Torturous Mud Slog Day 2

The fact that I couldn't sleep because my legs were aching so deeply should have been an indication that racing the next day might not be a great idea. But I was already prereg'd, and staying only 25 minutes away, so I went back to Pineland Farms, hoping the course would be different and the rain would stay away, and that I would be able to sit properly on the saddle despite my "injury" from yesterday. Well, none of these things panned out. The mass start was a bit chaotic, but the only real fun I had during the whole race. I found I was able to ride much of the course, even the long off-camber stretch of the "gauntlet" section (the course went the opposite direction through it today), but I only had two laps of that kind of riding in my body today. Then I just broke. I crawled through the course. It was so painful. I couldn't jump on the saddle properly, either.

I spent much of the night beating myself up over yesterday's result. So now, instead off beating myself up over today's ride, I'm going to think about all the factors that may have led to it... why is my power so poor right now? I felt it starting on Wednesday at cross practice when my legs felt like cinder blocks. Nights of poor sleep due to coughing from the post-nasal drip from hell that has been with me for 3 weeks... long, stressful days at work this week... all this has led to poor recovery. I just can't sit still. I always need to be doing something. Even when I'm sitting, I have to at least be knitting. I think I have two switches: on and off. I need to find the off button so much more often. Usually I can't even sit long enough to watch a movie. I need to rest more to recover better. More sleep. Speaking of that... it's time for bed. Gee, thanks for letting me work all this out in my blog. ;-)