Cognitive Dissonance

Noun - an uncomfortable mental state resulting from conflicting cognitions. Like when you take a sip of a soda you swear was supposed to be Dr. Pepper and it turns out to be Coke. That awkward split second where you brain goes..."wait a minute, this isn't what I expected." Without going into too much detail, work's been a lot of that. I'm loving the job, but it's a bit more gnarly than I expected. I'm confident things will get better once the busy season winds down, but I worked more than a few shifts that started at 4PM and didn't finish until 6AM. Not what I expected, but what ever is? Long shifts make it tough to train like I want to and my fitness level (or lack thereof) prevents me from the long, meditative workouts I love. I'm working my way back up to an acceptable level, but long is the way and winding is the road. Last week I drove out to Temecula and hit a few hours of dirt with Luke. My odd work schedule doesn't allow me many weekend days off for socializing with people on a "traditional" work schedule and that wears on me a bit. Thursday I hit up one of my favorite So Cal trails. Hello, old friend.

 There was one other car in the parking lot when I pulled in and the rider passed me going down hill as I was going up. I had the trail all to myself! Strange feeling since this lot is FULL most weekends. My non-traditional work schedule has some benefits.

Up, up and away. Hot is right. Within 20 minutes, my cycling kit was soaked through with sweat. The high humidity affected my cooling and I found myself walking because it was just too hot.

 The original plan was to ride all the way to Blue Jay Campground and back, but it wasn't going to happen in the heat. I pulled the plug at Cocktail Rock and enjoyed the 6 mile descent back to the trail head.

Basically, I'm squeezing training in wherever I can. Since I'm still "training" at work, I'm bouncing between parks my hours constantly change. I should be done and onto my own schedule in 3-4 weeks, but I'm not counting on anything until I have it in writing. I'm really looking forward to settling into something resembling a routine so I can get back into a training groove where I'm happy. Back to "work". E.