Not training....Something's gotta give.

Well it seems I've hit another training fail. Pretty disappointed not to be on the bike but work and a pretty high level of bike-xiety about my impending move interstate is just getting the better of me.

It's funny because I think of all those freezing cold winter days we got up at 5am and rode in -4 in the rain, hail and snow and it seemed so easy to get up then but right now I'm shattered.

I know Lisa K is also not on the bike this week, although I'm hoping she is having better luck getting on the trainer. My messy little shoebox isn't particularly conducive to hardcore windtrainer sessions.

I looked at a calendar of the weeks til christmas finally (after basically avoiding thinking about it) and theres only one week between now and the big rides where I don't have to travel interstate. Travel for work is going to basically knock any of my training efforts out of the water.

I'm having trouble psyching myself up for any hills at all, training sessions I would normally relish (as you all know).

Anyway, I think the point of this post is that it does often get the better of you, trying to work and juggle commitments and also get on the bike. I wish this low point which is translating into three fairly restful weeks in a row, had come in the middle part of the year or the early part of this ToB training cycle, but sadly its come right at the end when i have only a few weeks left to prep for the Hartley 300km ride and the Tour of Bright.

I'm working on not beating myself up about it though (actually I'm just a bit too tired too) and hoping to have a fun race with KateH tonight. It's been pointed out to me that just getting on the bike for a ride, no pressure, might actually make me feel better (as it tends to do) so I'm just hoping to ride my bike.

I guess its proof that you actually cannot train and train and train and work and work and work and still expect your body to keep letting you. eventually it will say no, fairly loud and clear.

And now off to work to try and write a five year plan by the end of the day....

Not training. It's a lot like training, but without the training.

Talk about all dressed up and nowhere to go.

I was planning for a couple of smashfest reps of Black Mountain this morning, which has an average gradient of about 8% I am told, but sections of around 13.5% and pending wet roads I had reasonably firm intentions of doing it.

Well actually, to be honest I didn't feel like it at all last night, but I got to bed early enough. Alarm goes off at 5:15, quick check of the weather reveals that the roads wont be wet and conditions are pretty good at about 9 degrees celcius (my idea of summer kit), and i got out of bed.

It's at this point that my complete lack of motivation became obvious. Didn't feel like moving much, tight, stiff and sore and zero enthusiasm.

Normally a bit of lady gaga on my iphone fixes that so I ignored how I was feeling and got kitted up, tried some stretching, but just felt like I got more sore.

Got all the way downstairs and standing in the car park of my apartment, and was making mental deals with myself "ok so, just go do two reps and theyll probably be crap but you can do two more on Thursday" when I decided to call it quits.

REally sore back, tight and tired legs and just felt like curling up in bed.

The problem is, I have this idea that I should train all the time and not miss a minute of training and no excuse is really a good excuse and all this sort of "Anti-Coach" crap in my head. Some of it comes from things I've been told in the past "stop whining and being lazy and just do it" and to an extent I think you need a bit of that or you'd never train really hard - but where to draw the line?

It's a tough one, because as our Coach tells us, rest is really important - and we are supposed to rest hard and train hard. It's a bit of a struggle though not feeling like I just copped out of training, but I am thinking of it like an experiment.

I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have taken any time off my climb this morning, and if I feel better tomorrow, there is every chance I could take some seconds off - especially since I'll have Valkyrie company from LisaK on the hill....

So lets see what happens.
Now if this heat pack could just make my back stop hurting.......