Signs of Spring (and how to become a yogi)

Two things happen at the end of winter. First, the pool nearby work/home gets WAY too warm. The water temp. is lowered during swim season for the high school swim team. When they are done the temp. goes up. Yesterday, it was on its way up. My chest felt constricted, I had trouble breathing, and I was sinking like a rock. My membership is up there in a couple of weeks and I will say goodbye to that pool for the spring and summer.

The second sign that spring is near is that the pool at CSU where I spend part of each Tuesday and Thursday changes the lane lines around and the 25 yd. lengths are replaced by 50 meter lengths. This more than makes up for my angst due to the rising water temp. at the other pool. And, the water @ CSU is always nice and cold. Last week I was told by a lifeguard he expected the lengths to be switched "sometime in the next couple of weeks." So, swimming is @ CSU for now, until it is time to get in the lake!!!

Oh, I've got to add my third sign that spring is upon us....at least here in NE Ohio. We keep getting bad winter storms. You know, it is March after all. The worst storm of last winter was in March. The worst storm of this winter was in the last few days of February, but we were just covered in a foot of ice and another snow/ice storm is on tap for this weekend. Are bad winter storms in March a sign of climate change? How about no snow in December in NE Ohio? That has happened 2 years in a row also. Ok, so we all know that climate change is happening. So, who knows why?

Getting back to my tri life.....

Maybe you remember my knee pain I was having a while back. Well, it's not exactly knee pain, more like stiffness, or a "my knee just ain't right" sensation in the back of my left knee. I didn't complain about it much because I was complaining about being sick for 3 weeks. Then, as soon as I got back to training the knee pain returned. I became a bit concerned, to say the least.

I did not get it looked at for a couple of reasons. 1) is that it was not getting any worse. just staying about the same 2) there was very, very little swelling 3) it would get better during a run.

I noticed it began to feel worse throughout my bike sessions. Especially if I was turning a big gear. So, I stayed off the bike for about a week. Also, I hit a couple of yoga sessions. I found a great instructor @ my second session and my knee pain has almost disappeared since that session. I have found that if I stretch my hip flexor, that it relieves discomfort in my knee even though there I have no hip pain, just knee pain. I don't care why my hip problem makes my knee hurt...I'm just going to keep stretching and stay away from one-legged drills on the trainer. Man, I will be so relieved when that knee (hip?) returns to normal. I was working really hard on my pedal stroke over the winter.....maybe I overdid it a bit working on the upstroke, eh? Throw in the fact that my saddle position needed a little tweaking (especially with the new, more efficient peddle stroke), add in a 45 mile hilly ride in the middle of winter....on a 35 degree day, and.....voila, there you have it! Overuse!!!!

Since balance is everything there must be an upside of my nagging overuse injury, no? Yes, of course.....weekly yoga and learning from a good instructor.

Enter a new chapter in my pursuit of endurance sports, becoming a yogi..........