Friday, December 31, 2010

Christmas Break in Pictures


Nathan's first time playing in the snow...



Cora's first time skating, with Grandpa Feldt!



Aunt Jesse, Nathan and Grandpa at the rink.





Nathan liked his helmet!


Cora modeling Grandma's newest hat!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Getting Started

I started my training for 2011 this week. It's earlier than normal for me, but since my last season ended so early, I'd go crazy if I didn't get going. I'll just have to make sure to take a few breaks in 2011.

I've been on vacation for the past week and a half or so. It's been pretty good, but I've had some really odd back soreness. Right before I finished with work for the year, I had some terrible tightness and pain in my upper back. It slowly went away, but it hurt like crazy. Sarah thinks it was my body finally succumbing to the stress of the year. I don't know.

I'm making some progress with my lower back. It's still sore on occasion, but it's getting better. The training, both riding and lifting, I've done so far haven't made it worse. So I'm pretty happy with that. I'll write more about what I'm doing with my back if it works out like I'm hoping.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Back Exercises

James Wilson has an interesting back exercise sequence on his website. Since my back started bothering me again after pulling Cora around on Saturday, I decided to integrate the sequence into my normal warmup routine last night. I'd already been doing some of the exercises, but the one mobility drill I hadn't done gave me a surprising result.

It was the exercise where you lay on your side and rotate your knees to the ground. On my right side, it was no big deal. Doing it on my left side, I could feel all kinds of tightness in my left hip / IT band. It really surprised me. The tightness was in an area I don't usually work much with the foam roller. So, I did some more rolling in that area (ouch!), and tried the exercise again. There was still some tightness, but it was much better.

So, maybe my tight IT band is also linked to my sore back? I don't know; it certainly isn't helping. I do know that I will keep working the upper end of my IT band on the foam roller though.

I did a contrast shower last night too, focusing on my back. It's been awhile since I've done that. The cold water is so shocking the first time... especially in the winter!

Monday, December 06, 2010

Kid Pulling

I pulled Cora for about 40 minutes in the trailer on Saturday. I need to be careful doing that before I get my cycling legs back... it's tough work! Especially if it's a little windy, like it was on Saturday. Still, I basically felt OK riding; my back got a little tired by the end though.

Cora had a good time again. When I looked back, she was either looking out the windows or looking at her book. We must have ridden about the right length of time though, because she didn't complain about stopping when we got home.