Not my best day (I just need to whine).

[aly]

I rode both days this weekend, and feel like I'm ok again. This week, I went to a couple of spin classes and I think they helped (at least psychologically). Instead of pushing myself too hard on a new route, I stuck to ones I've done before. Yesterday's ride was a quick 20, and I rode about a mile per hour faster than my usual speed. Today, I did 35 in the Santa Monica Mountains with wind and still did much better speed-wise than usual on the same route. The wind was really slowing me down, too, so I'm pretty happy. I kind if embarrassed to say that it also helped that I passed someone on a road bike on Sat during a climb- my ego really needed that.

So, all's good. at least next time I have a bad riding day, I can remind myself that that's all it is. In retrospect, I really do think I was pushing myself too hard. I had been jumping my distance at least 20% each week and increasing my climbing significantly. Now I see why that isn't a good idea, especially when you don't get to ride much in between! Maybe I should have followed more of the advice I had already read on here on other posts...

Thanks again for all the support and suggestions! It helps so much to whine a little (especially to people who know what you need to hear ).

[DirtDiva]

Also, it does take quite a bit of time to learn to pace yourself, especially over an unfamiliar ride. I completely suck at it. Would much rather just give 100% and then stop for tea and cakes to recover for a bit.

[sundial]

Aly, I noticed that I get emotional and have sleep problems when I've overtrained. I also noticed that when I laid off cycling for a whole week, my performance improved. You build strength through rest and recovery.