It’s been since the Breck Epic that I used a foam roller.

I haven’t had a massage since I was in Breckenridge.

I haven’t visited my chiropractor since August.

I’ve developed a strong affinity to having a “glass” of wine most nights (a pint-sized wine glass counts as a glass, right?)

I haven’t obeyed the old adage “Don’t walk if you can stand. Don’t stand if you can sit. Don’t sit if you can lay down” following my first few hard rides back into training.

It took me a long time to get back to going to yoga classes on a regular basis after my trip West. I’m back at it now, but a change in my work location means that I’m only getting to class 2 days per week. I have no other excuse except, “I haven’t made time to do more.”

In other words, somewhere in the past few weeks, I fell out of the habit of taking care of myself. It finally caught up to me on Sunday when I couldn’t bring myself to finish a 4 hour ride because I was too exhausted. I ended up riding 2.5 hours and going home to recover.
It’s nobody’s fault but my own. So, like fixing a yard that’s been unkempt for months, I’m tackling one issue at a time. Sunday following my partially failed training ride, I ate, picked up dog food, then sat on the couch for most of the afternoon. The last two nights, I’ve spent about 20 minutes with the various roller-type devices to work the knots out of my hips and thighs. I drank the last of the wine last night, and I probably shouldn’t buy any more for a while.

The other stuff, I’ll work on. I transferred over to the Outdoors bike shop on Poplar (in East Memphis- a 20 minute drive vs. the 5 minutes to Cordova), and the hours of the shop are different, so I don’t have the long mornings a couple of days a week like I did before. As a result, I’m having to choose between recovery ride, yoga, or chiropractor (a massage has been out of the question). Usually the ride wins out. I know all of this stuff seems like absolute “1st world problems,” but, as someone trying to be faster than everyone else riding a bike, they’re hurdles I’m going to have to clear.

Along the way, I’m trying to make small changes to the way I eat. I’ve recently decided to give up wheat for a month. I’ve read enough educated guesses and anecdotal evidence to think that it may be a good idea to get carbohydrates elsewhere. I suggest you do your own research and see why- there are plenty of arguments both ways.

So, the recovery “lifestyle” train is slowly getting started pulling its load of fall training volume. It’s almost overwhelming to look ahead, but I’ve been here before, and it’s totally doable.