ENG: choices

(same rant as yesterday's but in English.....)

After Sunday, I'm really undecided on what to do: continue cycling or return to run?
(Which is' a sort of misnaming ... because in reality I "returned" to cycling which was the sport of my youth ..).

In my head various considerations overlap, totally contradictory to each other and without yet a conclusion

A) I am decently competitive in both sports ...
B) HK cycling races are ridiculous (16km in 18 laps around a factory at 6.30 am, or time trial of 2.4Km ...), while Running races in my opinion are many and well organized
C) cycling training is '10 times more' pleasant than running... (I know that all runners will revolt, but probably they have never experienced what is the real feeling of being "cycling" fit), but it also much harder ...
D) the bike requires a bigger time commitment, both for training and for all ancillary activities such as maintenance, etc, etc.
E) all the bicycle races in China and Asia are out of my reach because they are well over 120km and I can not train for that...
F) for me, since I live/work in a shuttle between China and HK, training on the bike is really complicated ...
G) I would do everything to join the South China Tour (local cycling stage race), because for years I always had this dream (or rather, mirage ... since I had not touched a bike for years ...) , so trying to give it a shot would be nice...

and so?

still undecided...

ITA: Scelte...

(English version later...)

Scrivo in italiano perche' e' sono veramente allo stato del "flusso di coscienza".

Dopo domenica, mi sento veramente indeciso sul da farsi: continuare come ciclista oppure ritornare alla corsa ?

(il che e' una questione mal posta... visto che in realta' sono "ritornato" al ciclismo che e' stato lo sport della mia giovinezza..).

Nella mia testa si accavallano varie considerazioni, totalmente contrastanti fra di loro e che non hanno ancora trovato una sintesi

A) sono decentemente competitivo in entrambi gli sport...

B) a HK le gare ciclistiche fanno ridere (16km con 18 giri attorno ad una fabbrica alle 6.30 di mattina, oppure cronoscalata di 2.4km...), mentre le gare podistiche sono a mio parere di livello veramente buono

C) allenarsi in bicicletta e' 10 volte piu' piacevole che la corsa... (so che tutti i podisti si ribelleranno, ma probabilmente non hanno mai provato cosa voglia dire...), ma anche molto piu' duro e' impegnativo...

D) la bici richiede un grosso impegno di tempo, sia per gli allenamenti che per tutte le attivita' ancillari come riparazioni, manutenzioni, etc, etc

E) tutte le gare ciclistiche serie in Cina ed Asia sono al di fuori della mia portata perche' non riusciro' mai ad allenarmi per gare di 150km...

F) per me, che vivo pendolare fra Cina e HK, e' un vero casino allenarmi in bici...

G) per poter fare il "South China Tour" (corsa ciclistica a tappe locale), sarei disposto anche ad allenarmi la notte, visto che da anni ho sempre avuto questo sogno (o meglio, miraggio... visto che non ho toccato una bici per anni...)

quindi ???

Sono ancora frastornato...

Exclusive: the winner of Tour de France 2033

this toddler has shown a keen interest in cycling... this morning he grabbed a wheel from the storage and played around until I had to take it back... huge screams and tears.
I foresee a Maillot Jaune...

apart that, I am pretty much charged up for next Sunday's cycling race: since it is a Hill Time Trial, it would be a real moment of truth for testing my fitness compared to the other local racers...
The downside is that it is only 2.9km... so will be over in 10min at most...

Very likely it will be my last cycling race. Since I feel that now the tendons are really healed, I will switch back to running and give up.

Next week, race report and plan for the summer...

Comments

not that I receive that many comments on this blog... but in the past months I am flooded by spam comments (especially in Japanese...).

So I have to introduce word verification for my blog... before posting a comment you must type in a captcha word.

Sorry for the inconvenient, but I was really pissed off by so many crappy stuff...

a new start...

the main good news is that I resumed running...

the PT told me that at this point anyway I better gradually resume running and see the reaction of the ankles.. at the pinch test they might still be a bit painful, but he claims this is not necessarily a bad thing and that anyway unless I put some load, the tendon are not going to regenerate...
I must also sing praises of the ShockWave Therapy... I found out that it was also available in Hong Kong and had some session which greatly improved the problem of the adhesion between tendon and his sheath. After only a couple of session I felt much better and the "pinch test" was a very positive indicator of improvement.
Now I will have other sessions and hope to report some good news... if someone is interested I might dwell a bit longer on all the therapies I tried for the tendinosis and my opinion on each...

Runningwise, I run already 3-4 times for 10-15 minutes on the treadmill. I would never imagined that a treadmill run would have been so sweet...
Now I must obviously avoid getting carried away and I will stick to run every other day for 15-20 minutes max for all the month of January, to see if the tendons hold.
No long terms plan or yearly plan, just take one week at the time.

Main current focus is to work in strengthening and stretching:

- the PT told me that my right hip is very weak and therefore the stride put too much demand on the ankles. So I must work a lot on strenghen the hip and the gluteus, plus working on general balance and ankle/feet strenght

- after 13 months of no running and only cycling, my muscles are very stiff... I lost a lot of range of motion and flexibility, so this is another area on which I must focus on

I want to also stick to cycling as long as possible, to make up the total "aerobic" time in a week and also because it is pretty enjoyable at the time... since I have gained a decent cycling fitness... very likely that I will close the cycling racing season in June and then hang the bike and just run. By that period, I hope to be able to "train" and not just "run"...

It is a steep road ahead, but I feel motivated

Lastly, I quick balance of 2009

RUNNING: 2 Km in 1 run ...

CYCLING:
==> around 5500km, 170 rides in around 200 hours (MTB+Road).. (not bad, but also not not impressive...)..

==> 2 races with excellent results (2nd overall in SZ and 4th AG at HK criterium)

As a side effect of the injury, I should have also done a total of all the medical and non medical expenses related to the problem, but it would be too shocking. Between medical care not covered by the insurance, expenses for cycling stuff, etc, etc...the total easily amounts to several thousands USD... so I really recommend to take care of your injuries in a preventive way becuase it is better to spend some money earlier on new shoes, orthotics or massage than later shell out 100USD/session on the PT bed..

Anniversary week - settimana di anniversari

ITALIAN version at the bottom

This week marks a series of important anniversaries:

- 1 YEAR AGO:Our son Marco was born...today is his first birthday. He is a lovely boy and a perfect baby, can not ask for better. He smiles 24/7 and his big eyes are an easy catch to everybody.

- 1 YEAR AGO: my last run. Well, I do not know how to elaborate this , but it is already 366 days that I can not run and I also do not know when and especially if I would ever run again. The ankle is pretty much ok, but there is always a painful spot on the tendons and it does not go away. I have a picture which can remind me at any moment of my very last steps, right before the finish line, right before I collapsed to the ground in total pain because my Achilles were killing me. (well, not that my face does not show it...)

- 10 YEARS AGO: I moved to China. I can not believe it, but it is already 10 years that I am here... I was supposed to come, fix the situation and go back, but working here has a magic feeling of "getting the things done" which keeps me here...

In 10 years I did have probably more experiences that in the previous 30 years of my life and the time has simply flown away.

I came here as a young manager with all my stuff which could fit in a couple of suitcases and a girlfriend left back in Europe. Now 2 apartment are not enough to fit in all the belongings, that girlfriend is now my wife and we also goes around with 2 screaming kids... I would say 10 years not wasted

Questa settimana segna una serie di importanti anniversari:

- 1 ANNO FA: nasceva nostro figlio Marco che compie oggi il suo primo compleanno. È un bellissimo e dolcissimo bambino, non può chiedere di meglio. Sorride 24 / 7 e i suoi occhi grandi sono una calamita per tutti.

- 1 ANNO FA: la mia ultima corsam. Beh, nons o piu' cosa dire, ma sono già 366 giorni che non riesco a correre e nemmeno so quando e se potro mai riprendere.La caviglia è in generale a posto, ma c'è sempre un punto dolente al tatto su entrambe i tendini e non molla...

A ricordo "perenne", ho una foto proprio dei miei ultimi passi di corsa... giusto prima delle linea del traguardo di Singapore e giusto prima di accasciarmi a terra dal dolore, con i tendini che erano completamente andati.

- 10 ANNI FA: mi sono trasferita in Cina. Non riesco a crederci, ma sono già 10 anni che sono qui ...Dovevo venire, sistemare la situazione della societa' e tornare indietro, ma il lavoro qui da una sensazione incredibile di "poter fare le cose", che ancora mi tiene qui ...
In 10 anni ho avuto piu' esperienze che nei 30 anni precedenti della mia vita e il tempo è semplicemente volato via.
Sono venuto qui come un giovane manager con un paio di valigie e una fidanzata rimasta in Europa. Ora, 2 appartamenti non sono sufficienti per farci stare tutto, quella ragazza è mia moglie e andiamo anche in giro con 2 marmocchi... Direi che 10 anni di vita non sprecati !!