taper time

Well, bike ride is in....5 days.. EEK!!! I think I am ready... I have lots of GU (I like it better than the other gels.. when DID I become such a snob anyway???), chamois butter, etc etc etc...

My hip has been bothering me a lot lately. So I really do need to adhere to the taper I suppose! I was told about 5 years ago that I have Degenerative Joint Disease starting in my hips (Osteoarthritis if you are nerdy like me) and that was before pregnancies, weight gain, etc. etc... I suppose after this ride I should take my lazy behind to the Dr. and get it checked out. Actualy I should have done this BEFORE - but it really didn't start until a few days ago. I have always had some pain in there, as long as I can remember so I don't pay attention. Dumb huh?

Anyway.....

time to relax because, it is too late to do anything else! wish us luck, though I have my suspicion that FM will do better than I will. :) Yes, I do think so. :)

Thank you to everyone that donated, cheered on, or in anywa provided support. Without you all there is NO WAY that this could have happened. I would have given up ages and ages ago when the rides started getting hard, the weather getting hot, my body hurting.... but I didn't and I have you all to thank! THANK YOU!

25 pound mark!! :)

So.. a few weeks ago I quit weighing myself out of sheer frustration. The dang scale wasn't gonna budge then I wasn't gonna visit it!! Well.. today I got on and I am down 8 more pounds and I have lost 25 pounds since Jan 1. :) :)

WOO HOO!! I am at the weight I was when I got pregnant, and in the same size... though oddly it doesn't fit the same since having kids. I have more to go - but I am excited and re-invigorated. Lately I have been feeling like I am not accomplishing anything - but I am!! :) yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

map my ride

Mapmyride. Go there, check it out!
I am using it to tell me approximate calorie burn and to track my walk/runs and my bike rides. You can also map on there (obviously) as well as find other maps made by other people. This site rocks!!

much better this time

So I took 5 days off from working out last week. After Sunday's fiasco and feeling incredibly horrid both Sat & Sun of last weekend.... And taking bike into REI for a minor tune up in anticipation of the big ride, rain !!!.... Well I just ended up with 5 days off.

Here is the funny thing, yesterday I did the 1.2 mile run/walk loop in my sub (the somewhat shorter loop I sometimes take - felt awesome... Today did the 40 miles without a rest break, again felt a TON better. I guess it was a combination of the high mold (allergen BIG time for me)and pushing myself too hard, and too little sleep.

I didn't fall off the bike, I didn't need to get off bike and rest, I could have gone longer without dying! yay!!! :) :)

too much rain

So.... I figured out why workouts were so bad last weekend, the outdoor mold levels were high, and that is my biggest allergy trigger. All this rain - well have you seen some mushrooms growing in lawns?? I have!

Anyway... REI has my bike until tomorrow, getting a minor tune-up before the big ride, just to be sure nothing is about to fall off or anything strange like that. Have been taking some days off from exercise since it has been so hard to do - but I will try to either swim or run today, depending on time today! (and weather)

That's gonna leave a mark

Okay. I am embarassed to type this, but I will anyway. Yesterday I fell off my bike, twice. Rookie mistake that I haven't made in ages.. but I did... So go ahead and laugh at the clumsy cyclist! I was distracted and just off. I was doing a 2nd 40 mile bike ride... (the last one being a week ago). So I was coming up to a red light.. thinking, "please turn green, please turn green" and completely not getting my foot unclipped... bike stops.. wait a second... as the bike starts tipping - my foot isn't out!! OUCH! That time kinda hurt - seat hit me rather hard and left a nasty bruise - never mind how great that concrete felt. This is why I wear the gloves - when you land on your hands it feels a lot less bad than it could.. The 2nd time I was stopping for a break - my foot was out and I was leaning towards it and somehow I fell in the other direction - that foot was still in. WTF????!!!!????!!!!

This was just a bad workout weekend! I ran on Saturday - worst run EVER! It was was worse than when I first started. Lungs were burning, legs were burning.. I just felt lousy. Sunday really wasn't better for the bike ride. I completed the 40 miles.. somehow.. It was slow, I almost ran into stuff left and right, I was a wreck! But... I did it.. I am taking 2 days off.. I need a rest apparently!

UGH!!!!!!!!!!

update for today's ride

40 miles. I did 40 miles today on the bike. woo hoo! According to my cyclometer I was cycling for approximately 2:40 that's a lot of cycling!
Now I had all my stuff, even remembered my cell phone this time which I often forget. The one thing I forgot... okay I have NATURAL RED Hair... no dye here... so I burn... easily.... DOH! THe sun was out and I got burned. Luckily a lot of the ride is in the shade and it was a cloudy day today. The burn could have been a LOT worse... I won't forget again.... until next year....

So other lessons from the ride today:
- don't wait over an hour to use the GU. I waited too long, I felt like I was NOT going to make it until it kicked in.
- check the radar YOURSELF. A nasty little cell moved through when i was only 7 miles from home. Luckily I could find an overpass to sit it out. I tried to get DH to come get me, but he pointed out that the cell was a small one, and by the time he would get himself and the kids loaded up and get to me, the storm would have passed. And it did. However, I think he forgot, or perhaps did not know, it is actually very unsafe to ride right after a rainstorm.

So anyway... The ride went well! My quads HURT when I first got home.. but some stretching, a shower, and a couple Motrin later.. no pain! :)

it was a good ride. and I think that was the longest ride I have ever taken in my entire life. :)