When the Ride Gets Tough

Today was a beautiful fall, Sunday morning. I was awakened early by my terrier who felt I needed to get up and "go to work". Why is it that she doesn't know the difference between the week and weekend? After feeding her, she headed back to bed, and I headed to "work". Work was going to consist of an easy bicycle ride along one of my favorite linear trails. The trail is only 6 miles one way, but there are several side trips into a metro park and back through a housing development to a second metro-park. All-in-all, it is a flat 30 mile ride. The morning began mostly cloudy with a good wind. One of the reasons I enjoy riding early in the morning is that I often am able to miss some of the stiffer winds. This morning was an exception. I headed east so I was aware that my ride back would be into a head wind. The trail was very lightly traveled early on and the users began to steadily increase as my ride moved into the second hour. While, I was expecting a head wind on the way back I was not prepared for the fatigue I felt. I certainly did not lack the motivation to ride, but was wondering whether or not I had the physical strength to complete the ride. I found that the ride quickly moved from a physical "challenge" to a mental one. I found that this morning was a great time to practice the mental messages I send myself. I kept reminding myself that I just needed to keep my feet moving. I legs where fatigues and I felt the "crash". I was surprised because I thought I was well rested from the week. But for some reason there was just no reserve of "energy". Even a short stop for a power bar didn't help. The ride was scheduled to be an easy ride, so I didn't worry about the time and even reminded myself the longer I was on the bike the more calories I would burn. I continued to focus on technique and form and continued to remind myself to keep the feet moving. As I practiced the mental portion of the ride, I quickly noticed that I was approaching my beginning point. Relieved when I was two miles from the end, I decided to see if there was anything left for some short sprints. It didn't take long to be content with just finishing. It is days like this when I am reminded that participating is something enough. I look forward to a mid-week ride to see if the energy comes back.