36 Times Around the Sun

Today is my birthday! 36 rides around the sun.

To celebrate, I went out for a ride, intending to hit the 40 mile mark. Within the first 10 miles, however, I knew I should have just turned around and went back. I was NOT feeling it...

I spent most of the morning just putzing around, taking an hour to change an inner tube, finish some leftovers from a few nights before and then get dressed. I applied a healthy dose of sunblock and finally got going around 1 or 2 pm... Whenever. Obviously, I was stalling because I was not in the mood for this ride. But, I did it anyway.

I was just outside Wilkes-Barre, heading through Plains when I felt I was making a big mistake -- I was exhausted. I couldn't get enough air, my legs were burning, I was already cutting into my glycogen reserves. In short, I was in bad shape, and it was only going to get worse.

"Whatever... just power through it," I thought. "I'll regret quitting more than I'll regret the pain I'll be in."

I could blame the estrogen and the testosterone blocker, because that would be easy. For one, the testosterone blocker is keeping me from building muscle. Every stroke of the pedals rips another fiber, raises the heart rate and burns calories and glucose. As we know from athletic medicine, the body will consume muscle if it can't get anything else. Every time I push hard, I'm consuming more muscle mass. But there's a way to counter that... It's called "eating right," which I definitely did not do this morning.

I had about 3 or 4 ounces of leftover steak from dinner a few nights before and what was left of a baked potato -- mostly just the skin. That's like, what, 200-300 calories? That's not enough, especially when you're riding a distance that normally burns through 1300 to 1400 calories. Yeah, I felt awful.

So, the moral of the story is, eat a healthy breakfast that consists of the right foods and bring something along to keep your glycogen levels up, or you will be sorry. How sorry? Well, muscle cramps and spasms are not fun, I can tell you that. Generally speaking, if you're not feeling good in the first 10 miles, the next 30 are not going to be any better, and you are going to be in sorry-ass shape long after you get back. Believe me... I've had a nap, eaten some good food, done everything I can to recover in the hours since I got back. I still feel awful.

One last moral: UV radiation ain't nothin' to mess wit'. The estrogen has done WONDERFUL things for my skin. I no longer get breakouts on my face, I'm soft, my skin is light and pale... it almost glows. It also gets damaged by the sun in the blink of an eye.

I used to go for hours and hours without sunblock. I would burn a little, but nothing that ever seemed overly serious. Now... heck, 1 hour is enough to turn me red and burn me pretty badly. It's not good, so I've become very rightly concerned and now use SPF 100 sun screen. Even if you're not on hormone replacement therapy, wear sunblock. Skin cancer is serious business.

In closing, happy birthday to me! As I said on Facebook, I really didn't think I was going to make it to 36 -- it got THAT bad before I realized I HAD to come out and live as my authentic self.
Since then, however, coming out and transitioning has been the best thing I have ever done for myself. It really did save my life. I would not be here, otherwise. As they say, it gets better, and it definitely did! Here's to another 36!

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Dealing with Severe Leg Cramps on the Bike

No, not Krampus. CRAMPS.

Some days, I'm surprisingly ok with failure. My thought process usually follows, "I tried something, it didn't work, I learned from it and moved on." Then, other things, I'm not ok with. Not completing a ride, for example, usually gets me royally pissed off.

It's been almost 2 months since I last tried to ride to Mountain Top and back, and I've been patiently awaiting my second attempt. Since then, we've had snowstorm after snowstorm, with temperatures dipping below 0 for several days straight -- not the kind of weather I'd like to be in for a 36 mile round trip. But now, things are getting better. The sun is staying out longer, we're days away from pushing the clocks ahead and the temperatures are slowly rising into the 40s and 50s. We're not quite there, yet, but it's close. Close enough that, on Tuesday, I saw my second chance at a successful round-trip ride to Mountain Top.

Apparently, I'm woefully out of shape. I went for a nice 12 miler on Saturday, and even with snow pelting my face and a wickedly cold head wind that chilled me to the bone, I felt good enough that an extended ride didn't sound too crazy. And, judging how I felt when I got to the NEPA Geeks office in Mountain Top, I was right. 18 miles? No problem! The ride back, however, was like a ride into Hell. My body was simply not ready for a 36 mile round trip, and dealing with severe leg cramps on the bike was the price I had to pay.

I guess I needed a stern reminder about hydration, electrolyte and carbohydrate replenishment, because I still haven't learned my lesson from the last time this happened.

Let's look at what I think I did wrong:

• Didn't eat before the ride.
• Didn't eat during the ride.
• Didn't rehydrate.

And I might as well add "Didn't train enough beforehand," to the list. Jumping from 12 miles to 36 kicked me square in the ass and dumped me on the curb to sit and think about it for a while, almost literally.

As my calves cramped up and involuntarily convulsed, I did my best to sit on a guardrail and keep them at heart-level. (For some reason, I thought keeping them elevated would help, and it did.) Then my quadriceps joined in the chorus of pain. Less than a few miles from home, my right hamstring pulled taut and sent me into the dirt. At least I was only walking at this point, so I didn't hurt myself more than I already had. It was a bad, bad scene.

As prime riding season approaches, it's definitely worth taking some time to acknowledge the fact that I need to ease back into this sport, do plenty of stretching before I ride and make sure I have plenty of water and food during the ride. I've also read from a few sources that eating Tums with calcium can help ward off cramping. Not sure about that one, but if it happens again, it might be worth a shot. Keep your eyes peeled for Krampus, and here's to hoping that it never happens again!

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Scary New Pain

For the past few weeks, I've been pushing myself to become stronger and faster, but I admit that I've been neglecting my endurance. So, for today's ride, I decided to see if I could push myself to go a little farther than usual.

The Route:

Up and down Arthur Street 6 times to build a little more hill climbing endurance. On the 6th time, I rode to Diamond Avenue and followed it out to the Rails to Trails for distance endurance. I rode Rails to Trails out to Beryllium Road, turned around and headed back. I then followed the Rails to Trails all the way to Route 93 and turned around in the parking lot, heading back to Stockton Mountain Road. From there to Diamond Ave, up Arthur and back to home.

The Stats:

Total Distance: 20.8 miles

Time: 2 hrs 26 minutes -- non-stop

Average Speed: 8.5, Max Speed: 32.8

Elevation gain: 2007 ft, Max Elevation: 1860 ft

Also worth noting: I didn't go below the 3rd gear of my rear hub, even during the hill climbs. I wanted to add extra resistance and keep my speed up.

The Ride:

Uneventful. A few close calls with cars thanks to a lack of decent shoulder on some parts of the road. My hybrid bike definitely likes pavement more than the rough trail, but whatever. I still want a road bike more than a mountain bike.

I felt pretty good throughout the ride, until the turn for home, going up Arthur one last time. My legs were burning and giving me the, "Let's wrap this up, pronto," message. Despite the burn, I didn't feel fatigued or a lack of strength, but then the real fun began.

Post-ride:

As I parked my bike in the garage and headed upstairs, the situation got scary.

In the minute it took to cook some oatmeal, I guzzled 2 glasses of water and was adding protein powder to a 3rd. I just kept shaking my legs, trying to get the ants to stop marching, but it wasn't helping. I was in a lot of pain -- more than I had encountered from any previous ride. I was worried for a moment, but I knew what I had to do.

Finally, I grabbed everything and headed over to the dining room where I kicked my legs up onto the table to keep them elevated while I ate. Oatmeal with flax seed, potatoes and tuna. More water, and some rest. In about an hour, it was like nothing was ever wrong. As I write this, I'm feeling much better.

So, what now?

There are about 6 weeks left until the event. Just 6 weeks to see if I can manage to hit 31 miles (50km) without utterly destroying myself. I figure, I'll stick to my normal training regimen of intervals and hill climbs for the next few days. Next week, though, I'll see if I can't conquer those last 11 miles.

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