"A Groove or a Rut?

What's the difference and how can you tell which one you're in?  A rut has all negative conotations, while for some reason being in a groove is supposed to be good.  I get the rut thing, as it implies you are not in control of where you are going, but rather that you're stuck in someone else's tire tracks.  But when I think of a groove I inevitably think of going around in circles like a needle on a phonograph record.  That don't seem too positive to me either.  Regardless.  Call it a rut.  Call it a groove.  When you're in it, you need to stop and clean your bike!  That's it!

Actually it occurs to me that maybe they are the same thing anyway. After all when they talk about animals rutting, are they not "in the groove"??

(swim 1500 metres, bike 15kms)

"The great advantage of being in a rut is that when one is in a rut, one knows exactly where one is."---Arnold Bennett

"There's a very fine line between a groove and a rut; a fine line between eccentrics and people who are just plain nuts."---Christine Lavin
Love
Peter