A Real, Professional Bike Fitting @ 3d Bike Fit in San Francisco

I have some fun stuff to post about tonight so I'll get the standard material out of the way quickly.

Food: strictly ok
Exercise...

I came home last Sunday and did weight training in my living room until midnight. Tri training is not normal so why should my activities be? Wednesday I rode the upright bike for 25 minutes (and increased to level 9 - woot!) followed by legs/shoulders/PT exercises. Thursday I did a 30 minute outside run and called it a day. Friday I rode my bike outside for 25 minutes followed by back/biceps/PT exercises.  But Friday is where it gets interesting so...

Guess what I did? I've been talking about doing this for months, if not years, and it's been suggested to me that I do it for at least that long... No, I did not fly to Mexico for a tummy tuck...I got a professional bike fitting. And when I say professional, I mean professional, as in, the two other people being fit at the same time as me were looking like hard-core serious type cyclists. And there I was.

How did this come about? You might remember me complaining about my hands going numb during any bike ride over 5 miles. It's so irritating. Every time I mention this to practically anyone that rides the first thing they ask is, "Have you been fit to your bike?" And no, they don't mean at the bike store where I purchased my bike. So after another frustrating bout of hand numbness I sent Neil a text asking where I should go, "Best bike fit, 3d BikeFit in SF." Done.

I arrived for my 3d Body Geometry Video Fitting (how fancy does that sound?!) with all my gear as instructed - bike, socks that don't cover the ankles, sleeveless top, bike shorts - and met my fitter, Ryan Moore.

How cute is Ryan?! Ahem, that's not relevant here.

Ryan is a bona fide serious cyclist who has been fitting bikes for about 5 years. We started with an interview, he asked about my riding habits, pain/discomfort issues, etc. He asked me how much I ride and I said, "Not much, I mean hardly at all really, maybe 10 a week." He responded by saying, "That's respectable," but I later came to believe he thought I meant 10 hours a week instead of 10 miles. Ha!!

Meanwhile I asked him about 3d BikeFit. He told me it was started by Kevin Bailey, who he calls the "Obi-Wan Kenobi of bike fitters." I had to say hi and snap a picture of him in action.

Uh, I think these people are a bit more serious about this whole cycling thing than I am :)

So after the interview Ryan started with the physical assessment part of the fitting. This is where I got schooled on why my form and fit on the bike is so, so wasteful (in terms of energy).

He showed me how my pelvis is supposed to be resting on my bike seat, that is, tilted forward and not on my butt bones.

Then he measured how far apart my butt bones actually are.

Turns out my stock bike seat will not allow me to rotate my pelvis forward like that, so a new seat was my first purchase of the day. And then he got to talking about ankles. Ankles are apparently an important issue in this whole cycling thing.

And feet, let's not forget about those. He measured the space under my arch and eyeballed assessed my feet and ankle parts from all angles.

He did some other stuff too but honestly, I can't remember. So then I got on what looked like a massage table (but sadly, no massage) and he measured my flexibility and whatnot.

Seriously, how official does all this look?! The best part was when he grabbed both my ankles and yanked, something about to see if both my legs did something-or-other the same. They did. In fact in most ways I was pretty normal in terms of anatomy and flexibility.

So, all this information in hand and I readied to get on the bike, all set up with my new seat.

Tillie gets an upgrade!

He also temporarily put on an adjustable handlebar thing so he could fine tune the bars on the fly.

When I said earlier this was a professional fitting I was not exaggerating. Before I got on the bike he placed markers on my joints - ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, wrist...

and also fitted my shoes with inserts that would stop my feet from rolling around inside my shoe (which, apparently, is not good)

and then finally had me get on the bike. So I'm on the bike and he fiddles with the computer a bit and then I see this...

First off, I have to admit I've been a bit emotional lately. But this almost made me teary. Who is that woman? Those arms, those legs...wow, I look so...so not like I do in my mind. This fitting turned out to be more than just a fitting, but a multi-hour dose of reality in terms of my size appearance.

During breaks in riding I was a bit preoccupied with my own image on the screen...

Bloggers have to be a bit self-involved right?

Anyway, I refrained from an emotional breakdown and instead told Ryan about my weight loss and blog and showed him my before pictures and then rattled on a bit about weight loss, food issues and body dysmorphia. Fun topics, I must be such a blast to hang out with, you know?

So the rest of the day was spent making adjustments, taking video and measuring, teaching me proper posture, more adjustments, more video and measuring, etc.

He had me ride at an easy resistance as well as more challenging and taught me more than I'd ever thought I'd need to know about being on my bike. And then voila! We were done.

I talked Ryan into a selfie with me...

before he took some final measurements...

and then I changed and spent more time staring at myself on the screen...

Alright, enough with the preoccupation with my body. Here's what I came for, a fit that doesn't put so much weight on my hands, that has me using the stronger parts of my legs and is kinder to my neck, shoulders and back...oh, and that also makes me look like I know what the heck I'm doing. Here's a before/after video of me on my bike.



The left (with no headband) is before, the right (with headband) is after. Notice a difference? My back, my elbows and shoulders, even my head position, all much improved and all intended to make my rides more efficient and easier on my body. Ryan had also recommended I switch to Shimano cleats and pedals but that kind of change is not in the budget right now. The good news is, when/if I do make the switch, he'll get the fit right for me.

Some take home notes from Ryan...

Your sacral angle was +10 deg and I was able to better match that with the rotation you are now achieving on the bike.  As you ride, try to focus on being mindful rotation the pelvis from the sacrum up to ensure that you have a neutral back. 

Remember these steps: 
1. pelvic rotation 
2. elongated back (shoulders back, clavicle up) 
3. Good elbow bend

For proper pedaling form, imagine that there's an egg under your forefoot and applying too much downward motion will break it, this will give a more efficient nice longitudinal pedal stroke with proper plantar flexion (but not to much).

So I left the shop and hopped on my bike to ride the one block back to my car and woah! I felt like I was riding on a cloud, almost no weight on my hands at all, it was an amazing difference. I couldn't wait to get on my bike for a ride. So that's what I did, I came home and went on a 25 minute ride (it's all I had time for) and then did some back exercises at the gym before it closed. The bike will take some getting used to, I have to use muscles I'm not accustomed to using. Because my fit was so off before I used weaker muscles, now I can use stronger ones, like my glutes, more. But they need to build up more strength to meet the demand. Not sure it was the best idea to make this big change just a few weeks before the tri but I'm sure I'll be fine, it's not like I'm Serena Williams with a new racket.

So Friday was also Myra's birthday and we had a big party for her today. I'll have to write about that in my next post because it's getting late. Hope you enjoyed reading about my bike fit! I sure had a good time getting it done. Thanks Ryan and 3d BikeFit!

Labor Day Fun

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Just a quick post to say what an active day I had. We really wanted to do something with the kids outdoors to celebrate summer...Miguel wanted to fish and I wanted to rent kayaks so a lake visit seemed ideal. I researched a bit and found Spring Lake in Sonoma County. This place has it all, including a 3-acre swimming lagoon. Check this out!

Enjoy the 3-acre swimming lagoon with sandy beach and concession stand. The swimming lagoon is staffed by lifeguards and is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Spring Lake's swimming lagoon is treated with chlorine and tested weekly, and water samples consistently exceed all state water quality requirements.

I couldn't fit the length of it in one picture so here's a "stitched" photo. This is no small lagoon.

Spring Lake Swimming Lagoon

You know what I was thinking when I saw swimming lagoon. Swimming! So I packed my goggles and cap and hoped I could sneak in some swim time during our outing. When I read about the lagoon on the website I thought it was a roped off portion of the lake (and I wondered how they treated it with chlorine and all). Turns out it's a separate body of water.

It's perfect for tri-training. So while Miguel took the kids fishing in the lake just across the way, I swam for about 45-50 minutes. Funny thing, I forgot my swimsuit so I had to swim in the bikini I was wearing. I was nervous but it turned out fine. The swim was great! I was getting tired toward the end, noticing my hands were sometimes grazing the water during my stroke, but otherwise I was good. So happy to get some tri training in! Plus I'm going to do some quick pushups and tricep work as soon as I'm done with this post.

After my swim we rented a paddle boat and took the kids around Spring Lake. I was cursing Miguel for renting the paddle boat instead of kayaks like I'd wanted. Serves me right for sending him to the rental window alone, "I thought it would be better for your training." Ugh, my legs were hurting! But we pedaled those kids around the lake for almost an hour and had a great time watching ducks, egrets and scaring the kids into thinking a floating piece of wood was a crocodile!

After the paddleboating we all got ice cream and then drove home and had burgers for dinner. I had a burger with bacon and avocado and a few of the kids' fries. Between that and the Drumstick I think I ate all my hard earned swimming calories and then some. The good thing is, so far, no evening snacking. And I feel strong - it's not going to be a problem tonight!

Another fun thing happened today... I was walking with the kids and Miguel to the car when I heard my name called. Turns out someone recognized me! Heather from Rohnert Park...hi Heather! Whenever someone spots me I always offer to post a pic on the blog with them and she was up for it!

Hi Heather - so fun to meet you!!

Heather was there with her family squeezing in a lake day. She's on her own journey and we spent a few minutes discussing that as well as how important it is to love the body you have. Listen people, you won't get issued a new body when you get to your goal weight. And chances are you'll have a long list of dissatisfactions with your body, even at that magical "goal" weight. So you have to start learning to love your body now, as is, imperfections and all, or you'll get to goal, never be happy, and eventually fall off the wagon. I've been there and done that so take it from me, start loving that ass and those hips and that stomach today!

I'll get off my soapbox to share some other fun pictures from today. Hope you enjoy!

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I am a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice offering Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for weight loss and maintenance. I have an office in Marin County, CA and I'm also available to see people via Skype. To learn more please visit my professional website at www.michellefunez.com 

Parties and Running

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Tri training is continuing at full speed. It's only 4 weeks until the big day! I'm happy with how training is going. Despite things not going exactly as planned all the time I feel confident that, barring accident or injury, I'll be ready come race day. That's a good feeling.

So, what have I done this week to prepare? Tuesday turned out to be a rest day. I wanted to go to a track workout - which I have yet to experience - but couldn't find a babysitter. Wednesday was an outside run, 3 miles, followed by the gym - legs/shoulders/pt exercises. My back is so-so these days, probably related to not doing my PT exercises often enough. Thursday was another gym day. I was really pressed for time. I only had time for 20 minutes on the upright bike so I upped the resistance to Level 9 for the first time. It challenged me but I did it. That was followed by back/biceps/PT exercises. I was there for a grand total of 43 minutes but managed to get most of my weights stuff done in that time and felt good about what I did on the bike. A goal half-met is better than a goal never set.

Thursday evening I went to a women's cycling information night at a local bike store (Mike's Bikes in Sausalito) where Heather Nielson, a pro cyclist and coach, talked about cycling for women. It was geared toward beginners so a lot of the information was not new to me but I still learned a few things, like how lucky I am that I don't chafe in the most sensitive of places. I still need to get better at descending and cornering and might work with Heather for some 1:1 coached rides.

Heather explaining all the parts on a road bike

Friday turned out to be another rest day. The rest days were a few too many this week but life happens, right? I hopped on the scale in the morning, 141.2 pounds, up from last week. Saturday was a kid day. We had back-to-back birthday parties lined up. I've been eating, ahem, too much lately so I planned out my food so as to avoid a full day of party food. I took snacks and a turkey avocado sandwich with me with the goal of skipping all the party food.

Turkey avo sandwich, cuties, a string cheese, fage yogurt and an apple.

Party #1 was at a gymnastics center and except for a handful of pretzels (oh, and a handful of popcorn), I skipped the party food (most notably the cupcakes).

My big boy on the big swing

My monkey girl with her beloved Mimi (Mimi was their daycare provider and they still LOVE her like crazy!)

Party #2, a pool party, was up next. I got there and was feeling a little drained (Miguel had been working on a project all morning so I was flying solo) and when the wonderful hostess offered me a glass of wine - well, I didn't decline. Miguel arrived and as far as eating is concerned, it was all downhill from there. I never do well Historically alcohol has made it difficult for me to make healthy choices. I need to work on that one. So I had a variety of snacky foods - chips, crackers, cheese, olives, etc and one yummy cupcake. Andtwodinnerrollslaterathome,withbutter. All those snacks were pretty much my dinner. So I made it halfway through the day eating my healthy foods. Again, a goal half-met... (is better than a goal never set - in case you forgot).

Aaaanyway, the pool party was great and we had fun catching up with friends and playing in the pool. I also enjoyed some fun chats with other fitness oriented mamas. Oh, can I mention what a miracle it is to go to a pool party and not fret about my appearance?!

Myra (mid-jump), me and Marek (swimming) at the pool party!

Ms Sassy Pants and I

Ah wine...we don't meet nearly often enough.

My party animals

So, fun day Saturday. By the time I went to sleep I could barely keep my eyes open. And I needed a full night sleep because Sunday was a long run day. I had plans to meet up with some other tri folks to do an 8 mile run from the Point Reyes Bear Valley Visitor's Center to Arch Rock and back. I've done this trek a number of times on this journey and it's always given me huge returns.

We met up at noon (though I was a few minutes late and only saw the other runners on the trail) and given the holiday weekend and the midday start time, the place was CROWDED. I was worried I might also get too hot but with the breeze and mixed shade it was perfect. I started out a bit on the slow side but eventually picked up the pace some.

At the most gorgeous turn-around point ever.

After a few moments to take in the view, and two ShotBloks, I turned around for the run back. It wasn't easy and I didn't run my best but I still had the best day. Miguel had the kids covered and gave me the green light to get a pedicure, and boy was I overdue. But going for a pedicure after a long trail run is a bit embarrassing, my toes were so dirty!

Ok, gotta go, my daughter needs me to color with her.

ps - I'm eating too much. Can I blame tri training? Not really. Must get it together asap.

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I am a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice offering Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for weight loss and maintenance. I have an office in Marin County, CA and I'm also available to see people via Skype. To learn more please visit my professional website at www.michellefunez.com 

Give or Take a Few Miles and One Big (Rock) Hill

Not much to report since I just posted yesterday...LYING!

Ok, so this will be quick but slightly momentous. So there have always been two "scary" hills that I've avoided like certain death. First, Marshall Wall, which I conquered about a year ago with Miguel. The next "scary" hill was the one leading up to Big Rock on Lucas Valley Road. I've ridden down it on my bike (and driven up it in a car) and it seems to go down, down, down forever. Which means riding up it would be up, up, up forever. Yes, scary.

So today I had a 15 mile training ride on the schedule. I went to my gym after work and changed into my bike gear. I finally remembered to bring my bike to work and avoid the after work "Mommy don't go!" pangs of guilt. Anyway, I changed and hit the road, wearing my Camelbak and hoping the sun wouldn't bake me.  I had a loose plan to ride to Lucas Valley Road and then turn around when I got to 7.5 miles. But when I got to 7.5 miles I had already started the incline of the "scary" hill and in fact, was just at the base of the worst part of it. What to do, what to do?

Ride up that darned hill of course! Truthfully I saw no other option. One does not begin to ride up a hill and then turn around. Not this one anyway. Not even with the wind blowing in my face. So I pedaled and pushed, even engaging my glutes at some of the more challenging spots, and pedaled and pushed. My lungs felt good, it was my legs that were burning from time to time. And at one point I came around a corner to what felt like a wall of wind pushing me back. No! But after a mile of riding up, up, up, I turned a corner and there was the Big Rock! I'd made it.

I didn't have my phone with me (note to self, never ride without a phone) but there were people coming back from a hike so I asked them to snap a pic and text it to me.

Yep, I rode from down there to up there.

I had no idea that today was the today I would conquer this hill. It sure felt good. Now I'll be asking around for some other "scary" hills to conquer since I've defeated the two I know of. Oh wait, I know Conzelman Road scares me, maybe that's next. Eek!

I had a bit of apprehension about riding back down, I've been getting anxious going too fast downhill, but I just kept telling myself, "you're ok, you're fine, you're ok" and that seemed to work. I had a couple jolts of fear but I survived. Who would've EVER imagined I'd prefer riding up a huge hill than down?!

Reminds me, this Thursday night I'm taking a women's cycling class. It's lecture (and only $10), not actual riding, and if I like it I might take the riding class too, which is more $$. Anyway, here's the elevation profile of today's ride.

Novato to Big Rock and back.

Other notable things - my top speed was 31.7 mph and my top heart rate was 157 - I could have pushed a little harder! After the ride I hit the gym for chest/triceps/PT exercises. I was so glad it wasn't a legs day.

Dinner was teriyaki chicken breasts and rice and then I got a bit munchy and eventually had two bowls of granola cereal despite not being hungry. I'm blaming tri training. We'll just have to see what the scale thinks about that come Friday.

Santa Cruz Training Day with Neil at TriMore Fitness

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Forgive me, it's been 6 days since my last post. It's just been a bit hectic around here is all. Adding the triathlon training to an already full schedule means something has to give. Writing has taken a bit of a back seat.

I'll start with my training from this past week. Wednesday was a 3-mile run at a 9:28 pace. I haven't been to the gym since my night ride on Monday so that's a bummer. I don't like re-building muscle. Thursday was another run - I didn't have the option to do the bike so running was it. This time I ran for time because I didn't have my Garmin. I ran for about 40 minutes and treated it more as a stress reliever than a training run.

Friday was a rest day in preparation for the big day on Saturday. Not sure if I even mentioned this here but I signed up for a Santa Cruz training day with Neil at TriMore Fitness and it was yesterday. Anyway, I did my morning weigh-in and lo-and-behold, 138.6 pounds. What the what?! I'll take it.

So I stayed up a bit too late on Friday night. My mom and I were overdue on a heart-to-heart and though the timing wasn't great, I'm glad we got to talk. My mom being over meant a bevy of tempting foods - Chinese food, cupcakes, ice cream. I reached out to my FB peeps for some courage in the face of all that junk and tried to stand firm. In the end we ordered pizza and salad for dinner, I decided to call it carb loading for the training day. And I had a few bites of ice cream - maybe four. Avoided the cupcake altogether! And no Chinese food. [Also, when I came home from the training day yesterday one of the first things I did was put the remaining ice cream down the garbage disposal].
 
So it was getting near midnight so I got a few things together before heading to bed. A couple weeks ago I made swim, bike and run checklists and that's made it a lot easier to pack. I was up at 5am getting the rest of my things together. Hit the road at 6am for the two-hour drive to Santa Cruz.

I arrived about 15 minutes before the 8am start time.

I organized my gear and then met up with Neil and the group at the beach. I saw a few familiar faces, which was nice.

Neil gave us a rundown of the water, current, race-day details, etc. The swim is a beach start, about 30 yards back from the water, and then run into it. That will be a first for me! All my tris have been water starts. Fun, fun!!! Neil had us do three practice starts, grouping us up and then having us run into the water and swim for a few minutes, to get used to that type of start. The water was about 58 degrees and the few degrees cooler than Aquatic Park in SF were quite noticeable. But I adjusted really quickly and never really felt cold once we got moving. The third entry was "real" and we swam to the end of the pier (on the left in the picture above) and back, about a mile in total I think. All I remember for sure is that we planned to be in the water about 40 minutes.

When I reached the end of the pier Neil was there in a kayak as a sight and to be sure we turned around. I popped up to see him with his cell phone. I thought he was taking pictures but instead he was taking a video!



When Neil asked, "How's it going" I was in the middle of another runner's high while swimming. I can't explain it, I just get so friggin' happy I feel like I'm on top of the world! So he asked, and I answered, "Fucking awesome Neil, I love this shit!". Yep, I sometimes have a potty mouth. Like I said, I didn't know he was taking video!

I was supposed to sight on some palm trees but they were hard to see out on the water. So I sighted on a bit white building that seemed close enough. Nope, that got me a shout from Neil, "Hey Michelle, you're about 50 yards off course." He told me to sight more but I knew that wasn't the problem, so I picked a new spot to sight. That's the kind of experience you can't get unless you train on the course. Wouldn't want to make that mistake come race day!

Can you spot the palm trees? Not so easy, eh?

Here's a view looking back. See that taller white building? That's what I sighted on. Oops. Did I mention how beautiful the conditions were? Look at that water and the clear sky. If race day is even half as nice I'll be happy.

Oh, and a word on the seals. First, they are loud. You can hear them barking in the video of me. Second, one swam under me on my way out and my heart about jumped out of my chest. But once I reminded myself what it is, and told myself the seal was out there, like me, for a leisurely swim, I relaxed. When was the last time you heard of a swimmer being attacked by a seal. Don't answer that.
So the difference is, on race day we'll start on the other side of the pier and swim around it. Another swimmer who did the race before warned me that at the end of the pier are tons of seals in the water so don't be too startled. Check. I got out of the water and for the first time ever I wasn't the last one. I don't think it's that I've gotten faster, just that this is a group with some brand new swimmers. No matter, I'll take it.

So back to the car to change for the bike ride and eat a kids Clif Bar. We had 30 minutes, ha ha! On race day you're trying to do this in 3 minutes. I decided to change into real bike shorts to spare my butt bones.

Post swim, pre-bike.

We met up and got a route briefing from Neil.

Neil telling us that downhills are not for resting.

Neil humors me :)

Taking the opportunity for a photo op. I wish I had more time to train with Neil, I know I'd get better. Maybe if the Olympic-distance feels manageable I'll focus on a half-Ironman and work with him.

So the bike route took us through town and then on to Highway 1, right along the ocean. Neil led us out through town, driving slow enough that we could all keep up. Do I need to tell you how beautiful it was? At first I was freezing and worried I'd be shivering the whole time but once we got out of town the sun warmed me up and I was fine. Note to wear short sleeves and carry long ones on race day, depending on the forecast. I was also trying out a new Camelbak - the Hydrobak model - for the bike and run.

When we reached the spot to turn back, around mile 12, I was feeling great! Neil and crew were there with water and fuel but I was doing fine. I couldn't believe we were already halfway done. I even remember thinking at some point, "I can totally do a half-Ironman!". I was going easy on the energy gels and had 3 shot bloks on the bike ride, only when my stomach growled.

We had a tailwind riding back, which was lovely. Though by the time I got back to Santa Cruz my butt bones were hurting so bad I was super happy to not have another 25 miles to go! My legs were fine though. The route was mostly relatively flat with some rolling hills thrown in, which added interest and a nice challenge. Flat can get boring.

Santa Cruz Triathlon training bike route

 

Santa Cruz Triathlon training bike elevation profile

Full Garmin stats here

I averaged 13.6 mph on the bike. Not sure to what I can compare that but it sounds great to me! And I was super happy to get my butt off that seat! I changed into my run gear and by now the sun was blazing. The Camelbak had caused the tiniest bit of chafing at the crook of my arms so I put on a little body glide to help and that was fine for the rest of the day. Another reason to wear short sleeves come race day. I threw on more sunscreen and hit the road.

The run route started with a small hill, ugh. My legs felt a bit jello-y but they worked. I just ran at a comfortable pace. Initially I planned to run 3 miles, figuring I haven't been running much further than that during training so far. The route was another beauty-fest, running on a footpath along the ocean. This race should be on every "most beautiful race" list because it's gorgeous!

So I'm running and it's hard! But I try to keep my brain under control and just run. People watching and navigating around tourists kept my mind busy. Not to mention the ocean. It sure was nice having water anytime I wanted it. I think the Camelbak will be going on my long runs from now on. Just before reaching the 1.5 mile mark I decided I had enough energy in the tank to go for 4 miles so I had a couple Shot Bloks and ran another 1/2 mile before turning around.

No pictures from the run but here's my Garmin stats.

Santa Cruz training day run route

I really had to push that middle mile to hit the 10:00:08 pace. During the return run the wind was at my back most of the time, which was like a gift from the heavens. I huffed a bit that last half-mile and was SO HAPPY to stop running when I reached the wharf. Whew! I did it, all but two miles of the race and with 5 weeks of training left. I got this. Barring accident or injury, I got this!

After all that work we had to eat!

Cool tri peeps!

I had a mahi-mahi sandwich and fries with iced tea. Food never tasted so good. The lunchtime conversation was almost all tri-talk, which kept me plenty entertained. What a cool group of people, it's too bad the group training schedule was too much for me. I chatted with a guy that lives in SF and said he's having a hard time keeping up, imagine adding a 40 minute drive to that each way.

Post swim/bike/run. Grateful and happy

During the 2-hour drive home I got sleepy and stopped for a latte. That pepped me up. Good thing too, because Miguel and I had plans to go to a wine-party at a friend's house. Home, shower, change and back out the door. Hardly saw the kids :(

Me, Jackie and Monique.

I had a Chipotle kid's quesadilla on the way to the party and then munched on apps and had a few glasses of wine during the event. Nearing midnight and I started to crash hard and fast. Home and to bed and I was probably asleep before my head hit the pillow. What a day!

Well, that's a wrap. Today is a rest day and tomorrow will be a 15-mile bike ride and an overdue trip to the gym. I'm so glad I did this training day, nothing else can give you the confidence that comes from a route preview. And doing this on my own would have been a logistical bummer - going with Neil and crew was worth its weight in gold. I'm ready!

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I am a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice offering Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for weight loss and maintenance. I have an office in Marin County, CA and I'm also available to see people via Skype. To learn more please visit my professional website at www.michellefunez.com