Today I had a five and half hour bike ride on my schedule. As I left my house, I was excited for the ride and to evaluate my new saddle. Thirty minutes later however, I could already start to tell that if I completed this workout, I might be digging myself into a hole.
I rode from home to the local park. Even though most of the way there is down hill, I wasn’t feeling particularly good. My quads felt very fatigued and it was clear that my new saddle needed a slight adjustment. Unfortunately, I had forgotten the Allen wrench to adjust the saddle. There was no way I was riding the whole workout without adjusting the saddle, so I needed to turn around and go back home..
I got home and was already quite tired. I had been riding for just over an hour. After adjusting the saddle, it was a lot more comfortable, but I was still not feeling great. I had a decision to make… should I finish the workout or adjust?
I actually decided to delay making the final decision. The first three hours of today’s ride were relatively easy effort. Knowing that sometimes my legs can come around, I said I would ride for three hours and then decide.
When the three hour mark came along, I knew my answer. Don’t finish the workout! Finishing off with two hours of hard interval riding was not the right thing to do today. I left the park and went home. Just after I got home, the heavens opened, so maybe that was sign I made the right choice.
I was supposed to have a four hour easy ride tomorrow, so I figured I would swap today’s hard session with tomorrow’s easier one, and try again in the morning.
In addition to cutting short today’s bike workout, I didn’t do my planned, thirty five minute run off the bike. No point in pushing through and digging myself into a hole. I have spent the day resting and eating well. I recovered enough to do my run on the treadmill and it went well. It’s now time for an early night, and we will see what tomorrow brings.