On Sunday afternoon Super-Gran escorted me on a cautious ride along the Rosstown Rail Trail—a short ride, just to check how the knee injury is progressing. Well, progress was good: so much so that we rode to Elsternwick and back without a single complaint from the knee.
Super-Gran measured the ride at 19km—far enough to get me thinking about returning to the commute! So I gave it a few days, to be sure there were no nasty after effects, and decided that to have a go at the commute this morning. I'll admit to being as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve last night.
I laugh in the face of your so-called "gale warning"!
Others might have considered a weather forecast that includes gale warnings as pretty unfavourable, but in my world it was a perfect day for a ride. I trundled along, sending silent praises to just about everyone from Karl von Drais to Tullio Campagnolo, John Boyd Dunlop to whoever it was who invented bike mud guards. Anyone and everyone who has ever had a hand in developing and making these beautiful, elegant machines. What the heck, I even felt good toward the jokers who invented STI gears! Yes, it was indeed a beautiful morning.
But it's funny how your mood can change in a flash, isn't it? For as I rolled under MacRobertsons Bridge and tackled one of the few inclines on my route, it was all over. In the space of a few minutes I went from not a twinge to "Oooh —! That really —ing hurts!" From the warm glow of happiness to cold, hard despair. My knee may well have been OK for a leisurely trundle along the (almost completely flat) Rosstown Rail Trail on an unloaded bike, but it turns out that it wasn't ready for a commute on a loaded bike.
And I wasn't even pushing things—I was taking it really, really easy. Seriously annoyed, I can tell you.
Here's my Big Lesson for the Week: when recovering, don't rush your return. Bleeding obvious really, but I don't think I'm the first or the last to fall for this mistake.
New insight
We used to gently tease the ol' Retired Marathoner whenever (frequent) injuries kept him from his jogging routine. I'm not sure who first said that it was like he had withdrawal symptoms, but I'm gaining a new insight into it. And it turns out that I'm not alone:
Depressed mood and fatigue are commonly observed in individuals deprived of usual exercise activities, and the increase in fatigue may be partially mediated by reduced fitness levels. These findings may explain mood changes in response to short-term exercise withdrawal such as injuries and recovery from medical procedures that do not require full bedrest.
So steer clear people. For your own safety, steer well clear.