Resting up vs. pushing too hard

[RolliePollie]

So yesterday evening I had my first real lesson in pushing myself to ride too much without any rest days in between. In the last 5 days, I've ridden roughly 80 miles...and none of this was flat or easy riding. That's a lot of miles for me. Anyway, last night I went on a group ride which included lots of climbing. I did not do so well! Super weak, dead legs and a tired shaky body! I felt like a big slug. I kept telling my legs to go, but they weren't listening. I had ridden this same route on Saturday and did pretty well. But I was fresh and rested up on Saturday!

Then after the ride, I literally crashed. Couldn't muster enough energy to fix myself something decent to eat (so I just had a bowl of cereal and a big glass of milk), and then went straight to bed. I'll tell you what...when I woke up this morning, I could've eaten a horse!!!

This was actually a very good experience for me. I'm learning about my body's limits and how hard I can push myself. For someone who has really never officially exercised before, it's fascinating to get more in tune with my body. Now I know that if I'm going to do a hard hill climb ride, I probably need 2 days off beforehand.

Evidently being all tuckered out doesn't impact the ability to fly down hills though...the best part of last night's ride was a new top speed...44.6 mph!