Falling in (and a little out of) Love with my Bike

I started writing this post over two weeks ago, intending to publish it at the end of the "Park Your Car" challenge. I didn't get around to it, though, and then decided to wait until I'd gone 500 miles on my bike. I passed that milestone a couple of days ago finally, but some things have changed in the last week that unfortunately affect this post.

Since taking up cycling as an adult, about eight or nine years ago, I've wanted to enjoy riding more than I actually did. I liked the idea of using my bike as a means of transportation instead of walking or driving, but the reality never lived up to the fantasy. Getting my overweight, unfit body moving was not always easy and was often discouraging. Dealing with poor weather, either cold and rainy, or blistering hot, made riding unpleasant. Needing to lock up the bike and remove anything that could be stolen at every single stop was time-consuming and irritating as I saw other women pull their car into a parking spot, grab their purse, and go in seconds compared to the minutes it took me secure my "vehicle." Being on the road with inattentive drivers, and antagonistic ones, was often scary.

With the commitment that I made to ride my bike anyway last month, I began to deal with these issues. I accepted that it was going to take more time to ride my bike than it would to drive and countered my negative thinking about this with reminders that the biking would help me get more fit. As my alternate vehicle, I recognized that I had to lock it - no matter how inconvenient or time-consuming that was - in order to be sure to have a ride home. I found that my larger Xtracycle was a little more visible than my other bike, although nothing helps when idiots text while driving. I sought out the back roads and bike paths to avoid traffic as much as possible.

The electric assist helped me overcome my resistance to riding when it was hot or windy out and allowed me to go on longer and harder rides than I would have been able to do otherwise. It got me through large intersections more quickly and, I feel, more safely as I could keep up with the flow of traffic better. The assist amused me on several occasions when snot-nosed spandex riders or college students zoomed by with a superior attitude and then were shocked to look back 45 seconds later to find me right on their tail. (This only works when there's traffic to mask the sound of the assist.)

I often found myself smiling as I rode my bike, enjoying the pure fun of moving under my own power, noticing more flowers and butterflies than I would have by vehicle, and taking life just a little slower. I met quite a few people interested in the Xtracycle set-up and encouraged them to find ways to use their bikes more. I enjoyed the feeling of my legs getting stronger and my endurance increasing. I was thrilled to put more miles on my bike than on my vehicle, even if I did have to use the electric assist some of the time to do so.

This all changed about a week ago, though. The riding seemed to get a little tougher. My legs were consistently tired and sore; the muscles felt deeply fatigued. A ride home from my self-defense class in the midday heat left me feeling extremely rundown. A weekend ride with my sweetie turned out to be miserable as I had no energy and felt sick for much of it. It finally dawned on me that all this riding had caught up with me in the form of overtraining. I've overtrained twice before and swore I'd never do that to myself again. I'd been feeling so good riding that I thought it wouldn't happen this time.

When it happened before, I did a lot of research. One of the ways to avoid overtraining is to ease into a new program and then increase your mileage by only 10% a week. Um, I went from 3-5 miles per week to 60-80! That's not exactly easing into it. Last week, it must have all caught up with me and my body began to rebel.

What, you might ask, are the symptoms of overtraining?

- Trouble sleeping - check
- Trouble "getting into" a workout several days in a row - check
- Weight gain - check
- Water retention - don't know
- Needing naps - check, and I am not a napper by habit
- Craving sugars - that's a big check
- Feeling dehydrated - check
- Recurring aches, not injuries - check
- Allergies kicking in (your body can't fight off the allergens) - check
- Runny nose, etc. - check
- High pulse, BP, etc., several mornings in a row - I don't keep track of these, so don't know.

Uh, oh. Damn, this means needing to back off the workouts for a bit. How long depends on how badly I've allowed myself to get overtrained. Continuing to push from this point on can lead to injuries and the need for a long (month) rest but catching it early may allow one to just rest up to a week and ease back into the workouts slowly. This is not always a bad thing. Taking a break from training often allows the body to come back stronger. Ideally, one would choose to take a break before the body forces that need. Staying hydrated, eating properly, and getting enough rest are important components in recovery.

What is my game plan? I am skipping my self-defense classes this week, and especially the 22 mile round trip bike ride for each class. I am riding much slower - I have to as my legs still feel weak and my wheels feel like they are moving through molasses. I am using the assist as much as I need to; after all, riding the bike with the assist is still a whole lot less energy-intensive than driving! While I still need to get my chores done, I am easing the pressure on myself to get them done quickly.

Another symptom that is not on the list above, although I remember reading about it, is feeling irritable and out of sorts. That has definitely been the case for the past week or so. (Just ask my sweetie...) I've been impatient, irritable, unfocused, and quick to anger. See why I haven't blogged much this week? In fact, the only thing I've considered blogging about is the unsociability of people on Tucson's multi-use paths and streets. This is something I've observed before and really noticed in the 500+ miles of recent riding. If I do get around to ranting about this, the post will be called, "Take the stick outta your butt and say Hello!" How's that for bein' sociable?!