Disappointment -- and a theory

On my feet too long, talking to the garage mechanic, yesterday. That's what messed me up, I think. Anyway, I woke up this morning after 8 hours of interrupted sleep feeling lousy -- mostly my legs. The moment I got out of bed I realized they were more stiff and sore than they had been yesterday morning. Bummer.

My theory is that I'm dealing with multiple re-injuries.

The first re-injury happened Friday when I hustled back on foot to get the car and give Anne a ride. I wasn't fully recovered from Wednesday's ride, so I'm counting this as my first re-injury. My reasoning is that, although the exertion was only a fraction of what I put out on Wednesday's ride, the damage was greater because I was stressing muscles which were still damaged.

That would explain my soreness and fatigue on Saturday and Sunday.

The second re-injury happened yesterday. True, I woke up refreshed and rested, overall, but I still had symptoms in my legs. Standing for half an hour or so talking to the mechanic was enough to set me back again. It was too great an assault on my twice-injured muscle fibres.

Looking to the future, two thoughts.

First, I think I need to count my recovery time starting from yesterday, rather than from my last ride. In other words, these past five days can't be called recovery time. So I think I need to start counting from yesterday. And give myself at least two, and perhaps three, days to recover. Which means that I shouldn't consider riding before Thursday. And Friday would be safer. Meanwhile, TAKE IT EASY!

Second, I need to remember that long rest periods do not necessarily mean losing ground. Resting too long is definitely a lesser evil than exercising before recovery. Case in point: last summer, when I took nine days off, and expected to have lost ground -- but came back stronger than ever.

It would be nice if I could gauge from the way I feel when I'm adequately recovered, but I don't know how to do that. Maybe in time...

1 pm -- took a nap, awoke somewhat refreshed, but still weak in the leg, and looking for somewhere to sit down every time I stood up.

6 pm: I've been very careful to be inactive, and I'm feeling comfortable -- and alert. I'm seeing Dawn tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it!