Over Compensating is my Insurance

Every hill a new vista

In planning and preparing for my first multi-day (14 days) cycling event 4 years ago I did not have much time to train. As a result I decided that doing a 15 km (10 mile) ride 5 mornings a week would have to suffice for ‘training’. Now I should mention that the 15 km included about 120 meters of climbing and I gave it my all. Eventually that meant I could complete the 15 km in under 30 minutes. That give me a good aerobic workout and help build some strength in my legs.

Here I am 4 years later and once again preparing for a multi-day (70 day) cycling event. This time I have more time to do my training. No excuse this time for not having enough time to do the training.

It’s not my extra time that is making me diligent about my training. It’s that I am not sure what my endurance will be like this time. I don’t want my injuries to be a hindrance to my participation. Since my recovery and adjustment to living with ABI creates a big unknown factor, I feel compelled to over compensate. My diligence in training is focused on eliminating as many possible snags as I can.

So I make sure I can handle the distance – doing as many long distance rides as I can. Four years ago my longest pre-event ride was about 50 km.

So I make sure I can handle the climbing – I have taken on a Mt. Everest Challenge of climbing 8848 meters in one month of cycling. Last time I just didn’t check it out.

I have had some people wonder how I could possibly do a cross Canada (6700 km) ride while dealing with ABI. Fair question. While there are physical side effects to living with ABI, working on my physical endurance helps deal with other factors related to my ABI.

Cycling is a relaxed way to enjoy the countryside. Cycling is a way to live life at a relaxed pace. It means decisions that need to be made have time. The activity is not neurologically demanding. Recently while riding, I was doing fine, things were relaxed, the traffic decisions were fine. Then I stopped to pick up some granola bars at a grocery store. By the time I left the store I had encountered difficulties with 2 cashiers and in an attempt to moderate my frustration went back to the display shelf twice, and had the manager come over to see if she could be of help. I hope I had not been too irate with the cashiers, but I told the manager that the pricing of the products was just too confusing. The tags did not clearly show which products were on sale – or let me say I found it confusing and quickly overwhelming.

In reflecting on the situation later, a different manager might have has less patience for my confusion and possibly thrown me out of the store. I decided it’s easier to bike 50 or 80 km then to buy some granola bars in a busy grocery store with too many products on display and double and triple pricing information. (Regular price. Sale price for 1 item. Sale price for 3 items.)

When I started outdoor part of my training lately, the real significant of my ABI and physical effort started to become noticeable. On a regular ride I felt fine. On the longer and more strenuous rides I would arrive back at home and feel light headed. As I continued with my training the light headed experiences became less noticeable. My most recent ride of 140 km in one day left me with no side effects of being light headed. I have decided to do a 4 day ride in a couple of weeks to see if I need to make any adjustment before I leave for Vancouver to begin my cross Canada ride.

I chose to do a 4 day ride as part of a pattern I have developed while working with an OT. Each time I would undertake an activity she would ask me if it was the first time doing it since my brain injury. As a result I have camped in the back yard for a couple of nights before leaving home for a camping trip so I could make adjustments before doing the real thing.

The over compensating is partly due to not necessarily being able to adjust on the fly, something that I wouldn’t have thought twice about pre-ABI.