Peaks and Valleys.

Right now my squiggly lines are back up to where they were a month ago, which is to say, too damn high.

The last time I hit these numbers I was finishing up a stint at a radar site. I used the couple weeks I was at home to back off and recover, then started building when I was back in the field. After a couple weeks of nothing I'd call excessive intensity or duration, here I am at the ragged edge of being cooked. Except I'm not.

I'm tired, but nothing a good rest day isn't going to fix. Today is the rest day, so it seems like I'm right on schedule. A couple good nights of sleep (no waking up early to climb on the trainer) and a day to relax should be all I need to bounce back and start cranking away.

So I'm at a decision point. Do I hit the previous peak and then back off, or do I pick another arbitrary round number to shoot for over the next two weeks? Chances are I'll pick the latter, pushing my luck to see how far I can push things in the all-important middle-of-the-fucking-winter season. If I'm lucky, I can hit the peak and then back off when I get home, avoiding crushing burnout. That's the plan, at least.

I still ride at home, because it levels me out for supervising my hyperactive six-year-old's Zoom sessions. That kid had trouble staying still in the classroom, so a couple hours of Zoom is a herculean task for him. From the looks of it, a lot of his classmates have similar issues. Knocking the edge off on the trainer keeps me from completely losing my shit with him. I feel for the kid, because he has limited peer interaction at an age when it is extremely important. He needs an outlet, and the COVID winter doesn't always allow one, especially when I'm not home.

So, if I miss a workout or two while I'm there, I call it a mental health day and get over it. The squiggly lines trend down a little faster, but that's the point. If I can back off periodically and stay physically and mentally engaged, maybe I won't have a repeat of last summer.

Today I weighed myself. I've lost about five pounds in the last month on a diet of processed, high calorie junk food. When I'm at a site with other people and regular meal times, I eat more and gain weight- even when what I'm eating is "healthy". I can't decide if the weight loss is a result of my diet or stress, but it's a trend I'd like to continue. The weight loss, not the stress.

Hopefully I'm coming off a weight peak. That would be nice. To be able to get back to even my traditional off-season weight would be a great accomplishment. While I'm not super disciplined in losing weight, I think I'd be happier with a drop in ten or fifteen pounds rather than a big boost in functional threshold power.

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