Getting Back on the Horse...Er, Bike

Sunday marked my first ride after oh, I don't know, 6 months?  I'm still giving my knee a break (no running and no stairs) and I'm going bonkers.  I feel like a teenage girl whose boyfriend just broke up with her.  I think about it all the time, I wonder why my knee is betraying me, I get excited about  group runs I see forming only to remember that it's not in my life right now.  I'm trying to bear this grief silently; well, sort of silently...I'm sure E is tired of my "but I want to ruuuuuuuun" whine.

Anyways, the original point of this was getting back on the bike.  I was exciting about getting cardio, but a little wary about how much this ride was probably going to blow.  I remember last year, when I also went all winter without riding.  That first ride back was miserable.  Mostly just because making it event to 15 miles an hour felt as hard as a long uphill climb.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a great way to see - or feel rather - the benefits of marathon training.  My legs felt great.  Sure, it was tough at certain parts, but I was in it mentally and physically.  My quads were screaming at me in certain parts, but I pushed through.  I was overall really happy with the ride, glad to be back on the bike and most especially, glad to be getting my heart rate pounding.

I also had an interesting experience during my swim last week.  The pool I'm in now is a lot smaller than the pool I used to use - this one is a junior olympic size.  About mid-way through my swim this pack of big guys came into the pool area, very obviously dedicated swimmers.  One wound of sharing a lane with me.  After warming up, they started doing drills, fast.  And the combination of their high speeds and the small pool meant suddenly I felt very much like I do when I'm swimming in a tri.  There were people and choppy water all around me and I immediately reacted like I do in a tri: all thoughts of a proper swim stroke left me and I started flailing, doggy-paddling almost, with my head jutting out of the water like a dog, gasping for air.  I'm actually pretty happy this happened - I think a smaller pool where i have to share a lane sometimes and sometimes am surrounded by big swimmers might be a big win for my anxiety!