Post by MPN-MATE Admin » Thu May 21, 2020 8:39 pm
Evening all... 
Felt that the topic of this Post is most relevant, well at least it should be for me... I am not always so good at following my own advice.
As some of you may know / recall, cycling has become a major part of my personal MPN journey, and for the better part most of the incidental happenings, to this point, have been beneficial... However... I sometimes tend to neglect my own inner personal alerts, (suggesting to me to listen to what my body is saying...), and as a direct consequence of my failure to listen, injury often materialises in one form or another...
Funny thing our so-called 'Human Nature', because I often try to exert myself and go beyond my abilities, (tending to ignore simple facts like: my senior age, affects of anaemia, & of course all those other adverse affects associated more likely w/ my MF...)
Case in point, for some time now I had been wanting to ride a rather arduous and long ride that is full of glorious hills, and Sunday last... on my new (relatively untried bike), I simply decided that today was the day, and off I went... I did try to find a couple of willing riding accomplices... but 150km rides are not all that appealing to most... In any event, I taught myself a few rather unnecessary but useful lessons...
My new bike's carbon seat–post, had not been properly set-up or tightened, (for that matter), and approx.' half way into the ride it slowly started to slip down... Me, and my rather muted response was quite annoying, (due to my distractions), because firstly the hill-climbing was so captivating my attention, (not to mention the traffic – unusually busy day for some reason?). Secondly, as I am new to the 'bike-fit' (New rides do take some adapting to, as my old bike is quite different in a great many respects)...
However, the real issue here was that I simply wasn't aware of the seat-post slippage for quite sometime...
By the time, it became abundantly apparent... the damage sustained by my older leg muscles had already occurred, and now it was all about trying to nurse myself through the last 50-60km leg of the journey...
Due to the extreme cold, (wind-chill and circa 11ºC - Spring morning for many of you guys, but the cold is actually quite painful for me). I began cramping faster and more easily than I ever recalled previously... I endeavoured to ride through the cramps as best I might by standing in the pedals, but eventually... I just had to keep stopping and stretch and try to walk it out... Naturally, this slowed my pace making the whole trip so much longer in duration, (walking any distance in 'clipless boots' never any fun either), and the temperature grew ever colder ... The thought did cross my mind that I could ask someone to come and collect me... (more than twice...). However, I actually felt quite foolish, and even more so once I realised that this leg pain had largely been caused by the seat-post slipping, and of course the correct tools were not onboard... (?)
I guess some of my age-weary stubbornness has reared its ugly head... Vanity, what a nasty bedfellow it can be...
First lesson – listen to my body!
Second – Always be sure to carry all the tools needed especially on any possible longer misadventure 
Third – Recovery takes time...
My Garmin GPS advised me that my body would need 72 hours to recover, that was followed up with gentle aerobic exercises & some light weights, before I took a much shorter easier paced 'Recovery Ride' c. 40+km
Anyways, enough about me...
Here's the Post... 
Stay safe & well guys...
Steve
MAY 19, 2020
How to recover from an exercise injury – according to a sports physiotherapist
by Sheila Leddington Wright, The Conversation
) as I too have a tendency to go a bit too far or do too much usually...
MPN and back injuries
