My husband, Markus, is preparing for a mountain bike race in Western Australia in mid-October. I would have joined the race, but my schedule clashed. I try and cycle with him whenever I can. Markus has been training quite intensely and I have not had enough saddle time in recent months. Every ride I do with him comes with the unexpected from a muscle point of view.

Yesterday, Saturday, was one such ride. It was a longer ride, and the uphill seemed never-ending. I know how to pace myself. I can’t keep up with Markus, he is stronger and fitter than I am. This has always been the case and keeping to my pace is what gets me to the finish line.

Yesterday was intense. I often tell Markus that it is so hard to explain the sensations that I feel to others. But I am going to try today.

The difference between mountain biking and road riding is that the terrain is uneven in mountain biking. A little bump on the trail can increase the heart rate considerably. The mere effort to cycle over a little mound can take me off my rhythm. This is why ‘picking a line’ when mountain biking is key. It’s like choosing a route when driving using navigation. Google/Waze gives us options and we choose.

In mountain biking, the brain does a quick assessment like the GPS and gives me options and I pick one. And yesterday, I did well in picking my line but as time passed and I got tired and parts of the trails were wet from the incessant rain we have been having, I lost my rhythm quicker.

There were a couple of times when my front wheel went into a tiny rut and the effort to get out of it raised my heart rate to uncomfortable levels. I would, sometimes, make it to the top of the hill and focus on my breathing to lower my heart rate.

Rhythm is key in any endurance sport. With all the uphill riding requiring more effort, I could tell I was fatiguing faster. I know I am at my limit when my thigh muscles cramp. Towards the end (thankfully) my right thigh muscle had had enough. I had pushed quite hard yesterday and my muscles were ‘talking’ to me.

We forgot our electrolyte supplements yesterday which did not help. We took recovery breaks (for me mainly) but eventually, the fatigue caught up.

When we got back to the car, I knew I had used up all my reserves. I felt particularly tired and hungry. Which is quite unusual. After such rides, the body tries to recalibrate, and hunger is not the first signal I get.

We went to a friend’s restaurant near the trail for lunch. Three things told me I was fatigued – I was quiet (not typical of me 😉), my body was cool (extreme fatigue), and my breathing was shallow. Though it was a hot day, I had a hot drink. I needed to warm my body up. It felt like it was shutting down. I know this from previous experiences hiking and skiing.

I wanted protein, again I listened to my body. I had a steak although eating seemed like hard work too! 😉 But I persevered and ate my steak and over the next hour I let my body do its magic.

Recover.

I could feel my body warming up, my energy rebound, and I could talk again. Lol.

It never fails to amaze me how robust and resilient our bodies can be. And much of it has to do with how we ‘speak’ and ‘listen’ to it. And I know I have recovered because this morning (Sunday), as I write this, I am ready to do yesterday’s trail again!

And one key aspect of ‘speaking’ to it is through our thoughts. In a Human Resources conference that I attended in Kuala Lumpur last week, one speaker, Paul N Larsen, quoted the following statistics:

-        We think 12000 to 60000 THOUGHTS a day

-        95% of these are the SAME

-        80% are NEGATIVE

-        85% of what we worry about NEVER happens

-        Of the remaining 15%, 79% discovered they CAN handle it!

Our thoughts are the crucial ingredient of our outcomes. Choose your thoughts wisely!

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com