Sunday, August 29, 2010

Standing Down: This Ain't Easy

Well, kind of. I'm trying to take more days off of the bike. I think I'll ride better for it, though I'm a miserable failure when it comes to sticking to any kind of a training plan and I love to ride my bike. Riding is just part of my regular day and on the bike is where is get my outdoor time, see my friends, keep up with the community and develop material for this endeavor. The result is that sometimes I just get tired. My riding suffers and I get frustrated, not only at my failure to improve but that I seem to start going backwards in terms of fitness.  I checked my bike log a few days ago and found that since March 1, I'd been on the bike 154 out of 180 days. Experts say that recovery is an important part of training, especially for older athletes, of which I am one (at least the older part), but it's just not as much fun as riding.The 26 days off the bike includes days spent paddling, day-long drives for vacation, rain storms and a very few "just tired" days. The heat of this summer seems to have worn me down more than usual. Long, hot Saturday mornings on the bike are usually followed by long Saturday afternoons on my tractor at Heber. I'm not sure what I'm depleting, but I'm damn sure running out of something, so I'm standing down. I'm not hanging up the bike, but shooting for 4-5 days per week for awhile instead of 6-7. Like everything else that gives pleasure, riding every day is a hard habit to break and I'm a pushover for those text messages that simply say, "You riding?", but I'm giving it a try.
By the way, if you get the urge to send me one of those messages, it's OK. As I said in opening, I'm a miserable failure when it comes to sticking to a plan!

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