Trek 1000

After the beating I gave myself on the hills yesterday, I took a little recovery ride this afternoon with Dave.  Everything above my ankles was cramped up and sore so I needed to un-kink before the next train trip.  Sitting down for 12 hrs. in a locomotive doesn't loosen up stiff legs very much so an easy cruise was in order.  As a bonus, the 2.1 turned over it's first 1000 miles somewhere along the way.  Not bad for only a couple months old.  Nobody can say I'm not making good use of it.

My mood is a little better today too.  I probably will never know what that thing is that hits me like it did yesterday.  I hammered until there was absolutely nothing left trying to make it go away but it didn't work.  I do know there's always a day when the skid gets to the bottom of the hill and the whole world just shatters...kinda like yesterday.  After that, things will slowly get better until the next cycle when the "uncontrolled descent below known terrain"; more commonly known as a 'crash and burn' begins again.  It's not like I become non-functional, even at the worst of times...I just don't feel like doing anything or being around anyone.  Going to work has almost the same effect as the killer biking or running I do...it makes me focus on just one task and put away everything else.

I preach to engineer trainees when I get them that when they run trains, they have to be able to put all their problems and distractions in a little mental box and stash that box away in the back of their head while they concentrate on the job at hand.  I guess I've pounded it enough that I can actually do it pretty well when I need to.  It takes so much of my mental capacity to keep track of a train that I can't think about much else anyway.  Single minded I guess.  It's the rest of the time that's a problem.

The only thing I keep thinking...This too shall pass.