I’m one of three things: over trained, under motivated or a bit of both.

I really don’t care to waste a whole lot of time wringing my hands over the whole ordeal, it is what it is. I went out for a short ride yesterday and it hurt. This isn’t necessarily surprising after Tuesday’s ride but my legs feel impossibly heavy and lacking in their normal strength. In addition, my resting heart rate is extremely elevated. As I’m typing this, at 4am after my second cup of coffee, I’m sitting at a steady 55 bpm, 12 bpm above normal. These are classic signs of needing a break.

Over the next four days we’re expecting three days of rain and I plan on taking advantage of that by taking a much needed break. I can also say, with utter certainty, I am pleased to be in this spot. I took full advantage of an amazing stretch of good fall weather with a thousand miles over the last month and a half.

Now, tomorrow is supposed to be the one nice day over the next four – though they’re calling for 30mph winds (holy smokes!) – so I do plan on putting in a decent amount of time in the saddle before a nice three day stretch of rest.

Finally, I need to ride my 5200 a little more often! Riding my old bike makes me much more grateful for my Venge! What a bike!

UPDATE:  I almost forgot!  Typically I am highly skeptical about claims of over-training…  The notion seems odd – you’ve got pro cyclists riding daily for weeks, if not months, on end and a guy like me has a tough time with just his 20-40 miles a day?  I don’t know…  Anyway, if it is real, that’s what I’m going through but I’ve let my body know that it will be rarin’ to go again before the weekend is over.

UPDATE II:  Fatguy2Triguy added this:  One thing you have to remember about pros, training is their job day in day out. You work all day and then go out to train. A pro may train for fours, then rest for four hours and then go out and train for another four hours. You work 8-9 hours and then off you go to train for another 3-4 hours.

That’s a very good point. Though most pros do have day jobs.