Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Importance of Rest Days (June 30, 2012)


We have been staying at my friend Nomi’s house in Rochester.  We stocked up on needed items, get me a new rear wheel (yay!) and rested.  We are both ready to get back on the road tomorrow but it has been wonderful to rest.

In the past, we have had the tendency to push ourselves and not rest much.  This is a big mistake. Over the course of a couple of days, my saddle sores have healed, my bug bites have subsided, and my knee feels better.  My body needed to rest. 

Through this trip there are many lessons to be learnt.  One of them is pacing.  I am not so good at this – I often will try to do too much and then get myself overwhelmed.  However, on the road pacing is critical.  We need to pace ourselves each day – taking short breaks along the way, eating regularly, and stopping when we are either too tired or it gets too hot.  We also have to pace ourselves over time.  Rest days are one way of taking care of ourselves which will give us enough energy to make it over the long haul.
  

1 comment:

Melissa Kunga Silva said...

Your ride keeps reminding me of meditation metaphors. There is a teacher who instructs us to be 'not too tight, not too loose' with our meditation. Thus it is with long bike treks.
I was just talking about this with a Buddhist nun yesterday in our approach to our meditation. How to not be too rigid with ourselves, & yet not too lazy.
I am so pleased you took much needed rest and healing and re-approached the trip.