Wiped

After a 27 miler on Friday, a 36 miler yesterday, and a 32 miler today, I'm wiped out. Yesterday I pushed it since I was alone. I wanted to see if I could maintain a 16 mph pace, and I did. It caught up with me today as we rode into a 13 mph head wind for about 12 miles. Now, as I sit here, my body is saying take a break tomorrow. I know I should, but when tomorrow comes the urge to get out and enjoy the countryside will push me to not heed the fatigue. Maybe just a real easy ride, the kind that feels completely and ridiculously slow. That will satisfy my desire to be out while not overloading the fatigue.

Part of me loves feeling this way. I feel like I actually put some effort into the rides. Since I ride with Hubby most often, I don't push it since he's not at the same fitness level as I am. I'm no elite athlete, but I can maintain a faster pace than he can for a longer distance, so when I ride with him, I slow down so we can ride together. Whenever a hill looms in front of us, I'll take it as fast as I can then circle around to meet up with him again, but more often than not, we just ride along together. He's definitely improving, though, so one day soon, I won't have to slow down. It'll actually be me trying to keep up with him. He has incredibly strong legs and once the endurance is there, he's going to kick my booty.

Today the wind made riding difficult. We modified the route to give ourselves breaks from heading directly into the wind. This made riding a bit easier, and we saw some countryside we hadn't seen before. The soy bean fields and cornfields are now harvested, so the fields stretch on for miles, barren and brown. Winter isn't too far away.

Now, rest. At least until tomorrow afternoon.

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