good, bad and the ugly

Well it turned into an interesting weekend and it’s only Sunday night of a long weekend. Some good and some bad and one major concern.

I’ll start with the good stuff. The Friday night bachelor party was fun, I will not expand on anything that happened. Those rules must be obeyed. Saturday’s wedding was fantastic. Congratulations again Al and Marinka. May your future together be wonderful. Great ceremony geld out at our friend Mike’s place.

The Ark is an awesome place for both the formal and the informal (I’m usually there for more of this side). It’s been a couple years since I’ve been out but lets just say that this place is awesome. It’s run completely off grid and self contained.

Of course the après wedding is always entertaining with the Ottawa crowd. A mix of mountain bikers, adventure races and runners. All endurance junkies and this includes the party side, or so I thought. We are all showing our age and I swear most of us consumed more coffee than wine and beer.

An interesting note of the night., when it came time for the groom to shoot the garter and the bride to toss the bouquet things went almost terribly wrong. That or very set up. First up comes to the garter. Of course I have my head down doing the “you can’t see me if I can’t see you” thought when they called all the single guys up. I dragged myself into the pack. Now the interesting thing was seeing my future brother-in-law Rick standing beside me. I was kinda confused. Of course I made a comment to him but I guess that unless the ring is on it’s a free for all, this will lead to another part of it.

Back to the garter, I didn’t escape and I swear Al set it up and put a bullseye on me. Apparently according to fate, which as most know I do sorta believe in but am starting to think I should change my mind on it, I’m the next in line. Well whoever the poor woman is, I apologize now for your misfortune!!. Most of my friends are thinking, SUCKER!!!

As for the women's side of this cruel tradition, I saw my sister up in the pack. Hey, all’s fair in love and war right?? Then I hear Rick scream “get those flowers honey!!” Apparently I’m the competitive one in the family!! Well I swear Jenn had the same bullseye on her that I did but she managed to throw a 7 year old in front of her to block the blow. Nice!!!Great evening in the greatest of events for two of my friends.

So onto the mix of good and bad. Met up with my sister on Friday to get some Myo facial treatment done. When ever I’m able to I get treatment from my sister since she is always on the leading front with her training. I good tune up before the 24 hour is always a bonus. She had noticed a few major issues with my body. I pretty much am a pretzel with a bomb inside it. She addressed a couple things and the treatment was great. Got home feeling good and started to get ready for an easy road ride. I never ever have issues with riding after a treatment, just keep things in check and do endurance/recovery pace. No worries I thought.

Headed out feeling really good. The first bit of the road I was on was pretty rough but nothing I’m not used to. About an hour into the ride I started on my return. Things felt a little weird in my back. Then it got worse, and worse. Not just ache but sharp pain. I stopped and when I put my foot down things went bad. I was on the ground in major pain. A phone call later my sister had a cab en route to get me. Spent the rest of the evening low key, even at the bachelor party. The pain had settled before I went out otherwise I would have been comfy on the couch. No go carting for me and I was mellow for the rest of the night. The next morning I woke up and I could barely stand up. Spent a good hour with heat on my back then another hour stretching. Things became bearable.luckily because of the wedding. I stayed seated as much as possible.

So that leads up to this morning. Woke up and things were better but still sore. Still very tight in lower back. What ever released has strained a lot of my lower back muscles. Time bomb went off. Of course having a 5 hour drive home isn’t going to help but the sooner I got home the better. Stretching and I was off. Lets just say that I’m very happy I have heated seats and power adjustable lumbar in the car.

Got home feeling not to bad so I did what I knew needed to be done and went for a very easy ride on the rail trail with the Anthem. Was back in less than an hour then did more stretching. Currently my back is very mad at me. It will be Advil very shortly,

So that is the bad part of things. The results were going to happen at anytime unfortunately they happened now. Two weeks from know I wouldn't care. It’s been a long abusive season and the body knows it.

So here is the concern. I’m less than a week out from the 24 hour in Michigan. Am I racing, am I not. I’ve been weighing options constantly and this is where I’m at.

At this time I’m still planning on going. It’s a week, very little riding, lots of yoga and stretching. Ice and heat etc. I have physio with Dr. Bill on Tuesday morning. I don’t need to make a decision until Thursday morning. If things keep getting better daily I’m not worried, drugs will help.

I’m still planning for the 24 hour BUT I do have an option. There is a 12 hour division. I can push through pain for 12 hours and this means getting to consume more beer than I would if I do option A. I still want to not think about option B but if I’m in Michigan and there is a hesitation I will opt for the 12 hour.

Third option will not actually be an option. If my back says no then I will be staying in Ontario, trying to recover, get shit figured out and then do either Paul’s Dirty Enduro or the Fall 8 hour or possibly both.

So the one outlook I have on this is being forced to rest will also have me going into this weekend more rested than I’ve ever been for a 24 hour race. You don’t lose your endurance levels as quickly as you do your intensity so I’m not to concerned. I’m more focused on getting the body in check. I’ll be updating daily on what and where I’m at.

I'm in bit of a frustrated position right now. Hansen Hills isn't exactly in my backyard so making the decision is going to be tough, really don't want to drive 9 hours, do a lap and have to quit because my back goes. I also really want to go, new venue, new racers, etc etc. The good perk right now is I'm on holiday's so I can completely relax. Hopefully things come together.

More tomorrow.