Moving Forward Stronger and Smarter

I found myself thinking about my eating adventures for a couple days and I soon realized it wasn't the actual food that bothered me, it was the way I ate the food that bothered me.  If Miguel and I had stopped at Jack in the Box for dinner and I had two tacos and onion rings - admittedly I wouldn't think of this as a good choice - but I wouldn't be upset about it.  And then later I got some ice cream and ate almost the whole pint.  Again, I know I wouldn't be slapping myself on the back with pride, but I don't think I'd have mental anguish that kept me up blogging until the wee hours of the morning.  It was because the behavior was compulsive, because I was alone and because it wasn't part of a normal day.  Thank you for listening, I just wanted to get that off my chest.  The good thing is I'm over it and am ready to move on.

Sunday was the big bike ride.  I mapped out a loop from home to the next town over and back around to home.  There were three hills to speak of and a fair amount of low level climbing.  Here's a map and elevation profile:

From the start the most challenging thing was the wind.  It was blowing directly in our faces and was probably the worst I'd ever experienced on this route.  About 6 miles in a man yelled as he passed me, "It's brutal out here today!".  That was nice confirmation that yes, the wind was brutal.  When we finally got to the hill, a hill I have fought with in the past (and eventually conquered), I wondered how it would go.  I just kept pedaling, slowly, pedaling, don't stop - and I made it!  And Melissa was right behind me, plugging along too.  She said seeing me pedaling in front of her made her keep going and not get off and walk.  Cool!

When we finally made a left we hoped the wind would be over with but no, it kept at us but from a slight right angle instead of head-on.  You know how when you're driving your car on a windy day and you feel the air move it around?  I felt that for the first time on my bike.  That's a bit nerve-wracking.  We got to the first really steep downhill and finally some wheeeeeee action!

Then we made another left at about mile 15 and started back in with the climbing but thankfully, no wind.  I had been eating my shot bloks pretty regular and felt pretty good.  We trudged along until we finally made it to the top of Big Rock, and wheeeeeeeee down Lucas Valley Road.  Nice.  My legs started burning around mile 27 but then got better, and started burning again around mile 31, when it started raining on us, but I was so close to home I didn't care.  All told, according to my gps, the ride was 34.5 miles.  And the Cinderella is 66?  Oh boy, this should be interesting.

We came home and stretched and felt like rock stars.  Like tired rock stars, that is.  I felt so good riding this route again since having kids.  I rode stronger, and smarter - not to mention happier, than the last time I rode it.  Granted, the last time included a trip to Point Reyes and was 50 miles but who's counting?

That night I was asleep by 9pm.  And Monday morning I slept in late.  I think I needed that after Saturday night.  I hit the gym Monday after work and ran two miles on the treadmill followed by chest/triceps/core work for strength training.  Love my pushups!   That night though (last night) I paid for my sleeping in and stayed up WAY TOO LATE, until nearly 1am.  Ugh.

I woke up this morning wishing for more sleep but I got up and moving.  I went through my day dragging and about an hour after lunch I started feeling nauseous and foggy.  My schedule was clear so I decided to take the rest of the day off sick.  I still dragged myself to the gym, fearful that I am getting sick and this might be my last chance for a few days.  I got on the bike for my normal 25 minutes but bagged it after 20 minutes.  Then I did legs/shoulders/core work and started feeling a bit better.  After strength training I decided to run 5 minutes on the treadmill to bring my cardio up to the full 25 minutes I normally do - you know I'm stubborn that way.  I hopped on and quickly upped the pace to 10 minute miles/6mph.  Whew!  That was a challenge but I ran for 5 minutes, a half-mile, at 6mph, after doing my legs routine.

I got off the treadmill feeling strong and alive, though still a bit nauseous.  Ah well, got some good stretching in and came home.  Now I'm hoping I'm not getting sick and that maybe it's just something I ate.  One thing's for sure, I'll keep you posted.