I Am Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain. Truly you have formed my innermost being.... I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13-14)

I thought I was ready to kick it into high gear with my cycling regime. It has been 3 months, after all. I'd been going out riding and increasing my mileage by two miles a week. Once I was able to do my house to Lake Herman and back (16.5 miles), I figured I was ready for more. It had been my short, easy ride prior to my accident, so surely I was ready!

My goal was to increase my mileage every other day. That way I still had a rest day between rides. I did ...

12 miles on Thursday, 9/27
16 miles on Sunday, 9/30
17 miles on Tuesday, 10/2

I felt strong during the rides. It's recovering from them that I'm having trouble with, now that I've increased my weekly mileage. It started on Wednesday ~ I felt fatigued. Someone asked me if I had just woken up ... this was at 5:30 pm! My face was slightly swollen again, and I could definitely feel it in my chin. "Good thing it was a rest day," I figured. "Surely I'll be ready to ride again on Thursday.

Thursday rolls around, and though I'm not as tired, I start to feel some pain in my face. Back to the cold compresses that night. (OH ~ we were invited for dinner Thursday evening by one of the families who brought us a meal after my surgery. I was not able to partake of her delicious dish, since my jaw was wired shut. So they had us over and made it again for us Thursday night! Yumm-O!)

Friday ~ I take it easy, because though I felt better than Thursday, I didn't want to relapse. So definitely no early morning ride ... but maybe I'll be okay by the afternoon? And then it rains ... DARNIT! I WAS SOOO GONNA RIDE! Good thing I didn't though ... Because this morning, I didn't get up till 9 am. I must have really been tired, because I ususally can't sleep past 7:30!

Am I disappointed? Not so much. I knew I'd have to see how my body responded to my new goal and adjust accordingly. Though it seems reasonable in my mind, I'm learning how to listen to my body, which is fearfully and wonderfully made.