Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Are we our activities or do our activity make us? When someone asks if you ride do you respond "I'm a mountain biker" affirming that your identity, part of yourself is inextricably tied to riding? Or do you answer with "yes, I mountain bike," noting that while you ride, it's only a facet of who you are? Simple word choices and phrases but they reveal so much about the person responding. We are all invested in our activities - from life to work to sports. It's that balance between them that create a healthy sense of wellbeing. Too much of any one thing and there is always the risk that one mistake, one injury could take it all alway and upset the balance and sense of identity. And what are we willing to give up and still maintain our identities? It's a question I've been pondering over the last couple of months with the seeming never-ending setbacks of my eye. I love running, but I don't necessarily consider myself a runner anymore. Running ...

This was the test weekend - would the eye survive a camping trip and some real riding? Better to find out sooner then later. After last week's return on an eaiser ride in Pueblo, I was a little nervous about the trip. What would happen if it flared again? As discussed, I was using the two drops per day, and my vision was clearing up - even with some riding outside on trails. It was still fuzzy, like I was trying to read without my glasses, but even worse. I'm sure that what people who need glasses for regular vision deal with on a daily basis! I also wanted to get away from Colorado Springs. Maybe a little bad of me - after all, I had athletes running in the Rattler Trail and should have gone to support them. But after pulling out of the 25k, with still having really strong fitness and no real "injury" I didn't want to hang around and start feeling sorry for myself. I love running and Palmer Park is one of my faviorite places to run. To miss the Rattler 25k was ...

Sometimes, it doesn't matter how well you behave. Things just don't work the way they are supposed to and what was hoped to be a minor inconvenience becomes a major issue. That seems to be the case with my eye right now. After resuming the atropine with the second flare, taking my bike workouts inside and eliminating my running it was supposed to get better. Supposed to is the key phrase. It did get better, with vision returning to 20/25 and clear. We discussed - briefly - using the atropine drops on days where I have big rides or events planned as a management strategy. But he wanted me off the drops to see what happens with outside activity and no running. Hard road ride on my hardtail - no issues. Easy trail ride just dinking around Stratton - no issues. So we made plans to head to Pueblo to ride. I would ride the pedally miles of inner-outer limits with Amber while Nick and Todd played in the canyons. I debated doing one drop prior to leaving, but ended up not. After all, t...

Well, mixed news on the eyeball front. The bleeding inside the eye has resolved and my vision is clear again - clear but not focused due to the effects of the atropine drops. The pupil is still dilated, so it's really not focused and the bright lights are rather annoying. That's the good news. The bad news is that I still have to avoid jarring activities for another two weeks or so. Any running is out till almost the end of the month, meaning a complete shake up of my race schedule. I can start riding outside as long as it's easy trails - nothing crazy like Templeton Trail! More like Jacks, High Drive and such. The techy, rocky trails will come later - next week some time. But it's a start - and hopefully if I behave, it will be the end of this. Now that the eye doctor was able to see into my eye, he was pretty confident that it was just a blood vessel bursting initially and then re-opening when I started running again. He did say that the iris in my left eye was a litt...