I have listened to my body

As regular readers will have noted, I have a bit of extra time on my hands, and I've pushed the training volume up. The extra is swimming and biking, not running. It's gone really well, even though I knew it was a big step up in activity. I knew I'd have to dial it back at some point, and was curious where that would be. The first hint about fatigue was switching my rest day from Saturday to Friday last week.

Then there was last night's bike. I got the program from Katie (thanks!) and was all set, even a little bit early. I wasn't really keen to be on the bike, though. Normally my internal thermostat and furnace keeps me at a steady temperature. But after my nap yesterday afternoon, it was sweater on, sweater off, the rest of the day. From the evidence, it's pretty clear my brain was still napping, or lost out in the snow having wandered off while I was running. Once I got on the bike and warmed up, I figured I'd be good to go. I've had days like that before.

Except, not. After 15 min, my legs are still barely going around. The bike computer says 75 rpm. I try pushing up to 85 and my legs aren't doing it. I'm not even in a hard gear by mistake. I'm getting all sorts of little sharp aches and pinpricks in my calves and feet. I'm set up just beside the colourful exercise mat, with the ball, roller thingie, and other toys. Right where they are easy to see.

I'm thinking about what I'm doing on the bike, and how it feels. My body is making it clear that it's really not up to this, tonight. So I paused, sat up, and pictured myself doing some yoga instead. What did my various parts think of that idea? They liked it a lot. I may be slow, but I'm not stupid.

I yogaed. I stretched. I rollered. I massaged sore muscles. I twisted. I even walked the Downward Dog! It all felt WONDERFUL! I was happy. My body parts were happy. It's clear that I haven't been stretching enough. Nowhere near enough. That was 45 minutes or so. I'll do another session today before trying anything else. I'm thinking of catching up on the bike workout, but there's a Time Trial on Thursday. Maybe I'm best off with the rest and change of pace. Yes, now that I write that, I think so.

Besides. It's still snowing. And cold out. A perfect day for hibernating. And Kelsey, some pics of flowers would be nice, actually. To remind us that spring is out there, somewhere, and might come here.