recover, reboot, repeat

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  it's my "off" week so no running. yeah, i could do a couple short runs but i'm learning more and more each year that i should really take advantage of these weeks and focus on diet, rest, reading, writing, life shit and maybe some cross-training. so i went on a bike ride. a road bike ride.
  i headed out on a familiar route up hwy 30, turning up and climbing newberry road, then descending mcnamee road, heading back down hwy 30 home.
  it was a little rough on the climb. hard to reconcile not being in "racing shape" anymore. on the bike, anyway. funny how all the running miles don't really translate to bike miles. not that i'm in worse shape, it's just different. i mean, if it really came down, i could hang for a long ride with any group of my cycling friends but very, VERY few of them could hang on a run in the woods with me. knowing this keeps it in perspective.
  i did, however enjoy reliving some of my old winter training rituals. laying out the gear the night before after checking the forecast, sitting and putting it on while watching the news, picking a playlist (a newly downloaded BLACK SABBATH catalog), dialing in the perfect espresso shots and poured in one of the tiny mugs i stole from the coffee place by my old place of employment, and probably a couple other rituals/ habits that i'm unaware of.
  one thing i noticed. as i was heading back into town, the wind was pretty harsh. normally this would've been a real buzzkill but i found myself just leaning in and pedaling against it as if it were nothing. of course my pace wasn't anything to brag about but where the climb up newberry was a little....distracting, as i couldn't really find a rhythm( in the saddle, out of the saddle, up and down the gears, etc.) riding into the wind seemed to be the one thing that translated over from running. fuck, that's all running is. resistance.
  descending was a little unnerving. a little rusty to begin with and then put me on a shaded four mile downhill with a light moss creeping across the road still wet from dew was just enough to keep my hand cramping from riding the brakes the whole time. was feeling a little cheated out of my downhill. i'm not much of a descender as it is but could've really used that flying feeling by this point. still beautiful, though. another surprisingly sunny, cloudless winter day with some inspiring views over the local logging areas and towards the coastal mountains. who knows, maybe i'll actually go on a ride through the west hills and rural farms with some friends this year. seems to be the only way cyclists (or ex-cyclists) can hang out. not like many of them could hang on a 20-30 mile trail run anyway.
  so...recovery week has thus far consisted of a bike ride and lots of juicing. a little reading and preparing to start a new job. my first training training block of the year and it's going well so far. really looking forward to some new training/ diet ideas and some cool recovery weeks using biking as an active reboot.


 

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