Seeking Coastal Utopia

Jeez, what a cliche for a title. That particular phrase is on the back of t-shirts sold by Rebound Physical Therapy  in Redmond.  However, I am glad this week has come as I am glad to be able to start sweating again.  After being in Oshkosh standing around talking to customers all last week for EAA Airventure , I started this week on the technique trainer that Laurie got for me from Performance Bike about 100 years ago it seems.  I started off the ride with a high pedal cadence (90+ RPM)  to get blood flow through the legs and allow me to push less hard to protect the knee.  I also need to work on my pedal mechanics.  Here is a video from the Livestrong YouTube Channel and Chris Carmichael regarding high-cadence pedaling. I start with 5 minutes small ring-big ring and every five minutes skip two gears until I am small front-small rear for 5 minutes, then back up for cool down.  This has been the morning wake-up all week an...

Since late 2009 I had been having chronic pain in my left knee while running and significant swim kicking. After going to Kauai in May and running about 6 miles (because I really felt good), I finally realized that after 5 months of tolerable pain was nothing compared to the swivel I then had for a knee and the swelling that resembled elephantitis (ok, not that bad, and I am not poking fun at lymphatic filariasis). So once we were back stateside I decided to get it checked out and Dr. Cara Walther and Michael Dennis at Desert Orthopedics gave me the news - a torn meniscus. Okay, so will I be able to run again? Sure, but we suggest not running another marathon. Three weeks later I had the pleasure of having a spinal to numb my legs and having Cara and Michael shove small diameter tools in and around my knee to trim away the tears and poke around to make sure I didn't ruin anything else. It was nice to be able to watch the video. Fun times. Yesterday, I spent time gettin...