The Highland Hippie's Grand Adventures

[Pat (pogo69)]

Still sick.  Almost a week, now.  😞

As above, I thought that I was on the mend last Thursday.  But by Friday I took a turn for the worse and have spent most of the weekend feeling pretty ordinary.  Niggly cough (to which I am very prone) started up, rhinitis going great guns.

So, no riding.  Mostly taking it easy, and trying to prioritise healing.  I did tinker with stuff around the house - hard to ignore all the stuff that needs doing when you're not long moved in and you're living right amongst it.  Claire and I also took our little fella to a local creek for a surprise birthday paddle (he turned 6).  But very easy paddling.  Probably good for me to get out in the sun and water.

Starting to go stir crazy, off the bike.  But 🤷‍♂️ wait I must.

Oh.  Have also been continuing with the HtSfM, more or less every other day.

[Pat (pogo69)]

And... still sick.  Initial viral infection, has now opened me up to bacterial infection (that is, at least, the hypothesis).  So antibiotics will hopefully see me on the mend over the next few days.

Did get a ride in last Friday.  Was so good to be back out there.  But back off it again, now until I know I am well.  It has been hammering down with rain for a couple of days, with days more to come.  So, many of the trails are shut down, regardless.

[Pat (pogo69)]

No longer sick!  Acutely, anyway.

Back on the bike this morning.  Went out Nerang (the local rocky, gnarly trails)  Probably could have found an easier place for a re-intro to riding.  But most of the trails around here are shut because of the rain.

Still had fun, despite it being exhausting.  Rode "Gravity Enduro" style this morning, on the trails used for one of the local Gravity Enduro events.  Easy (yeah, whatever) up the access trails, and semi-spirited on the descents.  Was fun, but the rain really did slow things down.  Nerang is always rough and rocky, but adding the slippery clay made it even harder.

Relatively short day, because after one run at each of my target trails, I was done.

Knee seems good, today, in the aftermath of the ride.

@Kit_L: I have tried the slight weighting of the outside of the foot.  Interesting.  When I first tried it, the week before last, I got quite strong contractions in the glute med.  Backed off the weight (now almost more of an intention to weight), and I still feel it, but not quite as strongly.  Definitely helps, along with the hip hinging, to more evenly distribute the load while climbing.  As above, knee feels good afterwards.

[Kit_L]

On 12/21/2020 at 6:27 PM, Pat (pogo69) said:

Still had fun, despite it being exhausting. 

@Pat (pogo69): PLEASE be careful with this: part of your capacity to ride well is due to all the corticosteroids flooding your system—but they are there to help you get better, not to help you ride. I was an athlete once, and ignoring this really set me back, many times. Post-illness recovery is the most fraught time; you have to balance what you feel you can do with knowing that not doing is better for that first week. Just sayin'.

[Pat (pogo69)]

On 12/22/2020 at 6:39 PM, Kit_L said:

PLEASE be careful with this: part of your capacity to ride well is due to all the corticosteroids flooding your system—but they are there to help you get better, not to help you ride. I was an athlete once, and ignoring this really set me back, many times. Post-illness recovery is the most fraught time; you have to balance what you feel you can do with knowing that not doing is better for that first week.

Thanks @Kit_L.

You are, of course, quite correct.  Equally correct with your assessment of its applicability to my current recovery process.  I too, am well acquainted with "coming back" to far too much, too soon.

Trying to remind myself to play the long game.  Having loosely mapped out the racing season, I don't have to be race fit until May.  Plenty of time to regain lost CV fitness, and improve skills for the gravity races.

[Pat (pogo69)]

Nothing much in the way of structured mobility, moving, and meditation for me, lately.

I have been doing the Daily 5 more or less daily, and sometimes twice daily.  Throwing in the odd bit of hip flexor / quad wall limbering, and squat sits.  But to be honest, this has been largely reactive, as my body has been quite stiff and sore.

I have been on "holidays" from work the past two weeks (back to it, this morning).  But given that we're still very much in the middle of home renovations, I've been working physically hard most of every day.  Thus, no capacity for much of anything else.

All that aside, I am very happy with how the house is coming along.  But the return to work has some uncharacteristic appeal, simply so that I can give my body a bit of a break.

The mind is clamouring to get out on the bike - my mental health demands it - but my body says otherwise.  For now.

[Pat (pogo69)]

Same same.

Terrible sleep this week.  Tried to get out on the bike every day, but Mon/Tue/Wed were a fail.  Actually made it to the trail head yesterday (Wed), but realised only when I arrived that I had everything but shoes.  Cannot ride on flat with pins in bare feet.

Finally got out there, this morning.  Good ride.  Felt very flowy.

Still taking it somewhat easy, due to minimal activity since illness, poor sleep, and the workload from continuing home reno.

Hoping to get out to Kooralbyn on Sunday, to have another crack at some of the Black trails.  Pending all of the above.

Mobility: Have noticed some improvement in my Tailor Pose lately.  Not sure where that came from.

[Pat (pogo69)]

Back to three rides this week.  Felt pretty good for the most part.  Don't seem to be too de-conditioned from the period of illness, or easy return.  Will slowly build up volume from here until the April/May racing begins.

Skills slowly improving, but trying to temper my enthusiasm there, too.  Did not get out to Kooralbyn as planned.  We (Greater Brisbane Area) had another short (3 day) COVID lockdown.  So no recreational travel outside our neighbourhood.  I will get out there this coming Sunday.  Should get about an hour's riding in, before helping out with their dig day.

Still in two minds about Adventure Racing.  I want to do more, but I'm still loathe to start running again.  Just... no interest in it.  Will let that dictate whether or not AR is a thing this year, because I can't enter one without some running under my belt.

Still tinkering with mobility - sporadic and mostly portions of Daily 5 and/or HtSfM.

Haven't done any strength training since we moved.  All of the gear is piled on top of each other for now.  Next reno project should clear some room, to have (at least some of) it setup again, so hopefully back to doing something in the next week or two. 

[Pat (pogo69)]

Riding is going well.  Fitness slowly coming back, and my skills are improving pretty much every session.

Have been back out to Kooralbyn a couple of times.  Starting to tackle the harder runs - a couple of black trails, and a blue that is currently harder than the blacks.  Cleaned one of them twice yesterday, that I had not previously been able to do (without hike-a-biking down the tricky stuff).  Also cleaned a big rock garden for the first time, on the aforementioned blue trail.

Really enjoying the challenge of the gravity trails.  Compelling combination of physicality and technicality.  Currently in the market for knee/elbow pads and a full face helmet, so that I can attack some of this stuff with confidence-inspiring protective gear (or at the very least, reduce the chances that I end up in the Emergency Department).

Mobility: gone almost completely off the rails.

Strength: equipment all setup now, with last weekend's round of renovations.  Still haven't started to use any of it.

[SwissDanny]

4 hours ago, Pat (pogo69) said:

Strength: equipment all setup now, with last weekend's round of renovations.  Still haven't started to use any of it.

I feel ya... 

Good stuff on the riding!

[Pat (pogo69)]

On 1/27/2021 at 5:55 PM, SwissDanny said:

Good stuff on the riding!

Cheers, @SwissDanny (I would have simply reacted to your post, but the forum software tells me I have already overreacted for the day).

Riding

• First ride this morning, in exactly one week.  Each day got away from me, due to life combined with flagging motivation.  Enjoyed this morning, but not my best.  Very wet, so very slippery.  Spun out, over and over again - partly due to the wet, but largely because my brain was not fully engaged (poor gear selection, tardy dropper-post operation, etc).
• Have started accumulating protective gear.  Gloves (full finger, with knuckle protection etc) arrived.  Knee pads and elbow pads purchased and on the way.  Will wait for the full face helmet ($$ currently pouring into bathroom renovation).

Mobility

• Nil.  The occasional squat sit, the odd Daily 5.  But mostly absent.

Strength

• Nil.  Intended to start up this week (February).  But my motivation for strength training went out the window, along with the motivation to get out on the bike.  Some of this is insomnia driven, but also finding much of my spare time taken up with house reno.  Spent all Sunday, ripping up the bathroom floor (tiles, underlay, 1 billion nails).

Meditation

• Missing it.

Other

• Had a steaming hot shower this morning.  Was nice.  Our bathroom at home is currently completely gutted (ready for wall to wall renovation), so we only have the outdoor shower.  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the outdoor shower.  But it has very low water pressure, and every now and then, it is nice to feel deep cleaned.  We're back in the office one day a week (Wednesdays - today), and they have a cranking shower.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Back on track, so far this week.  Rode yesterday and today.
• Challenged myself yesterday with rather a long ride, including plenty of climbing and some gnarlier trails.  REALLY loved my first run down a Black trail called 'Resurrection'.  Had a bit of an off, but to be completely honest... I kinda enjoyed it.  Probably should start wearing the new pads on "gnarly" days.  Need to get use to them, anyway.

Mobility

• Bit more playing this past week.  They usual squat sit, Daily 5, and some bent leg pike and straddle limbering.

Strength

• Had a bit of a play with a few movements on Saturday.  Have had progressively stronger DOMS every day since.  Fun?  Much more mild today, so I'll see if I can find the fucks to have another crack at it, tomorrow (non-riding day).

Meditation

• Still missing it, but not actually doing it.

Other

• I've been adding a Post-Ride Stroll (only 600m - 1km or so) after most rides for a while now.  Started it to loosen the legs, while I was experiencing knee pain, but continued it because it feels good.  Yesterday, I decided to start throwing in a Lunch-Time Stroll with the dog.  Basically just prior to eating lunch.  Not happening today, because Wednesday is our "work in the office" day.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Have been slack.  And by slack, I mean horribly sleep deprived (even more than the usual chronic insomnia), facilitating some flagging motivation.  While I rarely sleep well, I usually wake early and this enables me to get myself going regardless of motivation.  Lately, the repetitive wake-ups and extended wake-ups have seen me crashing somewhere around 3-4am, and "sleeping in" until after 5am.  This creates a roll-on effect, that kills my usual momentum.
• Didn't get back out last week after the already reported Wednesday ride.
• Didn't get out yesterday, due to aforementioned demotivation spiral.
• Got out this morning but cut it short.  Very wet (raining most of the ride).  Therefore quite slippery, so made the climbing hard going.  Also tried a few new trails.  Really loved some of the new descents, but was probably not a great idea to tackle them for the first time in the wet.

Mobility

• Gone right off the rails again.

Strength

• Had a play as intended, last Thursday.  Also again, on Monday.  Very mild DOMS after Thursday's efforts.  Nothing after Monday's.  So I am, more or less, acclimated to exerting myself again.  Let's see if I can keep it going.  Intention is to keep it sporadic - every few days or so, on non-riding days.  Working from home means that I can fit it in, in several sessions without having to find a dedicated block of time.

Meditation

• Same same.  Nada, although I have rather given up even missing it, for now.

Other

• Still doing the post-ride stroll on Wednesdays before work.  Also have been going for a pre-lunch walk with the dog, more days than not.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• The slack (AKA chronic insomnia) continues.  First ride this morning, since last Wednesday.  Short again, but relatively hard (gravity enduro style - climb "easy" and descend "with purpose").  Felt good, but I was relatively conservative with one of the jump lines.  In better news, I got quite a lot more air over some of the jumps on the final run.  Not yet entirely sure what the difference is between "getting it" and not, but unintentional progress is still progress?  TODO list contains sessioning and videoing myself.
• Hope to get back out on Friday, to reacquaint myself with the black trail descent at Cornubia.  Trialled the knee and elbow pads this morning.  Bit of rubbing behind the knees, but they felt good with no restriction or overheating etc.  Keen to give them a crack on a more vertiginous trail.

Mobility

• Still almost NADA.  A couple of iterations of (formerly known as) "Daily" 5.

Strength

• Have continued.  Monday/Thursday has become a thing.
• The combination of low volume, ad-hoc set timing, and low frequency is working for me, motivationally.  Early days, but so far so good for regaining some strength.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• The "most days" walking continues.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Didn't get out on Friday as planned.  But made up for it Saturday morning instead.  Cornubia, as planned, and hit the black downhill trail twice, as well as a couple of other loops in between.  Very climby ride, with plenty of fun on the descents.  Cleaned 'Resurrection' (the black trail) both times.  Much better.  Rolled everything the first time, but launched many of the drops on the second.  Still need more commitment overall, but... much more confident.  Used the pads again.  Little bit of rubbing at the back of the knees, but better with the top strap cinched tighter.
• Out to Daisy Hill yesterday.  It is usually the "easy" option, my closest local.  But I hit the jump line to try to incorporate some skill building.  Clearing the tabletops easily now, and cleared one gap.  Also launched the "huck to flats", but avoided the other gaps due to just not feeling it.
• Tried some new trails this morning.  Glossy Black trails at Reedy Creek.  Very close to work, so it provides an alternative to my usual "before work in the office" ride on Wednesdays.  Climby.  Lots of tight rocky switchbacks to ascend.  Descents are very flowy - not many features, but heaps of sweeping berms.  Only 8km this morning, and it looks like I covered all the trail.  Hope they build more.
• Start the Intermediate 2 MTB Skills Course this coming Sunday.  Very much looking forward to it.

Mobility

• Ditto.  Next to nada.

Strength

• Have continued.  Still Monday/Thursday, but missed last Thursday.  Very tired, very fatigued and a little sore, so gave it a miss.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• The "most days" walking continues.
• We have a bathroom!  Finally finished.  Bath arrived last week (doubles as a shower), and had the plumber finish hooking everything up on Monday.  Looks amazing, and a much better use of the space.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• New bike is in the shop being serviced.  Started the skills workshop on Sunday, only to find the dropper post no longer worked.  Not great timing considering we were working on jump technique.  Tried to fix it on Monday with no success.  Also tried to reset the sag in my rear suspension only to have a shock pump failure that caused all the air to be released.  Anyway, that is now the bike shop's problem.  Hopefully fixed and serviced by Friday (almost had it 6 months, so it was about due).
• Hit the local (to work) trails at Reedy Creek again this morning.  First ride on the old hardtail 26" MTB in almost 6 months.  Made me truly appreciate how good I have it with the new bike.
• Hit Cornubia last Friday.  Warm up lap, then two runs down the black trail, Resurrection.  Trail had changed part way down.  Old (easy) line over a drop has been deprecated (with a stack of logs).  Now the only way down is over a much bigger drop, directly after a sharp corner.  MUCH harder.  Eased my bike over it the first run (very ungracefully).  But hit it with purpose the second run, and did not die.  Very fulfilling.

Mobility

• Ditto.  Next to nada.

Strength

• Have continued.  Missed last Thursday again.  Seeing some very marginal strength improvements.  Can't really hope for more than that, training once a week.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• The "most days" walking continues.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Bike is still in the shop.  Apart from the skills workshop on Sunday, I only got out on the old bike once since last Wednesday (this morning).
• Workshop on Sunday was all about log overs.  Hopping, bump jumps, drops.  Went reasonably well, despite being on the old bike.  Exhausting though..
• Hit Nerang this morning.  Very hard work, especially with all the rain we've been getting.  The always rooty, rocky Nerang becomes very slippery in the wet.  The ancient geometry and small wheels on the old bike all make it that much harder.  Lots of lost traction.  Still, good practise.  Also SO much better than the last time I had the old bike out there.
• Update: Bike will be ready by lunch time, so I'll get it back tomorrow!

Mobility

• Next to nada.  But I have snuck in a couple of Daily 5s.  Also a little bit of weighted pike/straddle (Jefferson curl style) in between sets of strength training.

Strength

• Have continued.  Did not miss Thursday last week.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• The "most days" walking continues.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Got my bike back from the shop last Thursday.  Unfortunately, life (dad duties, mostly) then interjected, and I have been unable to get out on it until yesterday.
• First ride back on the new bike yesterday at Nerang.  It has been raining buckets for days, so most of the single track trails are closed and/or too fragile to be ridden.  So, I had intended to do some hill reps on the fire-trail.  Tore a hole in the rear tyre on the 1st descent, so only managed 1 rep out of 4, before hike-a-biking back to the car.  Ugh.
• Tried to plug the hole, but it didn't take.  Played around with it again today, and found another tiny hole in the sidewall near the rim.  Had a go at putting a small plug in it.  Waiting to see if the sealant will take enough to hold air.  If not, I'll chuck a tube back in it until I can get hold of a new tyre.
• Skills workshop day #3 of 4, hopefully this Sunday (catch up from last Sunday's, that was postponed due to rain).

Mobility

• Very little.

Strength

• Continued on Monday.  Missed today, due to very poor sleep and zero fucks.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• Walking continues.  Got out for a bushwalk with Claire, Tallis (Mr 6) and Storm (the dog) on Sunday.  Was very nice.  Need to be doing more of that.

Running

• Put my hand up to sweep (*) the final leg of the Scenic Rim Ultra again, in August.  Did the same last year, after running the whole thing the year before.  Final leg is only 25km, but very hilly.  Hopefully, it will be like last year where the stragglers are reduced to walking, as I haven't been out for a run of any distance for... no idea, but quite some months.

(*) Sweep follows along behind the back of the pack runners, to make sure that no-one is left out on the course.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Long Hill Reps last Friday - 4 x 8' ascent w/ 5' descent recovery.  Fitness is pretty good in comparison with when I was training more regularly last year.  Quite surprised.  Also tackled the rocky descent at Plunkett on the way back to the car.  First time I've cleaned it the entire way down.  Actually felt almost "easy".
• Went out to the local trails yesterday.  They are very raw "pirate trails".  Ridiculously hard work.  Only travelled 5.5km in about 1h23m.  But around 319m+ ascent, most of which was hike-a-biking, due to very steep and slippery (loose rocky) terrain.  Had a crack at one of the descents for the first time.  Last time out there (a year and a half ago, on the old bike), I deemed the whole place too "bat shit fucking crazy" to ride.  Didn't die.  Came off once on the first lap.  Stayed on, albeit with quite a bit of "foot down to stabilise" action.  Need to get out there more often to increase confidence, so that I can lay off the brakes a whole lot more.  Reliance on heavy braking is only making the ride far more sketchy.  Had a look over the other downhill track, but I am so not ready for that just yet - very steep again, but with a big drop (over 2m) right on a sharp right-hand corner.  Nice to have something to look forward to.
• Out to Daisy Hill this morning.  Mostly just getting kms in the legs and lungs - longest ride in a while - ~23km.  Did hit the jump line for some practise.  Sessioned one of the jumps that I cased badly the last time I tried.  Just clipped the edge of the landing lip on the first go.  Smooth as butter landing on the next two runs.  Improving!
• Skills workshop days #3 and #4 have been postponed to mid-late April due to rain and calendar clashes.

Mobility

• Getting in the odd Daily Five.  Very stiff back (all of it - mostly mid, but some lower and upper) and frequent sciatica lately.

Strength

• Continued on Monday.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• Walking on hiatus this week.  Too much going on with 3 day lock-down and wee lad (6yo) at home from school.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Still minimal riding lately.  Combination of last week's lock-down, awful sleep, another extended period of pouring rain.
• Only ride since last Wednesday, was a short loop at Reedy Creek, local to work (still in the office on Wednesdays).
• Full-face helmet arrived.  Have not yet had a chance to use it.  Maybe Friday at Cornubia.

Mobility

• Still getting in the odd Daily Five.  Bit of squat practise.  Tried some cossack squats the other day.  Holy wake-up call.  Much lost mobility there.

Strength

• Continued on Monday.  Might back-up tomorrow; but pending sleep and mood.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• Walked a bit more than expected, but still missed a couple due to lock-down and daddy duties.

[Pat (pogo69)]

A little late with what had become the weekly update.

MTB

• Good week.  Have ridden 3 days, in addition to a catch-up day on Sunday
  • Sunday - Cornubia.  Christened the new full-face helmet.  Little hot, little restricted in breathing, but not too bad.  Hard day, climbs wore me out.
  • Tuesday - Plunkett.  Technical climbing.  Had a crack at climbing three separate routes up to Wickham peak.  Regular failures to maintain traction and/or momentum, but overall pretty good.  Hard work.  Had a GREAT descent down the big rocks on the way down and out.
  • Wednesday - Glossy Black in Reedy Creek.  Short ride on the way into work.  Usual loop.  Flowy.
  • Friday (this morning) - Eastern Escarpment.  Not far from home, but my first time out there.  Couple of newly built/refurbished trails.  I had two runs down each of the new Black trails - Westy's and Blacking Out.  Had a BIG stack on the first run down Blacking Out.  Over the bars and fell/slid hard down the rocky embankment, with my bike tumbling end over end in front of me.  YAY to full face helmet, gloves, and knee/elbow pads.  Few grazes, and heal of my left hand is bruised.  Anyway.  Got back on, finished the run.  Then did another run of each trail, with a clean second run down Blacking Out.  Fixed my poor line choice, and much better commitment.
• Skills course resumes on Sunday (session 3 of 4).

Mobility

• Minimal

Strength

• Continued on Thursday, then Monday.  Gave it a miss on Thursday (yesterday), as Monday felt pretty ordinary.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• Usual.

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Consistent riding continues:
  • Sunday - Cornubia.  Skills Workshop session 3 of 4.  Lots of reasonably technical climbing and descending.  One of my regular haunts, so I knew all of the trails quite well.  Not my greatest day out, to be honest.  While my riding was quite fluid when left to my own devices, I had a few struggles when we stopped and focused on specific sections of trail, that required focus on correspondingly specific coaching points.  My brain/body often seems to go to mush when I try to focus on specifics rather than allowing everything to flow.  Possibly need to simplify - one thing at a time?  But even then, sometimes... mush.
  • Tuesday - Daisy Hill.  Usual loop.  Spent some time sessioning the jump line.  Getting much better.  Hit the next biggest gap jump, after a warm up run.  Then hit it several times again.  Gave the final gap jump a miss.  Will hit it next time, if the others go well.
  • Wednesday (this morning) - Nerang.  Did each of the 3 race lines for the Rocky Trail Gravity Races (sometime in July).  PR on the first.  No idea how the others went, as I accidentally paused my watch (if it's not on Strava, did it even happen?).  But everything felt flowy.  Need to find more power and momentum on the climbing sections (albeit they are relatively short in a gravity race).
• Skills course session 4 of 4 on Saturday.
• Meeting up with a mate next Monday to show him around Kooralbyn bike park (the location of my first gravity enduro race next month).

Mobility

• Minimal

Strength

• Continued on Monday.  Felt quite strong overall.  See how I feel for tomorrow.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• Usual walking.

[Pat (pogo69)]

Bit late with the update, partly for reasons that will become apparent.

MTB

• Riding has had its ups and downs
  • Friday - Castle Hill.  My first time out there, and I loved it.  They have 4 Black Trails heading from (almost) the same spot at the top of the hill, and each meet at the bottom at the skills park.  Two each on either side of the central fire trail used for climbing.  Very sensible layout.  Trails are all quite short, but lots of fun.  Will be back, and probably race there later in the year.
  • Sunday - Nirvana (Trail) at Daisy Hill.  Final skills course session.  Lots of techy descents and climbing.  I was already comfortable with all the descents there, but made progress with my tech climbing.  There remains only one feature now that I cannot currently clean - a log drop that you have to hop up onto, at the top of a medium grade ascent.  Because you are already climbing, you can't get a lot of momentum going.  So you basically have to wheelie the front up, then pull the back up behind you.  Almost made it the second time, but... no cigar.  Still, it gave me confidence that I will get there, eventually.
  • Monday - Kooralbyn.  Took Brenden out to show him around the trails.  Warmed up on the XC stuff, then headed up to the top to hit some of the Black trails.  Hadn't ridden with him before, so we eased into it.  While not quite as fit, his skill levels are similar to mine, so we had a bit of fun... until...
    • ...on our second run down Nemesis (my favourite trail out there), I decided to hit the timber jump at the bottom of the trail.  I had always gone around it, but after stopping and having a look at it on our first run, I thought it looked doable.  Probably is, with the benefit of hindsight, but I got bucked.  Hard.  Didn't realise (until after we had a better look at it) that the timber planks that run lengthways along the face of the launch, flex quite a lot.  So I got caught in between the flex and the lateral planks at the lip of the jump.  I am guessing (because it all happened very quickly), that the rear tyre got hung up and kicked.  OTB (over the bars) #2 in 2 weeks.  This time it hurt.
    • Pain killers all day Tuesday.  Disturbed sleep Monday/Tuesday.  Went to physio on Wednesday.  By then, the pain had abated somewhat.  After checking me over, he is fairly confident about ruling out any of the biggies.  No (likely) breaks.  AC/scapula/clavicle seem OK.  Possible dislocation, but if so, only straight in and out.  So diagnosis - relatively minor soft tissue tears with bruising and inflammation from impact.  Prognosis and prescription - keep moving.  Slowly build frequency and intensity.  I can ride straight away, but again, start slowly, and slowly build up to drops/jumps etc.
  • Friday (this morning) - Daisy Hill.  Come back ride.  Took it very easy (not a Strava PR in sight).  Felt great.  In fact, I get more discomfort from walking, than riding (likely due to arm swing).

Mobility

• Minimal.  Nothing since Monday's injury.

Strength

• Nada.  Intended to do a "make up" session on Tuesday, as I knew I would miss Monday from being out at Kooralbyn.  But strength training is the least of my concerns right now.

Meditation

• Nada.  Although, if ever there was a time to get back on the horse...

Other

• Walking.  But less frequent, and shorter.

[Mick]

In Turkish, we say "Geçmiş olsun" ---- Get well soon!

[Pat (pogo69)]

MTB

• Back on the (metaphorical) horse
  • Monday - Cornubia.  Did three laps of each of the Blue trails.  Again, tried to take it relatively easy, but also slowly build intensity and commitment.  A little tentative, I have to admit.  But shoulder held up well.
  • Wednesday (this morning) - Nerang.  Hit each of the gravity enduro (really Blue XC) trails.  Same same, re: intensity and commitment.  Wet and slippery this morning, so difficult to gauge against usual efforts.  Quite unexpectedly quick on one of the trails, and not too shabby on the others.  Missed the turn-off from the bottom half of '3 Hills' into 'Barney's' - not sure if it was the wet conditions confusing me, or my head just wasn't in the game.  Shoulder still felt good.  A little stiff after the ride, but fine while riding.
  • Not sure where to go Friday, but with only just over two weeks until race day, it is time to have a crack at some (slightly) gnarlier trails.

Mobility

• Mostly just trying to keep my shoulders moving in comfortably available ROM.

Strength

• Very little.  Again, moving shoulder through available ROM, and using intermittent isometric exercises to rebuild some strength.

Meditation

• Nada.

Other

• Walking.  Still less frequent, and shorter.