I have mentioned many times before that I ride a bike to work and during the last few weeks have been up and down with it so I thought it may be a good time to try to communicate the issues that I have run into.
I have been riding my bike to work for years but here in Calgary the weather in the winter is really cold so I have always taken a few months off in the winter and done some exercise in the house instead, be it weights or elliptical trainer or stationary bike. This winter the weather was mild and I have access to a shower at my work so I was able to ride often right through the winter.
I was pretty excited to be on the bike and have the freedom of exercising to start the day in November but by the time January came I was not sleeping enough and my body was feeling pretty beat up, I continued riding but was resenting it. The coldness of the morning was making me cold and I felt like the exercise was not a good enough reason to be riding but felt like I would be a bit of a whimp to be taking the car instead when it was not really cold enough to use the winter excuse.
All of this silent rage kind of got to me in February. I felt like I had no energy anymore and my muscles were sore and the road seemed a little unsafe. I knew the spring was coming and that I was not going to get a break and would be riding every day again until at least fall. Finally, I got off the bike and drove for most of four weeks and started sleeping more as well as stretching again. You would think that I would follow my own advice from this blog but no, I often don’t and should really know better. When I finally got back on the bike I felt refreshed and energized. I had more energy in my legs and the attitude that was so destructive was gone.
Now I realize that anytime that there is a problem with my attitude, and really it is 99% attitude as Arnold Schwarzenegger says, then take that break and get back to the basics. We may all be striving to better ourselves everyday but sometimes you need a short time to regroup and get you head back into the game as they would say so that you can push yourself hard again.