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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Luke Simpson

Image
A couple years ago I participated in a stage race and had the honor to meet Saul Raisin, the former professional cyclist that suffered a debilitating traumatic brain injury during a race in Europe. As I listened to him speak and later read his book about his recovery, I (probably like most people) had two thoughts:                 “What an inspiring story.” …and more callously,                 “Wow, sucked to be him.” The second thought was just a result of thinking it would never happen to me. If you run the odds, it just doesn’t factor into the threat matrix as prominently as teenage girls with cell phones or that sketchy Cat 5 on the brand-new Madone. Then I got my bell rung. I’ve seen my share of stars and cartoon tweety birds over the years, but this was the first time I was knocked unconscious and woke up in an ER. Another driver’s moment of inattention resulted in a totaled car and weeks of disorientation, speech delays, and random face plants. It didn’t occu
Read more

Narrowed Focus

OK, here's the fun part.   You're clinging to the wheel in front of you. Doing everything to stay in contact, because you know in the deepest parts of your soul that if a gap opens, you will never close it, and you will be adrift. That few inches of space is your whole purpose in life.   People wait their whole lives to see the scenery on either side of you, but you're too busy focusing on meaningless points up the road. You're hoping that by acknowledging them that they will somehow help you climb this hill. They don't, because they're inanimate objects like signposts and rocks. Selfish bastards.   You match cadence with the guy in front of you, promising yourself that every time their right foot comes down, your right foot will come down. That you won't stand unless they stand. That you will be every bit as strong as they are, even if you aren't.   The steady ache in your thighs keeps building. You know all you have to do to make it stop is to
Read more

Perhaps Where I need to Be.

  The last time I was in Biloxi was in November of 2016. I was recovering from a broken collar bone, but otherwise was relatively fit, lean, and getting fitter and leaner. Because I had nothing else to do and energy to burn, I rode a lot. It was wasted effort that translated into burnout during the trainer season, but I really didn't care. I hadn't been riding at all. A handful of road rides before the season ended. A couple fat bike rides when the trails near my house were packed well. Mostly I've hiked, cross-country skied, and sat on my fat ass. Primarily the latter. I knew I was going to be spending the month of February in Biloxi. I swore I was going to get back on the trainer in preparation, but I never did. I came in cold. I packed all sorts of warmers and raingear and stuff that I have yet to use.I forgot all sorts of tools. My tires were excessively worn and my tubes weren't in great shape either. I ended up buying new ones after a horrible first ride led to 4
Read more