No I'm not dead...

I know its been quite some time since my last blog, or "its been 10 days since my last blog." As the recovering blogger my say. Well, lots of updates...

1) Last Monday marked the 4month anniversary since I was run over by a truck
2) Cranksgiving was a wild success with over 1100km of training and 25000kjs over 36hrs
3) Like all flights back from my parents house, I got a cold
4) Jury Duty

Okay so on to the first topic at hand. Yep, 127 days later and I am reporting good results with my recovery. I still experience the occasional pelvic pain and strain in my left shoulder, but all-considering, I'm in pretty good shape. It will be a awhile before I muster the courage to do a pull-up. Holding off on skiing this year, a) because I want to train on the bike b)don't want to re-injure myself right now. Yesterday when i was out riding with teammate Harry, saw a helicopter landing in Sausalito. Harry says he took a chopper tour in HI, and I said, yeah I took one of those too in NY. Of course my tour wasn't very scenic unless you get off on the scenery of an inside of a chopper. I don't. Did a nice ride up to Alpine Dam then across the panoramic ridge towards Tamalpais and down to Bike-Rx before heading into SF. 4 hours. Felt good but didn't really press it because I don't want to tax the immune system too much but it was a really nice ride, super windy though. Reminded me of a similar ride last December with Harry and Co when it was raining sideways. Fortunately, no rain just lots of wind. Scott from Bike-Rx hooked me up with a replacement pair of CapoForma bibshorts. The Bike-Rx kit I bought had bad stitching in the gripper. He immediately gave me a replacement pair. These guys are just incredible. Be sure to support them and other great independent shops this season!

On to #2, Cranksgiving was super relaxing and allowed some good fitness building. Some head off to the glams of Mallorca or South Africa, yours truly, heads to East TN! 1100k and I only saw 8 other riders on the road. Kind of ridiculous but I was left with some beautiful roads and quite times by myself turning over the pedals. I think long training rides appeal to me on multiple levels. But one major reason is the time alone without distraction. I really enjoy the quite times, maybe I am introverted but its less stressful to just go out and ride by one's self sometimes. I said the same about running but runs only lasted35-90min and they included a lot of pounding which is NO BUENO! On the 25th, I did 166km, just under 6hrs, nothing to brag about but its endurance/base season right? Well, thats a pretty significant time by oneself especially on a bike. It was good though. First ride of that distance since La Vaujany. Still had some in the tank at the end so good sign for 2008.

#3, I have been experiencing very very light chest congestion for over a month now. Nothing stopping me just felt like something was down in the engine room trying to wreak havoc. Well, on the flight home from TN on Tuesday, I had a 0400 wakeup then a drive to CLT. 5.5hrs of flight time, and a kid kicking you the entire way, Priceless but always perfect remedy for a cold when people are hacking up ugly stuff. Well, I succumbed to the torture. Now I'm feeling better but blowing my nose a lot. Could be worse.

#4, Jury duty this week. I was suppose to serve my city's judicial courts in August but it was when I was in the hospital so again, NO BUENO! I was able to reschedule. I picked this week arbitrarily. Well, I woke up this morning not wanting to get out of my bed, then all the sudden I am reminded and frantically get out of bed, grab my summons and go to the web to see if I have been selected for today. Fortunately, only group 611. I have to check back again today after 4:30pm to see if group 607 is chosen. Could be a one day or a bunch of days depending on my ability to serve my judicial duty. This will be a first for me so I will keep you posted on SF Jury Duty!

Well, lots of updates. I found that I can add labels to my posts which I allow all my great readers to instantly go to a topic, ie: training, life, food, etc.

Also, my awesome coach, Shawn Heidgen, is having hip surgery today. Keep her in your thoughts.

Chow,
Matthew