We've been training for our big fall rides for about two months now. At first we started out at 25 miles on a Saturday. Next, we moved up to 30. Then 35 and so on. We're up to 60 miles in one day now. Usually we do a long ride on Saturday and a shorter one on Sunday.
The build up to 50 in a day is always tough. I always want to go home and die quietly afterwards. Once we pass the 50 mile mark though, I guess my body can handle the miles. Then, it's just mind over matter. I don't want to die as much as I just want to just sleep a bit.
I do find that I need to nap after riding now. I'm not a happy napper. Waking up, I feel worse than I did before I fell asleep. After our second ride this weekend, a 17 mile local circuit, I fell plumb asleep right at the lunch table. First I woke to some loud chippy-chippy noises in the yard. (A couple of squirrels were either fighting or looking for amore.) After drifting off again, I awoke to the happy noises of the little boys next door. Happy sounds, but they didn't make for happy snoozing.
Relocating to the living room where PapaMark was watching television, dreams mingled with the soundtrack of some tv show, and were interupted by the occasional snort. Mine. I kept being aware that I might be drooling, which would be gross and embarrassing. In actuality, I never was. So, although I got at least an hour of napping in, it wasn't very restful. I also felt guilty that I wasted a perfectly good afternoon.
I suppose that I need to treat rest and recovery after riding with more respect. My body is screaming at me to rest, and I just scream back at it that I don't want to. I wish that I could just put off the resting until after all the training and big rides are over with in a month. There are too many other things that I want to do instead.
1 comment:
It's been a while since I've heard that phrase....
I'm not a rester or napper myself, but yes I think you need to heed what your body is telling you. But when there are so many things calling out it's hard to just be still. You and Mark are Brian's kind of riders. I know he would love to be in your area training too.
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