Day 8 of 300 - Sore and feeling down
There is no such thing as a free lunch unless you have a Nepalese mother-in-law. If you push a system beyond its capacity, you generate heat and wear. Eventually, you have to pay the bill.
Yesterday, I pushed myself. I ran a continuous 22-minute threshold run at a slow pace, apparently a pace my body wasn’t conditioned for yet.
This morning my right quad was tight, seizing up just above the knee. It wasn’t an injury yet but it was a warning light flashing on the dashboard. A classic “Check Engine” signal. A dash of DFO was applied to the leg and I stretched a little bit.
I had two choices: rest completely and let the leg stiffen up, or use the bike as a physiotherapy tool. I chose the latter, but with strict rules: no torque, not crazy exertion.
I treated this ride like a medical procedure. The goal wasn’t fitness; it was blood flow. I needed to unglue the muscle fibers without stressing them.
The Data:
Time: 1 Hour
Distance: 19.84 km
Heart Rate: 95 bpm
Look at that heart rate. 95 bpm. Some say that it takes more mental discipline to ride that slowly than it does to ride fast. I was just super tired. I kept the resistance at zero and just spun my legs. It worked. By the time I unclipped, the “cramp” feeling was gone. The leg was loose.
I had planned to walk the dogs this afternoon to keep the step count up. I didn’t make it out the door.
Around 2:00 PM, the adrenaline wore off and the cumulative fatigue of non-stop training hit me. I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t sore. I was just deeply, systemically tired. So, I cancelled the walk.
In the past, I would have beaten myself up for “missing” a session. Now, I recognize it for what it is: data. The body is demanding resources to repair the damage from the last week. If I force the walk, I dig a deeper hole. If I rest, I bounce back.
The leg is saved hopefully. The energy is low. I live to fight on.
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