Devil on my shoulder

Ok, I admit - I don't feel like riding today. Usually riding is something I look forward to. Not something I have to talk myself into. But the little devil on my shoulder is telling me to just blow it off and rest. But the little angel on the other shoulder is telling me to just do it, that I'll be glad I did.

So what do you do? Ride or rest? Is it my body telling me I need rest? Or is it just a little laziness setting in. I reached my milage goal for the year so am I subconsciously slacking off?

Only an hour till I get off work and have to decide...

well, it's you that has to face that weather!! sometimes a rest is what you need especially if you kicked *** all weekend.
will taking today off mess up your goals?
and besides, are you really going to rest or are you going to catch up on 100 other things at home?

I love riding my bike, I really do. But it has actually been refreshing not to "have" to ride my bike for the last month and even more - not to feel guilty about not riding. (I cannot ride for 6 months because of medications taken because of my pulmonary emboli).

I miss riding, and when I can ride again, I plan to do more of the same long distance rides and training I did this year. But this makes me believe that sometimes you just need to take a step back and take a break, and not beat yourself up about it.

And it's funny, because I have gotten "burned out" on riding a few years ago, and I did take a voluntary break. This year I felt in no way burned out at all - physically or mentally - when I had to stop riding. But still, it has been nice not to have every weekend revolve around how I am going to fit my long ride in.

Well, I decided to go for a short ride, about 10 miles. Then two riding buddies showed up. We ended up doing 20 miles. After it was over I was glad I did it. Even during the ride I enjoyed it.

So how do you know when it's laziness or when it's your body telling you to rest?

Sometimes you don't know until you get out there and try it. When I don't feel like running, I give myself "permission" to go out and do an easy workout, running as slowly as I want, and only for a mile. If, after a mile, I still don't want to be out there, I have permission to turn around and go back or walk. I've never done either. Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the actual run. I'm sure it also helped that you had friends with you. A support system can make all the difference in the world. Anyway, I'm glad you went out and had a good time!

KB