Pre-excusing, the art of making excuses for one’s poor performance in an endurance sports event before embarking upon the event, is a time-honored tradition in cycling and other endurance sports. Being a cyclist, I am most familiar with the excuses offered by cyclists immediately before a group ride or race.
- I haven't been riding that much . . . .
- I haven't been doing too many high-intensity efforts recently, so I’ll just try to keep up.
- I haven't touched the bike in 2 weeks.
- I haven't raced much this season.
- This is my first ride on my new [pimped out carbon fiber] bike, and I don't have the fit dialed in yet.
- I broke my collarbone in 4 places and two ribs a few weeks ago, so I’ll just take it easy.
- I got really hammered last night, I might still be wasted right now …
- I got a few sticks stuck up in my rear derailleur a couple weeks ago, haven’t bothered to look into it, but I’m sure the auto-shifting and creaking noise will go away eventually.
- Work has been crushing me lately, pulling a few all-nighters last week, so I’m not as rested as I should be ….
- My newborn is colicky and my 2-year-old has been having nightmares so I’ve been up in the middle of the night all this week so I’m not as rested as I should be ….
- I did this epic 100 mile, 13,000 feet of climbing ride yesterday so my legs are a little fried, and not so fresh.
- I broke my big toe yesterday, it swelled to the size of a banana last night, but I’m sure it’ll be fine for today’s ride.
I suspect that triathletes have their own versions of these pre-excuses, something like:
- I did full Ironman race last weekend, so my legs are little flat today.
- I’m going to take it easy today, because I have to run 17 miles right after the ride.
- I forgot my compression socks, so my legs are not recovered from yesterday’s workout.
Feel free to chime in with your own pre-excuses - in the comments.
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