6 posts tagged “aids lifecycle”

So yesterday I went on my second ALC official training ride. I'm definitely getting into the game a bit late - and it's been a bit rough on my body - but I got out there and rode 85 miles yesterday. It was just over 7.5 hours on the bike and a solid 12 hours from time leaving my house to time returning to my house. I'm not entirely sure but I think that's a one-day record for me.

I got an excellent night of sleep last night and awoke to a lot of muscular soreness and a bit more soreness in the knee than I'd like. I've been icing/ibuprofening in an attempt to keep the swelling/pain down. I think it had to do with seat position as I had to jack my seat up a good half cm to get better leg extension - I think that was what was causing the pain - too much bend in the knee. Towards the end of the ride the pain had alleviated with the seat height increase.

Anyways - I'm in good spirits and feeling nervous/optimistic about the ride. I was told that this 85 mile ride we did was way harder than any day on the ride - so I'm optimistic.

Also, in other excellent news: With all of you amazing people's excellent help I've hit my fundraising goal / minimum to ride! Thank you /so/ much to everyone who has donated. I've raised $2,760 so far - which is a pretty staggering number.

I've got a few mix CDs I'm going to try to pump out this week and one or two prints left to deliver.

For those who missed the Facebook message I had sent out:

Donate $100 - Get a custom mix cd (hour long one-track seamless mix style)
Donate $150 - Get a matted print (your pick from prints.nontent.net)
Donate $200 - Get one of each

http://www.aidslifecycle.org/2004 is the donation URL. I still have another week or two (I believe) to raise funds - so if you've been meaning to or have had plans of donating now is the time!

I'm now four weeks out from my collarbone surgery. I still have limited mobility in my right arm and, sadly, I'm still a long ways out from being completely healed. The good news is that the pain is almost completely gone. Now, obviously, if I extend my arm in a weird way or put any kind of pressure on the collarbone it hurts like the dickens. While I have no idea how far along my healing process TRULY is - I'd like to hope that these are indications that I'm healing fast and everything is going great. I'm completely off all pain medications at this point which I'm very happy about.

Training is a little more tricky.

With this injury, I have (obviously) had to dramatically scale back how hard I push myself and carefully regulate how hard I work while training in the gym. The absolute last thing I want to do is further injure myself because I was too impatient to wait a few additional weeks. So, that being said, I'm very slowly ramping up a cardio regime. My goal is to work up to an average of four to six 30-45minute high intensity (160 beats per minute+) cardio sessions a week. On top of that I'm deciding the best way to squeeze in a leg weight workout. The glaring problem with the weight workout idea is moving the weights around - but I'm sure I can ask friendly folk in the weight room to help out.

This leaves the third pillar of my AIDS LifeCycle preparations: fundraising. Surprise, surprise, sitting at home all day means I can't go out and talk with local businesses and talk with my friends to try to raise money for the ride. I have a few ideas on fund raising opportunities once I'm a little more mobile - so hopefully this will clear itself up once I get moving again. I'm a little bummed that I can't do much besides post on the internets and talk with friends right now - but it is what it is. I'm just about 30% of the way to my goal - so I've a substantial way to go, but it could always be worse!

http://www.aidslifecycle.org/2004

Well it's now almost three weeks out from my surgery. My collarbone is plated together and the pain levels are pretty much gone as long as I keep my arm in the sling / resting carefully. I've been a lot more mobile and have begun getting into the gym doing some crazy exercise biking.

Since I can't push myself -too- hard (as I have to maintain upper body immobility, for the most part) I've just been doing faster cadence (faster pedaling) to keep my heart rate up. I've been attempting to do 30-60 minute rides maintaining a heart rate of between 150-170bpm which is deep in the cardio range for me. I've noticed some improvements already - although I am nervous about how much I'll be able to do in this state until I get back on the bike.

My fundraising efforts died down a bit after my injury and I've got to begin working on that again. The Cal team has a couple of events planned that I'm trying to be a part of but unless it's right on campus it's proven difficult to help. Any one have ideas on fundraising techniques I can do from home?

I've also, at this point, determined the extent of the (hopefully temporary!) numbness/nerve damage in my shoulder region. Extending about one two inches below the entire span of the incision is partially numb while moving closer to my front deltoid is a little more signifnicantly numb. The numbness on the front deltoid extends to nearly the top end of the bicep and almost as far out as the side deltoid. The numbness clears up by the top of the soulder where the collar bone meets the shoulder joint. My most excellent surgeon has assured me sensation will return and that it will not affect muscle movement or strength - it's just surface numbness. It's EXTREMELY strange, although I'll take this in a heart beat over having my bones knit together in such a way where I'd lose mobility in my shoulder.

I'm optimistic about being able to complete a good portion of the ride. I've begun a stretching routine to keep my legs limber and I'm hoping to keep increasing the frequency and duration of my indoor 'training rides.' My kickin' rad friend Zach has been awesome about morale support and he's agreed to help me out how he can on the ride. I'm really serious when I say that AIDS LifeCycle is Good People. I feel like every person I've met has a heart that can barely be jammed in their rib cage. I guess it takes a certain kind of person to bike 545 miles, but still.

Either ways - I'm very optimistic about my recovery in time for the AIDS LifeCycle and am fully confident I'll have a full summer of riding.

Also, I wanted to thank all of you who supported and donated for my Waves to Wine ride in 2007. I know most of you read this, and it was amazing to see everyone support me and I honestly think each and every one of you influenced my life in a way you probably don't realize. I wasn't sure if longer cycling riding was for me - but as donations came in I realized that people were putting trust in me. I pushed myself, succeeded, and felt amazing about myself. And now I'm anticipating riding 1000 miles for charity this year and cycling has become ain integral pillar of my life. I know this isn't a personal thank you letter - but when you (yes you!) read this know that I am specifically thanking you and I really do appreciate the vote of confidence. You've pushed me onto this path and I'm extremely happy to be here, so thank you.

Alex your collarbone is shattered. Are you still riding?

Hell yes. It will take a hell of a lot more than a broken collarbone to stop me.

Obviously being off my bike for 8-12 weeks is going to seriously affect my training. What does this mean? Starting next week I'll be in the gym doing slow sustained cycling for as long and as often as I can handle it. The day the doctor approves me to get back on the bike I'll be riding daily. There is no way this is stopping me; in fact it's going to be an exciting, fun challenge to overcome.

I'll still be doing 1000 miles of charity riding this year, so this is just an interesting handicap ;)

How can I help?

- Moral support. Ping me on AIM and ask whats up. Leave messages of support on my AIDS LifeCycle donation page.

- Pledge! I still need to raise over $2,000 before June. Not only will I be training, eating right, and so on - I'll be doing all this with a broken collarbone. However, you aren't donating to me - you're donating to help people with an affliction far worse than a broken clavicle. You're donating to help people that have a disease for which there is no cure. They can't ask a doctor when they'll be back in good health - they're affected for life.

I really hope you'll pledge your support for my ride. My health will be my life for the next four months and it means a damn lot to me if you're willing to appreciate that and support me in this through this setback.

Bulleted health updates:

• Pain is way way down. First Vicodin free day!
• I'm probably back in the gym doing light cardio next week
• 8-12 week heal time until back on the bike
• Apt with orthopedic surgeon on the 25th to check on healing progress
• Graduation date should not be affected, although my schedule will likely need to be lightened
• Working with professors about catching up. It'll be hard while I'm still healing.
• Typing one handed really fucking sucks.
• I'm taking every supplement I can to make sure my body has what it needs

So I'm now registered for the AIDS LifeCycle (545 miles) and the Waves to Wine 2008 ride (150 miles) which totals 695 miles.

That leaves a scant 300 miles to register for to meet my new years resolution of riding 1000 miles for charity this year. Does anyone know any awesome charitable causes that hold charity events that provide me with free food for raising money and riding?