Two miles on foot equals tired legs

Awoke this morning feeling none the worse for wear from yesterday’s mini-workout. But on the way back from Winco my legs were quite tired.

I think they’re more tired than they would have been if I hadn’t ridden yesterday. But I’m not sure it (the ride) was a mistake. Even though it has me walking like a very old man, today, it may end up building up my muscle tone more than if I’d not ridden yesterday – or walked, today.

The fatigue I feel currently is different from that which I felt a few weeks ago. Before Dr Phillips reduced my Lisinopril dose, I often felt that I couldn’t count on my leg muscles to function. They often seemed about ready to suddenly give out on me. In fact I had that feeling when I was skiing last winter. Kind of scary.

Not that my legs are super-reliable, now, but they no longer feel as though they are on the verge of cutting out on me.

Finished the day with good energy, and legs feeling stronger at the end. Up and down stairs has been a piece of cake, with knees very flexible.

5.7 miles in granny gear

To REI and back. I took it super easy on my muscles, going for the lowest gear possible. (This was in part in honor of McAninch’s advice that the first part of a training session is disproportionately stressful.} Now, an hour later, it’s too soon to tell whether I set back my recovery, but so far it doesn’t feel like it.

Before the ride I painted half the deck with Thompson’s water seal – which I felt a lot in my legs. It told me how stiff I was.

Went to an affair at the gallery from 5 to 7, where I had to be on my feet for an hour or so. Tiring, but again, not stressful.

FIRST REST DAY

A good day, all told, with minimal stiffness, good alertness, no fatigue. On my feet a lot without a problem. I'm playing with the idea of riding up to REI tomorrow morning -- about 6.5 miles round trip -- to see if I can do it without messing up my recovery. While at REI I'll check out the quick-release feature of the Garmin 500 Edge.

In evening, an hour or so on my feet at party was unpleasant but not stressful.

23.0 miles

Eight hours of decent sleep.

I’d planned to ride 25 miles, but felt a little tired and decided 23 would be enough. I actually got a kind of “second wind” toward the end.

Now, in mid-afternoon, I feel good, alert, no need of nap, and my legs feel limber and fairly strong … although I still don’t feel like being on my feet for long. But then, I seldom have!

Bedtime: Energy has held up, but legs are getting stiff.

THIRD rest day. Feeling really great.

In spite of ONLY FIVE HOURS SLEEP I had an exceptionally good day, today. Energy, optimisim, alertness, all good. LEGS BETTER THAN EVER, and that means on stairs, standing around, twisting through tight spaces. On stairs, my knees felt great going both up and down, my muscles were never an issue, and I was never out of breath.

I wasn’t on my feet a lot, and it’s true that when standing around talking, I took every opportunity to sit down. But that’s “normal,” for me; I could have stayed on my feet longer than I did without distress.

I feel more than ready to ride 25 miles tomorrow. As long as my cut doesn’t become infected. Right now (9pm) there’s some redness around it I hadn’t noticed before.

Second rest day; could I have ridden?

Yes, I could have, but I'm guessing I'm better off for waiting.

Decent sleep, awoke early, minimally stiff. Stretched a little, spent 2 or 3 hours in garage, with just enough bending and stooping to loosen my legs up.

SUBJECTIVE READINGS ALL GOOD. No sign of breathlessness when I went out for mail; likewise climbing stairs. Legs are responsive, feel (relatively) strong, with no sign of letting me down.

I’ve been reading about “overreaching” and “overtraining,” and seen repeated warnings against increasing the volume of training too quickly, “such as a 10 to 20 percent increase in training volume over a three- to four-week period.” That, I think, must apply to athletes training at a far higher level than I. My ride on Saturday was a 25 percent increase over Wednesday’s. And towards the end of my training last summer I was adding 14 miles every week. I did that for four weeks, between August 27 and Sept 20, and not only survived it, but actually thrived on it. On August 27 I rode 33.5 miles; on September 16, 74. All the time maintaining my 10mph average. That’s more than doubling – 100-and-something percent increase – of my “volume” in less than four weeks.

I’m glad, now, that I hadn’t been reading about over-reaching and overtraining at the time!

10PM: cut my finger while putting away carving knife. To ER for 3 stitches, home and to bed by 1:30.

FIRST REST DAY, and things are looking up

Last night was the hottest so far this year … not good sleeping weather. So when I got up I wasn’t surprised to feel a bit groggy. Then as the day wore off so did the grogginess. And I noticed I was hardly stiff at all. Then after breakfast I got started on some carpentry in the garage, lost track of time, and eventually realized I had been ON MY FEET FOR TWO HOURS or more and my legs were just beginning to get a little bit tired. That’s a REAL IMPROVEMENT.


I’m reminding myself that the first rest day is often deceptively comfortable. But I’m also hoping that this is real progress. And I’m thinking it might be due to the REDUCED BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE DOSAGE that Dr Phillips put me on about ten days ago.

The reduced medication doesn't seem to have hurt blood pressure, which (5pm) is 126/54, p67.