Using the "Window"

Sometimes you just can't get enough Tux !

After my Race Sunday I felt pretty good. I knew, however, that I was operating on borrowed time. I had crashed and while the adrenaline had come and gone, the soreness hadn't yet set it. The skies were clouding up and I guessed that it was now or never for my concrete project. I worked for a few hours and it was all good when I went to bed, tired, but intact.

Monday morning came and it hadn't yet been twenty-four hours since my race or since my physical labor so I felt pretty good. I went to the Y and did weights. Then during my day at work it caught up with me. My shoulder ached from the crash and my calf was sore from the pedal encounter during the crash. I took some Aleve and a back rub from Hottie in the evening to put me straight.

This morning I rode in and did my (new) usual in-season intervals on the ride. I felt a little sluggish, but not too bad and was able to get in the requisite suffering. Only after I was at work did I eclipse the twenty-four hour time window since completing my weight workout Monday morning. Oh those hip flexors...

I am now realizing why the riders in the Tour de France have mixed emotions about rest days. You can't really rest, or the pain sets in. If you keep riding, you keep that window open.

I discovered this over labor day weekend when I had a miserable home project that involved, stacking wood, digging, nailing, hauling six thousand pounds of cement first onto a cart, then into the car, then out of the car, then into a wheelbarrow, then mixing it and finally shoveling it into place. I did this ten to sixteen bags at a time as our car cant carry more than that. At the end of each long day I dreaded how I would feel the next morning. Every time to my surprise, I awoke and felt okay. It wasn't until Tuesday when I was back at work that the magic twenty-four hour window expired. That sucked!

There is a point as you grow older when you do something you know will cause you to hurt later. Those are borrowed time moments as the reckoning always comes.

As I try and race faster (and why not at least try?) I am figuring out this window thing and will try to use it to my advantage.

I recall many years ago a neighbor coming over and asking how many bruises were on our children's legs. It seems her daughter's doctor had told her that at her age her daughter should have ten to fifteen bruises on her legs as an indication she is being active enough.

I don't know how many scrapes and bruises I should have on my body as an indication that I am active enough for my age. I am, however, confident that I would meet that criteria.