Cycling Solo For Awhile

[wildhawk]

Hey everyone! DH has been having some issues with his knees. At first we thought it was bike fit, got that adjusted, but he continued to have issues so he made an appointment with our doctor this past Tuesday. Turns out his knees are o.k. but our doctor wants him to back off the cycling and gradually build up to longer rides again. He had started his new job about the time we got into serious bike training - his new job is a 12 hour shift with lots of lifting, squatting, moving stuff, stairs, etc. His previous job was a desk job with not much physical activity. So he basically went from being sedentary to totally active. So that leaves me with training solo on most days of the week with some lighter rides with him on Sundays. My doctor said that my 23 miles every other day is perfect for cardiovascular, but that I needed to do some cross-training so this past week I dusted off my trusty treadmill and did 1/2 hour of the fat-burning level setting and then bumped up the speed and incline and did another 20 minutes jogging. So my schedule is: Mon. Wed. and Fridays do a 23 mile bike ride at 12-14 mph and do an hour on the treadmill on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I do not have access to a swimming pool or I would do that too. Also, I will be doing some working out with weights (upper body) on the walking/jogging days. DH will be gradually adding back in cycling miles as his knees recover and we still plan on doing the MS150 in May. Does this sound like a reasonable training schedule? I will be increasing the cycling mileage too as I go, but gradually.

[Aggie_Ama]

Glad to hear you are varying your workouts, impact will help those bones.

When is your MS150? If you husband keeps walking and staying active I think it is still feasible. Did the doctor say it was over use? Does his bike fit properly, I cannot tell you how bad my knees were before my bike fit. In fact it hurts just to think about it.

[wildhawk]

Hi! Thanks for responding so quickly. Yes, our doctor said his problem was indeed overuse. We are going to take both our bikes in for a pro fit as soon as we can afford to do so. He kept switching back and forth between his bikes so that may have contributed to the problem. My knees actually feel pretty strong so I think for the most part my bike fit is o.k. but I would like to know for sure. Our MS150 is May 1 and 2, 2009. He can do light rides, but he has to wear little knee support braces for awhile at work. Our doctor applauded us both for our efforts however, and she was definately pleased with my heart test results and my weight loss. My cardio doc took me off of the calcium channel blocker (for high BP) so that should help with my weight loss too. I have been stuck on the same weight for six months - argh, but I am noticing inch loss so that is good. My cycling shorts were the first place I noticed since they are so snug to begin with! DH will have to build back up miles gradually, but she did say that cycling is good and not to stop riding. So basically he is back at square one in our training. I had been reading about the osteosporosis in cyclists, so I will definately be doing weight bearing exercises in addition to the cycling. I just enjoy cycling so much more - it is too fun!!