Begin Again

I am slowly shaking off the shackles of seasonal lethargy and beginning to transition back to some level of fitness. This winter's been, well, wintry. We have lived in North Carolina for almost twenty one years and this is the first real winter we've had. Sure there's been cold and even snow, but that was for short periods with mostly lots of warmth in between. This year it turned cold early and stayed cold. It snowed, what, three, four, times in three or four consecutive weeks and, being cold, the snow was in no hurry to melt. So there's been a lot of doing nothing. Through last weekend I'd managed twelve rides this year, and three of those were on the trainer. Last weekend, though, the long awaited warm up began, so Saturday I managed 42.3 miles and Sunday, 34.2. Both were a slow 15.8 mph average and it was really all my legs could take.

The weather cooperated during the week, too, so there were four days of commuting, plus a quick little after work jaunt Tuesday of 13.2 miles. That evening ride was a more reasonable 17.2 average, so, if I can get my endurance back, maybe there will still be some speed. I topped the week off with a 50.3 mile ride today and averaged 16.5 mph. Not too bad given my lack of fitness. Finished the week with 127 miles, the most since the first week of last November.

Clocks get set ahead tomorrow, so longer after work rides are on!