My Bike, My Therapy Tool

Woke up late this morning. The plan was to do an easy run at Pandan Reservoir to test my knees. I reached there about 9am and it was a hot Sunday morning.

Sigh, the test was super disappointing..... no go. Barely 20min into the jog and I could feel it tightening again. How do I describe the feeling? It was like a web of rubber bands under the knee cap, pulling unevenly in different directions. Hence the pain could be above, below, on the inner or outer knee. I sat on one of the huge rocks, stretched out my leg, and attempted to find the 'knot' - aka press around and find the point that set off an acute pain. The sun was blazing and I was getting roasted as I sat there for 20min, prodding and massaging with the focus of a puzzled investigator. I tried jogging again, and stopped after 5min. I realized that I could probably shuffle jog, with my leg in a more straightened and extended manner, but not kick back. By now I recognized the tightness and I certainly did not want a repeat of Thursday when I could not even land my foot. Utterly frustrated.

Went for a quick lunch, and decided to do an ultra long ride to vent my frustration and pent-up energies. Thankfully I had the foresight to leave my bike in the car and all my ride and swim gear. Back-up, I say. If can't run, bike. If can't bike, swim. If all else fails,..... well, have not thought of that yet. Haha.

Drove over to West Coast Park. It was a good thing that all the destinations were within 5min drive. Today's traffic was significantly less than yesterday's. Much fewer heavy container trucks, but also much stronger headwinds. I rode and rode and rode, mentally noting the distances over specific 'landmarks'. I did 2 loops around the Raffles Country Club stretch. My shoulders and neck were stiff and sore since last night - could not rotate properly - and the aero-position added to the strain. I stopped for a Gu-gel after 40-odd km, and stopped again at a petrol kiosk on the way back for a cold Pocari. Finally returned to my car after 3-odd hours of cycling, 73km. There, I felt tired already, no more frustration to exorcise. Lovely.

I decided that I would lay off running for a while, lay off the impact on the knee. I would probably swim and ride more. Love my bike, retaining my sanity.