Full Speed Ahead

It's been just over a month since my hospitalization. At the time, I was certain that I would be forced to take an extended break from paddling and biking. Thankfully, I've been proven wrong.

After just ten days, I started paddling again - slow and easy, at first. Over time, I paddled harder and longer leading up to my first race on July 4, which I did with my son. I've since competed in two more races and I felt nearly as strong as I did in May.

After three weeks, I started biking to work again. It felt great to be on the bike again, but the fitness I was accustomed to was missing. I didn't care - that would return with time. I felt better each time I biked to work and last weekend I enjoyed a 50-mile ride with some friends.

The final hurdle was getting back on the mountain bike. Bumps and bruises and cuts and scrapes go with the territory when you're mountain biking. Being on blood thinners, this was as much a mental hurdle as it was physical. This week, I pushed the mental part aside and was reminded how much I enjoy mountain biking.

At this point, I'm just about back to where I want to be. Sure, I'm still spending too much time at the doctor, but this is just a distraction. I choose to move forward at full speed.

Feeling Fortunate

In the midst of my best competitive paddling season ever, I was delivered a shock.

I've been racing canoes for 10 years and the focus of the spring has always been the General Clinton Canoe Regatta. This is a 70-mile race on Memorial Day, which starts in Cooperstown, NY. It takes long hours of training to prepare for this race. The race itself usually lasts longer than eight hours.

After a full week of recovery time, I decided it was time to step up the training again. Rather than ease into it, I chose to do some interval training. For those unfamiliar, this is a series of hard efforts separated by short periods of rest.

By Monday evening, I felt some soreness in my abdomen - most likely a result of the intervals following a week off. Sleeping was difficult Monday night. My ribs would hurt no matter how I was lying in bed. Upon waking on Tuesday, I took some ibuprofen, which took care of the rib pain.

Throughout Tuesday the abdominal and rib pain had spread to my back. At times this pain was acute, but mostly it was a dull ache. Still, there was nothing to indicate that it was anything other than muscle soreness from the intervals the day before.

On Wednesday morning, I noticed some chest congestion and shortness of breath to accompany the pain. Looking online, my symptoms seemed to indicate that I had somehow contracted pneumonia. I made an appointment with my doctor for Thursday morning.

I left my Thursday doctor visit with a diagnosis of abdominal muscle strain. It didn't seem right to me, but the chest x-rays didn't show anything in my lungs. I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory was told that the pain should subside within a few more days. I was skeptical, but I didn't have anything to point to that could show the diagnosis was incorrect.

Despite taking the prescribed anti-inflammatory, the pain on Thursday was the worst yet. As the day progressed, I decided that if the pain didn't subside by morning, I would call the doctor again. That never happened. Instead, my doctor called me late in the day to say that the radiologist spotted something suspicious on the x-rays. He wanted me to go for a CT scan right away to rule out the possibility of a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in the lung.

The words "pulmonary embolism" certainly grabbed my attention. My mother has had a recent history of blood clots and I was fully aware of the risks involved. An undiagnosed and untreated pulmonary embolism can be fatal. As I drove to the hospital, I wondered how this could happen to me, someone who was very fit.

The CT scan confirmed the pulmonary embolism and I was admitted to the hospital. A series of doctors and nurses asked me all the standard questions - "Had I traveled recently?", "Any pain or swelling in your legs?", etc. None of the typical precursors seemed to apply to me.

After an overnight stay at the hospital, I was released with a full understanding of my prognosis and treatment. Yet, I still had many questions about how and why this happened to me. I've since learned of other paddlers who have suffered from pulmonary embolisms. In addition, some brief searching found a number of stories of endurance athletes that were similar to my own. None of these stories included suitable explanations.

I may never know the exact cause of my pulmonary embolism, but I do know this - I feel very fortunate.

Reflections on Bike Commuting

For the last few years, I've been a semi-regular bike commuter, opting to drive whenever it was too wet, too cold or I was just too tired. One year ago this week, I decided to commute to work exclusively by bicycle. I haven't driven to work since.

I've ridden when it was 5 degrees and when it was 100 degrees. I've ridden when it snowed and when it rained and I've ridden on days when I felt too tired. In the past year, I've ridden 3500 miles and spent 250 hours outdoors that I wouldn't have otherwise. It's been great.

Bike commuting puts me in a better frame of mind. It gives me plenty of time to think and enjoy my surroundings. I see the same people walking everyday - alone or, more often, with dogs. I see fathers fishing with their young children.

I've had turkeys, and a cow, cross the road in front of me. I ride past a pond where I see many turtles, who've dragged themselves onto the rocks to warm up after a cool night.

The seasons change with a subtlety that I didn't used to notice. One season lingers on just long enough to make it seem like the new season suddenly arrived.

The winter brings an earlier sunset and with it comes a different experience. I see deer staring at me as I ride by in the dark. There's a heron standing in the same spot almost every night. The Christmas decorations don't fly by as quickly - my favorite is the Abominable Snowman putting the star on a tree.

I'm looking forward to what the next year of bike commuting brings. I'll finish by relating a couple of stories from the last year.

A Successful Campaign

Last spring, I would see a guy every day who was running for a local elective office. Each day, rain or shine, he would stand with his campaign sign, waving and smiling at everyone who passed. This proved to be a successful strategy. After he won, he stood there one last day holding a sign that said "Thank You".

Faster Than a 4Runner

One day as I was riding home from work, I noticed a guy in a white Toyota 4Runner pass me. Normally, I wouldn't take note of this, but he took a long time to pass me. The road surface was very rough and the driver was proceeding cautiously, something I certainly appreciated. As I was nearing home, 30 minutes later, the driver of the same 4Runner pulled alongside me, rolled down his window and asked, "Didn't I pass you a long time ago?" I guess he wasn't taking the fast route home.

Sweeping Away the Cobwebs

It sure has been a long time since I've posted anything new. I'd say that I've been too busy, but mostly I've been too lazy.

In the time that's passed, much has happened:

• My 2009 canoe racing season started off well, but ended abruptly in late June after I injured my lower back. I was only able to compete in two more races for the rest of the year.
• I rode the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee (D2R2) for the second year. This is a 100K dirt road biking adventure in Western Massachusetts with lots of climbing. A friend put together a nice write-up of the ride. I also made a video.
• In October, I was part of a three-person team who won the Tully Lake Triathlon. After my brother Seth paddled well and our friend Andy ran like the wind, I finished up with a strong mountain bike leg. Our winning time was the fastest in the three-year history of the race.
• On December 2nd, I started biking to work on a regular basis and have not driven to work since. This helped me lose 20 lbs.
• The 2010 canoe race season started off well with a strong showing in the Run of the Charles.

Now that I've caught up, perhaps I can stay caught up.

Columbus Day Weekend

In what has become a near-annual tradition, Seth and I headed north to the White Mountains for a Columbus Day camping trip. This is always a fun trip that lets the cousins spend some time together. Seth's girls always a bewildered by Calvin's behavior, which is typical of a teenage boy. Calvin tries his best to make sure they are bewildered.

Since it was October, the weather is a roll of the dice. In the past, we've endured wind, rain and cold. This year, it was cold the first night but otherwise the weather was perfect. As we gathered around the campfire to cook our "highly nutritious" hot dogs, the temperature dropped into the low 30's. We piled on the layers of clothing and finished the meal with s'mores.

After a cold night's sleep, we went out for a large breakfast to prepare for our hike. The hike is usually a source of tension since I haven't always chosen well. Two years ago, we decided to hike Mt. Webster and Mt. Jackson. The guide book called for a four hour hike, but we ended up needing nearly seven. The last hour of the hike was in the dark, without lights, and I still hear about it.

Determined not to repeat my mistake, I decided that Mt. Jefferson would be a good choice. The hike up Jefferson is a relatively short, five mile round trip. To make it interesting, much of the hike is above tree line and very rugged.

The start of the hike is deceptively easy, climbing gently for awhile. Before long, the trail starts to head up steeply, with only a brief break before heading above tree line. Once above tree line, the real fun starts. On the way to the summit, there are three large mounds of rock in the way. The trail leads you up and over each of them. This requires a fair amount of scrambling over rocks, using your hands almost as much as your feet in some sections.

Throughout the day, gliders were soaring overhead, riding the wind that we couldn't feel from the trail. In all my years of hiking, it was the first time I'd ever seen gliders.

At the summit, we were no longer sheltered from the wind, so we didn't linger. On the way down, the steep sections were more daunting and required some care. Although they were sometimes intimidated, everyone made it down without incident.

There wasn't too much complaining this year, so I think I did a better job of choosing the hike. It also helped that we made it back to the car before dark.