So I pinched a nerve in my neck a few days back. Must have done it the same time my vertebrae went out of whack. Head had a slight list to one side. I got in a huge 4,000 meter OW swim that day but on day two things didn't go so well.
Oh, I tried to workout on day two. Didn't work out so well with the running and the cycling. After two personal failures to establish a decent bike ride or run, I gave up the day. I blamed it on the physical pain, all the pounding in my neck. Then I realized a little bit later, I was just being a pussy.
I was icing and heat wrapping my neck later that night, Day Two, pissed and feeling sorry for myself at missing out on a training day. But I tried. Twice. So, there's that, right? Decided to air pop some popcorn and watch Deadliest Catch on DVR. Son of a bitch, that show fricken put me in my place and I got pissed at how my day really was more a mental test rather than a physical failure.
In this episode, these guys battled a arctic hurricane with thirty foot waves and larger, sub zero temps with the wind chill, working 15 hours outside. A wave crashes the boat, a crewman goes down and while he may or may not have a concussion, its found out he has a bone deep gash in his elbow that needs sutures. Thirty foot swells, no pain killer, no lidacaine, the Captain gives him four stitches on the kitchen table. That's hardcore and mentally tough. A bit later, another wave on another boat slams a crewman's head into a metal table and he takes three butterfly patches and goes back to work out on deck.
I was not happy with myself watching this unfold. It was a testament to overcoming. I measured myself for the day and was found lacking. Lacking. I texted my chiropractor at 11pm telling him I would be there first thing in the morning.
Today, Adjustment Day +1, I go for nice ride. Not sure how my head is going to do for two and half hours in aero. Turns out, not so great. Everything below the neck is 5-by-5, but dammit my trap, upper back and neck are sore. And getting more sore, sorer, as the mileage climbs.
Answer if this has ever happened to you after a frustrating ride. The moment you stop for the last time and put your foot down, you are not sure if the first thing you're going to do is scream or throw your helmet at something solid. Anyone else? I can't be the only one.
It is just all this unrealized anger, a feeling you need to have a undirected lash out, that you instead tamp down and ignore in order to control your heart rate, breathing, pace and sanity while riding. And by the cyclocomputer it probably looks like a good ride. Distance is there, cadence and HR are both in the right spot. Average speed is good. But as soon as you realize you don't need to touch your bike again for the rest of the day, you need like 3 seconds to just let all that pent up whatever-it-is to fly out of you. And then your fine again.
A decent day. More rehab and rest to end it. More training tomorrow. It's how I roll.
