SKINNING A CAT

As posted earlier, May has been a very productive month in terms of cycling miles. Yesterday I exceeded 400 miles for the month and looked forward to clocking in another 31 today. Had I slept well, gotten up at 5:30am and muddled through coffee and breakfast and been ready to ride at 7:00, no doubt that is what would have happened. But I didn't. When I was ready at 8:00, a study of the radar indicated a thunderstorm would hit Round Rock before I could get back. Generally, this decision is a no-brainer. But I found myself debating if I could maybe really get it in, or maybe cut it short a few miles, or maybe.... And the reason my thoughts ran in that direction is simply that I wanted to post more miles. How silly! Anyhow, I ended up riding in the kitchen and was halfway through when the sky opened up and dropped a bunch of rain. My Carmichael workout (in the kitchen) is an integral part of my time-trial training, so the trade-off was not a trade-down. Actually the workout allows me some great stretching in the living room immediately after. So, I'm happy with myself that I didn't let an arbitrary goal (850 miles/month) lure me into a poor decision. And that is today's lesson: be flexible (or, more precisely, don't be rigid) when it comes to paths that achieve your goals.