RESTING ON MY LAURELS (and sliding off of them…)

Hoo boy, is it dusty in here!!!  *Opens up some windows for some fresh air and goes hunting for the cleaning supplies*  Well.  That just proves that it’s WAYYYY too easy to fall out of new habits like tracking food/exercise, and blogging…  *Sigh…*  But I will write about that later.  First, though, let me say “thank you” to Katie J and FAB who were worried because I haven’t written in a while, and sent me e-mails asking if I was okay.  I had forgotten that Blogville can be a community, and had assumed that I wouldn’t be missed…  It was nice to be proven wrong.  :}

So before I talk about how I fell off the exercise/tracking/blogging wagon, I’m going to talk about the good stuff and tell you about the Big Bike Ride I did on May 19th, and share some pictures.  :D

I trained long and hard, and rode 55 miles on The Day!  I had a great time, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and will definitely do it again in the future.  The Hubster is even considering doing it with me next year – we’ll both to the full 100 miles – or at least train for it!  :D

I do have some battle scars to show for my training...  I had gotten used to the “clipless” shoes on the trainer, and then realized 3 days before the ride that I REALLY needed to take the bike outside and get used to using them on the road.  It’s a good thing I did – I got my falls out of the way before it happened in front of 3000 experienced riders…  :P  The first time was on to grass in our front yard, and the second time was in a cul-de-sac where I'd stopped for a break, and was trying to get going again.  I fell in to a bush and my helmet got stuck on the branches for a few seconds...  (I still hope that doesn't pop up on YouTube at any point in time...) The third time I fell over on to my left, and hit the cement with my elbow. 



This is my left elbow, not a knee...  This was taken about a day and a half after my fall.  It's not the best picture, but you can kind of see where the bruise is starting, around the lump... 


  It’s a good thing I was wearing long sleeves, or my scrape (singular) would've been a lot worse…  And, the handlebar gave me a beautiful lump and bruise on my thigh, and the cross bar on the bike caught me really good high up on my right inner thigh.  Yeah - ouch.

But let me tell you, the training I did really paid off.  By the time the morning of The Ride came around, I had put just over 500 miles on the bike.  Yes, I was achy that Saturday night, but after a good, hot shower and a good night’s sleep, I was absolutely fine the next day.  I really wasn’t sore at all, although I was aware of my thighs just a little bit when I went up or down stairs.  Otherwise, I was Just Fine!  Surprised the crap out of me!   :D  After the ride when I was sharing stories with another rider, I mentioned how long I’d trained, and he said “you get out of it what you put in to it.”  I really think I need to make that a mantra…  :)

Here’s a picture of me crossing the finish line:



Here’s a picture of me in the classic Reach The Beach pose:

I had a great time, and I'll do it again next year.  But it was way too easy to get out of the habit of tracking my food and eating carefully because I was exercising so hard that my calorie deficit was REALLY high.  While I was training, that is.  And then I took some time away from the bike, but didn’t get back to tracking and eating mindfully.  Yeah, I really lost my momentum...  And after that, I had a Belly dancing competition to get ready for (which was the weekend of June 11 – 12) and then I went out of town to the Hubster’s aunt’s house.  It was a great time, but it was definitely a “vacation.”  I still haven’t weighed myself since we got back last night...

I’m going to work on getting back on track this week and then weigh myself on Friday and see what the damage was.  I will mostly be dancing for exercise this week – I will be going back to Tuesday classes after missing a term,  and of course, teaching on Thursdays.  And this Wednesday, I will be performing.  So I will be getting back in to it!  :D  And the Hubster is taking my bike in on Wednesday for a tune-up (well needed) and then I will try and get back on it this weekend.  I had a dream about riding last night – I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something…  ;)

LESSONS LEARNED TRAINING FOR BIKE RIDE:

• Cold Cream will clean bicycle grease off skin quite nicely
• Cycling gloves aren’t just for padding on your hands – they’re also to wick away sweat so your hands don’t slip off the handles.
• Cycling shorts/pants with padding are a MUST!
• Long sleeves will give a bit of protection against road rash – but only a bit…
• Chapstick/Blistex is a must (preferably with SPF) – lips get dry fast when riding outside.
• Riding for 20 miles and dancing for 2 hours on the same day is not the best idea – even when separated by a full day of work. The legs start hurting much more quickly...
• Even when it’s overcast, fair skin still burns so water/sweat resistant sunscreen is required.
• Riding on a trainer has its benefits, but it still is quite different than riding on the road…
• When someone tells me (in frustration) I’m as stubborn as my Dad, my instinctive reaction (unfortunately) is to dig my heels in even further...
• I like jogging (when I’m actually doing it) and I like biking, and I really like going fast.  This urge is easier to satisfy a bike, rather than on two feet. (and it’s less dangerous than it is to satisfy in a car...)

So I'm back again!  As I said above, I'll be getting back on track this week and will weigh myself on Friday and see how far off track I went.  Have a good night, everyone!