That's the elevation profile from today's ride.
Sure, I had a nice downhill for a portion of the day, but that second half was pretty hellish. All-in-all, I dreaded today so much I over prepared. That, in turn, made today not too bad. I got up early and ate a decent breakfast of Clif Bars and peanut butter bread balls. I began my ride at 7am when there was no headwind and stayed plenty hydrated. I also had a slew of podcasts and songs ready to ensure my attitude stayed afloat. And sure enough, today was gorgeous.
I actually had some fun today. A conversation with some pleasant people, consistent food and water intake, and the knowledge that tomorrow starts a stretch of a few days off kept me smiling and spinning. I even managed to get some footage.
Then things changed.
About seven miles from my stop for the night some pain struck. My right Achilles Tendon began to hurt, pretty badly. Sharp pain punctuated with a sudden feeling of over-hearing knocked me out of my comfortable head space. The worst was that I was so close to my stop that I just wanted to stop and rest, but I was running out of daylight. I downshifted and carefully pushed myself through it. It was tortuous. On top of that, some of the steepest inclines were in this final stretch. I kept downshifting to find a comfortable cadence and power output, but I quickly ran out of gears.
I had to resort to taking a break every mile. After doing 80+ fairly effortlessly this was monotonous in addition to the pain in my Achilles. It was also becoming a mental battle as I tried not to think about the consequences of what would happen if my tendon were to snap. The trip would be over on the spot and I would spend the next few months in surgery, then healing and having to do therapy just to walk again. An old boss of mine went through it and it just looked like hell. Eating pain medications like candy to survive the pain, lying in bed all day staring at screens and walls, and having to end this trip sounded like a recipe for a downward spiral back into mental instability. I began to remember what cyclist Mark Beaumont says. He's cycled around the world in under 100 days and was going to be embarking on another global trip to try and beat his own record. When asked if he fears he'll be injured, Mark responds with: "You have to know the difference between pain and injury. Push through pain, heal injury."
I carefully pushed on.
Finally, I made it to Globe. I pushed my bike to my stop and called a good friend and doctor of physical therapy. The diagnosis was inflammation from over-use. "Max out on dosages of ibuprofen, ice it, and really cut down your mileage. You should be fine if you take it easy." I could hear the concern in his voice underscoring his professional advice. A reminder that as much as I was enjoying this trip, I needed to remember that I'm not invincible. I took his advice to heart. I need to be very patient when listening to my body. I can't afford cyborg parts (yet) and I want to keep climbing and cycling after this trip so I need to be careful. I have a bad habit of trying to race from point A to point B and I need to slow my pace down from "quick" to "steady."
Thankfully, I have my girlfriend coming in tomorrow and I have the next four days off so I can most certainly do that. Plus, it'll be nice to talk to someone and not a collection of steel tubes and two wheels. Plus, as many people in my life have been saying, I should really enjoy this trip and not race by it. I'm bad at listening sometimes (read: often), but I need to listen to them.
They're right.