Down for the count...i.e. how I am slowly falling apart

Lesson 1: Do not get yourself stuck on a ride with no shade in 90 degree weather and your only way out is up, up, up.

Lesson 2: Liz makes bad decisions

These were the two crucial lessons that I took from my Saturday ride.

Saturday was going to be my great return to riding after 3 weeks of not being able to do anything due to life and the hectic-ness that has become its norm. I was super excited to do the three bears ride- one that I hadn't done since way back when in June when it was just me and Erica riding. I had even planned my whole weekend so that all the other things that I needed to do this weekend could happen around this ride.

So I get up and over to Berkeley with all my gear ready and plenty of water (it was to be in the 90's down near the reservoirs). We start up Spruce and start to head into Wildcat Canyon and oh no... my left knee starts to hurt. At this point it could just be warming up pain due to the fact I hadn't done this in a while.

Ok, so I keep going. The pain moves from being localized in the back two tendons behind my knee and starts to creep up the inside of my left leg. Probably not great- luckily we all stop at Inspiration Point to assess.

Inspiration Point is the point of no return on this ride. I either: A. go down Wildcat and do this whole damn ride (37 miles) or B. jump ship and head home at this point.

Of course a normal and sane (I have to add sane here- it is crucial) would have said it was time to pack it in and go home since this was a particularly hilly ride. Of course, see Lesson 2 from above, Liz makes terrible decisions.

So of course I decide to "just go down Wildcat Canyon" and then "see how I feel". Some how this ended me half way through the ride in lots-o-pain thinking who the HELL can I call to come and pick me up?! Of course, even in the day and age of ubiquitous cell phone usage, I managed to have a group of car-people who collectively don't pick up their cell phones at that exact moment. I was even hoping that a mini-van filled with a happy, non-deranged family would drive by and pick me up (ya that didn't happen either).

Since I had gotten myself into this mess the only way out was to finish climbing up the rest of the hills... so not good.

I couldn't even finish the ride completely. By the end of it all my knee was in too bad of shape to finish the last climb up Wildcat Canyon- I had to bike to the bart station so I could get out of the valley. ::sigh::

Luckily, Andrew's family's bbq was filled with a whole slew of doctors all of which thought my left knee tendons were inflammed.

So basically I need to take it easy until my knee stops hurting and then be "reasonable" about working out. HA! reasonable?!

But they did say that if I wasn't more careful I'd only suffer for it later. So in order to listen to the doctor's advice I am taking this week off from training and only doing yoga. I have personally decided that part of this is due to lack of stretching on my part. I have noticed lately that my flexibility has gone way down. So I have decided to do yoga/ stretch everyday regardless of whether or not I am working out. Hopefully this will kick the bad knee habit in the bud.