The Masters

I should probably have called this post 'The Art of Rest'. Whilst I have probably overdone it (doing nothing rather than training I hasten to add) this weekend I actually feel much better for it.

I don't know about the rest of you endorphin junkies but sometimes you feel a bit flat. The training isn't that productive and your enthusiasm levels are low. Each session, however hard or soft, feels like you're in the 24th mile of the marathon. Your legs feel heavy / ache and you wonder whether you're going to get to the end. So what to do about this?

I indulged in some pretty serious golf-watching. The Masters coincided nicely with the Easter weekend which meant you didn't even have to go into work on Monday feeling sleep-deprived. In addition, some quality family time, the Lamborn Open Day, 2 failed rounds of golf and horse-riding provided some activity-based alternatives to slogging it round the countryside on my bike / two legs. And my, do I feel better for it.

For someone that just wants to get round the Big Woody in August and after a really busy couple of weeks of work and training, I can't tell you how much better I feel for a good solid couple of days off. A couple of glasses of red and lots of delcious home-cooked food was just what was required. I positively jumped out of bed this morning and enjoyed a very sunny cycle in to work.

Whilst the one rest day in your schedule should be taken religiously, sometimes you need a good couple of days to really recover. Ideally you would do this after a heavy weekend's training or a competition. My next 'big' break will probably be after the May Day bank holiday. Don't get me wrong, when one of the boys sent round his 'Disclosure'* email this morning I felt a tiny twinge of guilt having not used my free time for some long rides. But then I thought "s*d it". Sometimes you just need to kick back and watch the Masters.

* see separate post on Disclosure for full explanation.