Firstly, I would like to apologise for not posting last week. In my defence, it was my birthday and I had my girlfriend here, so I was otherwise busy (I am loathed to use an expression like “tied up”, because of the obvious sniggering which will ensue!)
I was considering this topic specifically as the cross country mountain bike racing season is starting very shortly and I’ve been occupied with training, as well as tutoring and interview stuff for my PGCE, all of which seems to dictate that my body needs, on average 9 – 10 hours sleep a day and still wake up feeling like I could do with another 6 hours.
Weather this last week has been thoroughly abysmal; the area has been hit by, snow, hale, sleet and rain which has now relented to 29mph winds and sporadic rain; do I feel inclined to go out riding in this? Not at all. Consequently, I’ve been sweating it out on an indoor turbo trainer. Software does make this rather more enjoyable than sitting on a spin bike, but it’s certainly hot and uncomfortable but the benefits are still there; certainly in building up power and interval training is easier indoors than on a mountain bike trail.
However, my own sense of moderation versus my obsessive traits means that the risk of overtraining is very high and this will either lead to stagnation, or worse, injury. It’s a fine line: at the moment, I have some spare time, this won’t always be the case and I know that I should be productive. I have studying to do, training to complete and a flat to keep organised and clean as well as part time work as well as having a personal and romantic life. None or which I am willing to compromise.
I suspect that I’m not the only person on the spectrum who needs to be strict with themselves, or else, nothing gets done. That is the crux, it’s finding the correct balance and I worry about this almost constantly. Am I overtraining? Is this niggle, just a niggle or symptomatic that I am training too hard? Why after vacuuming five minutes ago, does the carpet look like I haven’t cleaned in days? Am I studying enough? Am I absorbing enough? Am I preparing enough, or not enough? Why aren’t I just a little more efficient and how do I become so?
In short, I have never been good with moderation, although I suspect that applies to anyone on the spectrum; I’m either full gas or nothing, I also can’t recall any point at which I wasn’t, which supports my contention that it’s one of my autistic traits. After all, we don’t grow into the condition, it’s inherent.
I guess that I will be sensible and force myself to not train today. My tutoring is now completed and I had housework to do and the cat will be grateful if I get cat food. I can then settle down and do a couple of hours studying and organising my study notes.
Stay well, stay safe and I’m always interested in the thoughts, comments and suggestions from anyone reading this blog.
#actuallyautistic #autism #aspergers #mountainbiking #xcmtb #mtb
Diary of an Autistic Mountain Biker 