In the interest of time, I've reduced the forward walking in Routine 1 to 4 laps.

Sandy encouraged me to see Sallie for some formalized PT assistance. I'll cover Sallie's routines to date in the next blog.