No Pain No Gain

This morning I'm extremely sore. It's a good sore--the kind of blissful all over soreness that comes from a big day out. The problem; I had no big day out. The old no pain no gain adage is a misnomer for most aspects of training. But the adaptive phase always causes soreness. Working through this phase is the hardest thing for people trying to change their body composition. They hear that exercise will make them feel better. During adaptation you feel worse, which often forces the uninitiated to quit. Unfortunately I'm not adapting as quickly as I'd hoped. Fortunately, I've been through it so much that I actually like it.

Looking ahead at the race and other summer projects seemed absurd yesterday as I struggled on the friggin' approach trail. Then I did three routes in the sun and pretty much melted (nothing melts you like granite cracks off the couch in the direct sun). The skin on both my hands and feet were so bad that I could barely stand. They recovered enough for an easy spin later and a couple of dog walks but it was a slap in the face on how far I've slipped. Hopefully, my years of experience will make this adjustment happen quickly. But as has been my war cry all this year goes, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Week one of the virtual Giro was "easy". Not a single hard ride. Yet each day I'm sore from my one hour or so spin around town. 90X has still been abridged. I'm back to about 3/4 workouts. Certainly not recovered from my surgery--and this certainly is why I'm not recovering as well as I should--but it's making progress daily so I don't think I'm overdoing it. Therefore, I'm ramping up on all fronts. Yesterday's issue were certainly exacerbated by the hot weather. It was my first day in the heat this year and my first time climbing since I got married. All providing myself with a fine array of excuses for this morning's pathetic hobbling. But still...

Week two I move to 25% of the Giro stages and 50% of the climbing. This means big days on the bike next weekend. 90X will get back to 100%. And after yesterday's "successful" climbing trial I can now throw a little of that back into the mix. It's a lot of stuff but I badly need the latter if for no other reason than to condition my hands and feet. Skin training should not be underestimated. In long mountain adventures it's often the key to success or failure.

pic: The Giro is the most beautiful bike race. Star of the first week, Riccardo "Il Cobra" Ricco, shadows last year's winner Danilo "The Killer" Di Luca. The Killer's form was suspect coming in but he's looking the best of all the favorites, save Ricco. But Il Cobra is untested and young and all the big time trials and mountains loom. Astana's big three, Contador, Kloden, Leipheimer are all quitely gaining form and biding their time until the first TT. Look for a huge shake up on Tuesday.