the gods are conspiring against me!
 

So this is my senior year as an undergrad, and I finally decided to give road racing a whack. But it seems that the gods are really testing me. Here's what makes me think so... In mid-October I came down with some bug that turned into walking pneumonia and severely limited my ability to ride--the lungs could only handle relatively short, easy efforts, maybe twice a week. This continued till, well, it's still holding me back to a degree. Also, yesterday I was out doing some power intervals and dropped my chain while hammering, which led to me stomping down on the pedals with absolutely zero resistance. Not sure what I tweaked in the process, but the knee swelled up pretty good and isn't exactly confidence-inspiring. This leg's been giving me trouble for some time, so I think I'm gonna go see a physician soon.

So, part of me is considering packing it in for now and trying to get my lungs back in shape and my knee finally repaired. But the other half of me says "it's your senior year, you've been racing xc with the team for years, suck it up and race. Sure you'll get shelled every weekend, and you might do permanent damage, but you'll never get to race collegiate again!"

Anybody have any thoughts/suggestions/similar experiences?

ps - Does anyone know if a law student is eligible to race in collegiate races?

Good Lord, man, take the long perspective and get your knee looked at. You could irreparably damage it and then there'd be no racing future for you. If you're dedicated and recover well and continue to improve, collegiate racing won't be the pinnacle for you anyway.

+1 Oh, I laughed so hard reading the starting line to this post.

Yes, take care of your body. Don't take a chance on damaging anything or you will regret it later.

Why would you ride with pneumonia....that's asking for problems.....

Hope things work out for ya though. See a Dr. and go from there.

Yes, law students can participate in collegiate races. Our team is like 60% grads, 40% undergrads.

Yeah you guys are probably right, I guess I was mostly looking for affirmation of my decision. I was just really stoked on racing. argh

thanks bdcheung, this means that perhaps we won't run into each other in accc races

I can't imagine bike racing as a first year law student. There just isn't enough time if you want to do well.

As a second year, you could do it, if you don't do things like Law Review and Moot Court. (so you'd have to ask yourself , do you want to race, or do you want to get a high paying job.)

As a third year you probably could do it with a little discipline.

Heck, you can always just do your own team's race. Harrisonburg = JMU, right? You guys are doing a TT this year, aren't you? If your knee starts to act up, just drop back and cheer on your teammates.

At Duke ... uh, we used to joke that in a few more years, we'd be turning collegiate cycling into a father and son event. Last year we had only 2 undergrads racing. I think we're probably the oldest team in the ACCC though.

I'm going through the same thing. Ten weeks between the end of last year's track season and the beginning of this year's. Ten weeks to do some aggressive training and work a few miracles. Ten weeks, and eight of them were spent either recovering from illness or injury. blech. And last Thursday, just as I was getting back on my training program, I got "doored," (for the first and hopefully last time in my life) which makes the THIRD time I've fallen on and jacked up my left shoulder. More time resting and recovering, the doctor says.

Well, take care of your body first. Get COMPLETELY over the pneumonia, and make sure that knee is healed up, or you will only hurt yourself more. There will ALWAYS be another race. A few weeks spent resting and recovering and doing GENTLE therapy on your knee could mean you can be back on your bike and training and racing by summer. Keep abusing your body, and you may have to hang up your bike and take up chess.

And the knee is a VERY vulnerable joint. i saw this all too often in my ballet class. Girls would hurt their knees (usually by improper execution of the exercises), but they wouldn't quit. Pretty soon, they were missing classes and wearing knee braces. But they wouldn't quit. Within six months, I simply didn't see them any more. At the age of 13, they'd ruined their knees to the point their ballet studies were finished.

Take care of your body, and with a little patience and hard work, you can regain the lost ground.

The Velodrome Phoenix, transforming into Cassandra

[QUOTE=curveship]Heck, you can always just do your own team's race. Harrisonburg = JMU, right? You guys are doing a TT this year, aren't you? If your knee starts to act up, just drop back and cheer on your teammates. QUOTE]

That's true, but our TT is going to be a hill-climb up Reddish Knob (>3000 verts). I'm 6'2" 165 so climbing is not my forte...I already decided to just work that race and not ride it.

VelodromePhoeni - I think you're probably right. I am over the pneumonia, that's not an issue anymore aside from the time it forced me to stay off the bike. So I'm out of shape (in terms of strength and aerobic capacity). I plan on going to get this knee checked out...hopefully the treatment will be physical therapy rather than surgery. As far as racing goes, I'm thinking that if I get cleared to ride by a doc, I'll do the races in the flatlands (w&m, umd, navy) but stay away from the mountains.

Oh, and now that I actually think about it, I really won't have much time to even ride (let alone race) during law school. oh well

Just do the best you can. The road will also be there, waiting, when you're ready. One of the guys in our club just finished medical school, intership and residency. It was a grueling long haul, but he just did the best he could. I can't say he's able to ride that much more, now that he's actually able to practice medicine, because now he's working, literally putting cyclists (both pedal and motor) back together (orthopedic surgeon). but he sure is a lot happier and less stressed and enjoys biking and racing when he can.

Good call. I'll get it looked at..if the doc says I can ride I'll give it a shot, but otherwise I think I'll wait. Considering how touchy joint problems are, I don't want to risk permanent damage just so I can get dropped in a few races.

Thanks for the thoughts/advice ladies & gents

whaaaa??? i just got done with first year, first semester, and had plenty of time to ride (at least when it isn't exam time). but, i am also a slacker, so...

seriously though, i would definately stick with the biking: promotes stability/sanity in an environment lacking either.

thats a good point...i mean there's no way i'm gonna hang up the lycra anytime. where are you at school?

Yes they can... but know you'll have less time probably for training than as an undergrad.

i go to the university of cincinnati. it's nice, local, decent rep, and i got a great scholarship from them. my family is really important to me, and my little sister is a wee little one, so it is nice being so close. also, i get to ride my fixie to class everyday, which was especially fun the last two days in blizzard conditions. i imagine that you have applied to all of your schools already. make sure to follow up with any dean's certifications. last year, my dean wasn't around, and i gave boston univ. dean's certification to a secretary. turns out she never gave it to the dean, and bu sent me a letter asking about it in may. by the time i got it in, they only had room for me on the wait list. i was furious at that secretary. anyway, hope you don't have any horror stories like that. good luck in your decision making. it was really tough for me to decide which one to go to, but i am glad i made the choice i did. i wouldn't say that i am an ideal person to ask, but if you have any questions, pm me.

good luck getting back in the saddle!

cincinnati, nice. I'm at james madison right now for undergrad, and applied to a number of schools for grad/law. i've actually already been accepted at american in dc. wherever i end up i'll be upset if i can't commute on my ss townie i built up