Welcome to Just Go Harder

I can still go up mountains at least

I havnt been able to ride up and down mountains on the bike lately but I have been doing a fair amount of hiking instead.  I took Loren, the dog, and a heavy pack full of rocks and water bottles up some big mountains up in the  Pyrenees yesterday.  Check out the hike on my Garmin Connect download on the right side of the page.  It was a good hike because even our dog Karli was pretty bonked.  We would be trekking up the hill and when we would pause for just a second she would just plop down in the grass.  Until we saw a big herd of mountain goats, that brought here energy levels back up pretty quick.  And then we got poured on by some pretty good rain at the end.  It cooled us off though and the heat in Girona that evening wasnt so bad.

Whenever I get hurt, it turns into training camp for the rest of the family.  I drag Loren along on epic hikes with me (she secretly loves it) and take the dog out a lot more often as well.   My dog has gotten a bit out of shape laying around and trying to avoid the heat the last couple weeks…gotta get her back on the program.

finished off the day with friends watching an intense World Cup football final.  It was pretty cool to be in the country of the team that wins the world cup.  It just goes off. Could be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Pretty sure USA isnt winning the world cup any time soon!

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Must have been good training...even cracked the dog!

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Rehab…Wax on wax off

I began the next round of rehab for my battered left arm.  You should have seen how swollen my hand and forearm has been all week.  Putting it through the motions again and a killer accupuncture session did a world of good.  Earlier in the week we took a little trip up into the high mountains for the weekend so I could chill out and blow off some steam  and get some hiking in so that was nice.

Basically I dont have any triceps muscle for a while.  The triceps attach to the pointy part of my elbow that i broke off, so putting force on the tricep would be pulling on the newly repaired fracture.  Unfortunately the triceps muscle is sort of a pretty important upper body muscle for a cyclist.  At the physio clinic Ive got a few simple exercises to do just guiding my elbow through range of motion. They usually resemble cleaning motions, like wax on/wax off in Karate Kid.  So now my wife has something to hang over me to keep the house clean.  ”come on, its even good for you!” ha ha so wiping the counters and washing the windows will be on my chore list.  Im just taking things day by day now, not really sure when ill be able to venture outside for training again.  At least I can watch the Tour every day while riding the trainer.  I was super inspired by my teammate Ryder Hesjedal’s ride on the cobbles yesterday.

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Elbow Fracture

Olecranon Fracture of the elbow

Post Op

Made it through surgery yesterday and the docs successfully screwed my elbow back together.  My forearm is so swollen at the moment it makes the Pillsbury Dough boy look skinny.

Really lad its all over and done with.  I waited at the emergency room for 4 hours to get cleaned up and xrayed, and i didnt even talk to the doctor to heaer the verdict.  I just left because it was taking so long I just gave up.  When the docter manipulated the elbow it looked pretty good motion wise and not much pain so i thought it was just gonna be a banged up elbow all swollen and bruised for a few days.  But then I got a call later that evening saying that yes, your elbow is broken, and you need surgery.  I couldnt believe it.  So back to the hospital that night, where they oddly made me stay the night BEFORE the surgery.  Then I went under the knife in the morning.  A big thanks to my wife for keeping me sane and smuggling in some non-hospital food.  I have never been so close to just completely losing it.  I could not handle being in another hospital again and waiting around for doctors and nurses and everything that goes with being injured.  I didnt want to ride a stupid wheel chair to the Xray room, i can walk myself thanks very much.  I didnt want to wear the stupid hospital gown or wheel around an IV pole.  But somehow i survived with out jumping out the window and running away into the forest, which is what I waned to do.

When I went to the operating room, the gave me a local anesthetic.  It was a needle stabbed into my neck attached to an electrode.  It hurt like hell and then my left arm and leg started twitching around uncontrollably before finally after a few minutes it all calmed down.  Has anybody ever heard of something like that??? Crazy.

Now im wating to find out the recovery protocol  Dont think it will be too bad, definitely less cumbersome than  broken collarbone.

somebody send me some good vibes please!

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Planetary Malalignment

A day after my vuelta recon camp, I crashed out training and have broken my elbow. Dropped the handlebars going over a speed bump. So this is my 3rd upper arm injury to my left arm this season. Truly unbelievable.
Going in for surgery to repair it this morning.
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Portillo de Lunada

Los Lagos de Covadonga

The top of a long long climb

Vuelta Reconn Training Camp

I had a great few days of training this week checking out 4 stages of the Vuelta Espana in the Asturias region in norhern spain. Loren was an amazing “director/soigneur”, driving the follow car for hours and handing up fresh bottles and clothes. I definitely owe her a foot rub for all that time spent on the gas pedal. When I would start up one of the many long climbs, she would bust up to the top and go for a short hike with Karli our dog as I made my way up. Then we bombed back down the hill to motorpace through the valley to the next climb.
Let me tell you these stages are gonna make for an exciting vuelta. It was good to train on the stages before:and, with some mind blowing mountains it was nice to at least have a minute here and there to have a look around.

Check out my Garmin data for the Stages 14 and 15  on the right side  tool bar of the site.
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You’re kidding me…

Wow. ANOTHER random drug test tonight, at our hotel. That’s TWICE today, four times in a week. Not sure ill have enough bodily fluids to get through the next two days of racing! Better have steak for breakfast.
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