July Fireworks?

Unfortunately no. I was hoping to end the month of July with a good ole trip to the blue and yellow trails at Island Lakes, but unfortunately that didn't happen. The only one who was gung ho about it was Chris. I, along with everyone else needed a break from it all. Everyone had other plans or some reason or another for not being there.

My reason was simple. I needed the break. All of this biking degraded my mental game and I just needed one weekend to relax. Well, that was the plan anyways. I got to spend some time with friends and cleaning the house, but at night I felt very guilty for not going to the park. So, instead of just letting depression engulf me, I decided I would step up and raise the minimum loop length. From that Sunday forth, each time I've gone biking around my neighborhood, its been a minimum of eight miles.

Today, I'm posting the blog, just moments after I've finished the eight mile run. This would make it my third this week. I've been taking every other day off for recovery. Its actually very weird that my cardio is keeping up with the pace. I am barely winded after an eight mile ride, but my muscles are being tested every time. I felt very sore that Sunday night, but today I seem to have only minor muscle akes. Its very possible that I'm ready to take it up one more notch and start doing twelve miles around the neighborhood. It all depends on this weekend's bike trip. If I end up going to Island Lakes, I will probably push a lot harder than usual. As you may recall from previous posts, the trails there have very aggressive climbs, well for someone my size anyways. I've always come very close on those climbs, and end up having to bail near the midpoint. My absolute best was when I was able to take two climbs upward on the yellow trail without having to bail. However, when I got to the top, I was ready to die. I hope this time around I am more ready for the trails, especial the climb parts.

Very weird to post that nothing out of the usual has happened. I am literally knocking on wood, because I'm about to make some claims. My bike has been solid. I haven't fallen off. No sprains or pains that last longer than one night. All in all, everything seems fine. Too fine. I feel as uncomfortable as when both of my dogs are in the house and I can't hear them playing around, which means that they're up to no good. So, what could this mean, I don't know, it could be that the forces that be are just planning something big. I guess only one way to find out.

"Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid." - John Keats