Sore on Day Four

07. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, exercise, fitness, good things, self, sidetracks

IMG_0806I started 30 days of cycling on October 4th, and have thus far kept to the goal.  I’m on day 4 and I’ve got to say that my legs are giving me a bit of a beat down today.  I’ll work past it, by taking a shorter less intense spin this afternoon.  Since I started this week, I’ve logged 51 miles, which has put me over 700 for the year.  I’m not a big mileage guy I guess, but maybe that will change.

Tuesday’s ride was a 17 mile ride over some rolling hills and the gentle flatness of the B&A trail near my house.  Wednesday was a simple end of the trail and back kind of day, and yesterday was a 21 mile ride over rolling hills and the B&A trail again.  Today, I plan to get out after my last concall for work and hit the trial for a slower recovery ride spin.  That will probably tack on an additional 12-13 miles and put me around 63 or 64 for miles for the work week.

I am probably going to get up and join my local group ride tomorrow which will put another 26 on the odometer, but it is an early ride on a Saturday, so I may have to sleep in on that one.  We’ll see.

Can I do 30 days of cycling?

05. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, exercise, fitness, good things, self, sidetracks, struggles

IMG_0851Last week, I’d made a commitment to myself that I would ride my bike every day in October. My first ride was yesterday, October 4th. Track record, 1 and 3.

If there’s one thing I’m good at, its being hard on myself. There are a number of good reasons why I didn’t get a ride in on before Tuesday, not the least of which was spending both Saturday and Sunday with Mr. Grey. I’ve also got this pesky thing called a job. Monday I had to go up to Philadelphia for a meeting, which wiped out the entire day. In fact, today is the first day this week that I haven’t had a 2 hour drive in the morning. Tomorrow is a different story.

I’ve tried to do 30 day challenges and even 365 projects in the past, and I almost always end up failing for some reason or another. In the past I’ve been hard on myself about it. That’s counter-productive at best.

Maybe my life just isn’t set up for doing something every day. Or maybe I need to be less stringent on things like start and stop dates. Sure, starting 30 days of cycling on the first of the month makes it clean and tidy, but my life isn’t clean and tidy. There will certainly be at least one or two more trips to Philly in the next month, and that will effectively eliminate the possibility of getting a ride in, but even if I don’t hit all 30 days, at least I’ll be out there more than once a week.

Here’s hoping.

Irene

28. August 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, good things, gratitude, health, hope, thoughts, weather

She was like most others, a little sexy, a little crazy and a whole lot of unpredictable. Irene could have been a real big mess for us. We were lucky, no trees fell on our house, no massive floods (though we live on high ground) and only the inconvenience of a power outage. And let me tell you it is an inconvenience at worst.

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You gotta take the ups with the downs

21. March 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, exercise, fitness, good things, struggles, weight loss · Tags: , , , , ,

ApplesLosing weight, like investing, is a long-term goal.  Some weeks will be better than others.  I know this.  Still, last week when I stepped on the scale and was up a half a pound instead of down I had a sinking feeling.  To be fair, the first week of my Weight Watcher’s experience was unusual.  I lost over 4 pounds according to the scale.  This week was probably more realistic.  I tried to tell myself that I was still down by 3.4 pounds, but I wasn’t gaining much traction with that thinking.

So, on Friday, I had a choice.  I could let the slight increase bring me down (interesting that an up is a down here) or I could reinvest in myself and make some positive changes over the weekend.  I knew I’d had a few more beers than I should have during the week, and I’d eaten a few extra snacks when I really didn’t need to, and I’d missed the mark on my fruit and veggie intake.  I also didn’t get to the gym.

I still didn’t get to the gym over the weekend, but I didn’t need to because I hit the road on my bike and logged 71.72 miles over two days.  I limited my beer intake and upped my fruit and veggie intake.  I got myself back on track.  And I broke a “rule” of weight loss this morning – I weighed myself outside of my designated weigh-in day.  Happily, I was down 2 10ths of a pound.

It was good to see that number on the scale.  I’m moving in the right direction and I feel great.  And that’s what this is all about.

Sometimes a workout isn’t just a workout

19. March 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, friends, good things, gratitude, smiles, spring, storytelling, writing · Tags: , ,

Six-thirty comes early on a Saturday.  Rolling over and going back to sleep takes a bit of resistance.  Not quite strength, but nothing short of strong will.

As the alarm went off this morning I realized two things — this was the second time I’ve set an alarm since leaving Discovery and I really hate WYPR on a Saturday morning.  I hit the snooze button.  It was only natural.  Post Ride Latte and Some Dreams

Eight minutes later, I something clicked.  I’d known that the reason for the alarm was to get up to ride, but to be honest, I wasn’t really sure I wanted to get out of bed and meet the peloton when the alarm first went off.  I could certainly ride on my own as I did a few weekends ago.  But something clicked, and I got myself out of bed and scrambled into a pair of bibs and a jersey.

Since, I’d stayed in bed for an extra eight minutes, I really didn’t have time to make coffee.  I grabbed an energy bar and a banana, filled the water bottles with Gatorade and headed to the shed.  Walking out the door, I looked at the thermometer.  58F. More »

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