Ready for tomorrow!

One of the many things I'm grateful for is the opportunity, ability, and willingness to take naps. I've had a nap every afternoon for the past four afternoons, and I think it's why I feel so fully recovered and ready to go. (By "ability" I mean the ability to actually go to sleep during a nap. I'm getting quite skilled at that!)

Decades ago, it seemed to be almost universally believed that "old folks don't need as much sleep." I don't know where that came from, but I think it's got something to do with why old folks used to be so much older than they are now. (Well, you know what I mean.)

Tomorrow I plan to take the 20-mile loop twice. I'll take a break after the first lap, but I want to start the second one no later than two hours after starting the first, so that as I begin the second, I'm simply maintaining a 10mph average. The second loop I hope to ride hard.

The 10mph standard really helps from the standpoint of pacing myself. When I'm ready to go, I set both the stopwatch function of my wristwatch and the trip odometer on my bicycle to zero. For every mile I ride, my stopwatch should add 6 minutes or less to the elapsed time. At 30 minutes, I should have ridden at least 5 miles. At 5 miles, the stopwatch should read less than 30 minutes. Simple to see whether I'm falling behind.

But I must remember to write down the time of day at the beginning of the first lap, because that's how I'll know when it's time to start the second lap. (If I start the first lap at 7:12, I've got to start the second one by 9:12.)

Before starting the second lap, I'll re-set my stopwatch and odometer to zero.

My bad knee's been worrying me. I strained it ten days ago, walking the bike down the switchbacks on the Banks-Vernonia trail. Not bad, but enough to feel it. The last couple of days, it complained whenever I went up the stairs. (Usually, if it's cranky at all, it complains when I'm going down stairs.) Stretching, icing, ibuprofen, arnica, and percussion-massager all have helped a little, but today I tried working on my IT band with a foam roller. That seems to have helped the most. Tomorrow, I've got to be sure I don't put any unnecessary strain on it. Lowest gear possible at all times!