22nd November - Bike

Monopoly ride
Distance....no idea....35/40 miles, comments on this please Jimbo!
Time spent....not quite sure....5 hours?

This was Jim's birthday 'treat'. Starting at almost midnight.
Did not expect to finish because of my knee but it held up ok, slightly sore but nothing too worrying. Only intense pain was going up and down some steps at a foot bridge.
Ride was very cold. First half the team was Jim, myself, Maurice, Sam & Jean, second half Jim and I were left to our own devices where we starting to put the hammer down 'bring the rain'.

Had my first crash! Caught Jim's back wheel and put myself into a lamp post and phone box. Amazingly I was alright, and Bianca only had slight bends to her handlebars, which I have corrected.
The lamp post called in sick the next day.

Knee update - went to physio today (27/11/08). My stability looks better, and apparently my running style looks fine, Kate has referred me back to Phil Bell, who may inject. Also and MRI Scan has been suggested.

12th November - Run

~2km - 10 minutes
This was to test my knee out before Physio the day after.

Very disappointing as knee became painful after only a couple of minutes.

8th November - Bike

Hackney to Putney and back - 36km

http://www.mapmyrun.co.uk/view_my_run_59824

Light session to ease back into training. Bits of traffic slowed me down a bit, time was around 45 minutes each way.
Pissed it down with rain, but was quite refreshing.
Focused on trying to keep on a lighter gear than normal and trying to up my cadence.

Knee felt fine, and I generally felt ok, not massively strong considering the short distance of the session, but was quite happy.

6th November - Bike Assessment Session

1 hour with Kate Moorby.

This was at the physio clinic (I went to last week) to see their bike specialist about bike set up, and riding style/posture etc.

Points that came out:
- Seat was too high
- My cadence is too low and I should aim for 90-95 rpm
- I overgear too much
- Handlebars we at too much of a reach
- I need to engage my core muscles more to decrease lateral movement on the bike
- All of my leg muscles are too tight

She suggested that I:
- Down the mileage for now
- Avoid hill sessions
- Focus on high cadence work
- Use a 'roller ball' to work on my IT Band and Rec Fem
- Stretch
- Practice being out of the saddle a bit to engage more core muscles

I have booked in to see her again next week.

3rd November - Swim (and knee update)

0.6km - 17 minutes

All with a pull buoy - didn't feel that great, and lacked stamina so had quite a few rests.

Knee update - Saw Dr Phillip Bell - Seemed a very good and professional guy, he gave me a cortisone injection into the knee 30th October. I am also booked in to see their in-house bike specialist to sort out bike setup and riding style (6th Nov), which is lucky!