Crazy Crazy girl that I am!

I made it to my weight watcher meeting last night. Amidst this darn headache (today is day three of the headache) which provided a really good excuse. But I went. I have NEVER dreaded stepping on the scales more than last night. NEVER! But I faced that meeting and I stepped on them. I was estimating that I was up about 10 pounds from my last weigh in. I was pretty close. 8.4 pounds up from the last time I went to a meeting.....and they are saying 20 pounds up from my lifetime mark. (crazy...it should be 24 pounds by my calculations.....but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.) So I faced it and I've come out of it ready to see those number drop!



I'm also feeling quite optimistic. I guess going and facing it gave me renewed hope and energy to do it!





WHAT THE 'H' 'E' DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS WAS I THINKING?????? Was it just yesterday that i was saying that I can see improvement in my biking??? This morning I awoke before the alarm that was set to wake Todd up (I didn't have to go to work until later). I laid there and was disappointed to realize that my headache was still there. Not as pronounced as it was yesterday and the day before...but it was still floating around in my head. I walked to the kitchen and noticed the outside temp. WOOO HOOOOO FIFTY ONE DEGREES! How utterly exciting. I know that the temps are supposed to drop back to the low thirties (as a high) so this is my opportunity to get my 'big minimum' bike ride of 10 miles in for this weeks training. (Basically my training plan is to ride as much as possible throughout the week...but each week I have a goal for my 'long' ride...with each week getting to be a longer and longer ride until I'm doing 25 miles) Soooooooo I downed a handful of Advil, ate breakfast and went to the bedroom to dress for my bike excursion. I knew it would be somewhat chilly out there. SO I slipped on a pair of cuddle dud's (silky satiny long john underwear type thingy) and then put on my sweatpants over that. I put on a long sleeve tee shirt, then a short sleeve tee shirt and then a sweatshirt. (layers ya know...that wind can hit against a person...and that can get cold!) I put on a hat to protect my head and ears (bike helmets don't protect against cold), and slipped on an old pull over jacket. I put on some gloves...and I was almost ready. I grabbed my IPOD (is it against the law to listen to your IPOD while biking on the roads???) DANG...the battery was just about dead. Ohhhh well....no music on my ride...I'll toughen it out and go completely natural....just the wind and my thoughts. I grabbed my cell phone and my keys and walked across the kitchen. Ooops...the cell phone slipped from my fingers. It hit the floor and bounced. It bounced INTO the cat water dish. ohhh yeah. I quickly pulled it out (before the splash was even done splashing) and handed it to Todd so he could work on it. (We are crossing our fingers that it will dry out and still work...if not, I'm heading out to buy a cell phone this weekend). Should I have stopped at that point? Probably. But I went out back, got my bike and off I went. (I did grab todd's cell so I would have something in case I needed help). I started down the road. My thoughts went wild...and this is my ride by mile markers and the corresponding thoughts.



0.82 "Oh my, the wind is whipping much more than I thought it was. Boy...it's terribly windy. maybe I should turn around. NO NO NO I did not just ruin my cell phone to ride less than 1 mile and then turn back." This became my mantra for the next mile as I pushed onward. "I did not kill my cell phone for a measly ride"



2.0 "I'm getting close to town...what should I do. Should I wimp out and turn around, and go home...that would be a 5 mile ride. Or....I could ride around town and then go home. But then again, I can ride a mile out to the battlefield entrance and ride some over there...garnering me some more miles. Ohhh wait, I can turn right up here when i get to town, swing down to the canal and ride home on the canal. That would be a nice idea." And those thought went in a circle...round and round and round.



2.5 "Oh boy...I'm at the stop sign. I made it to town. Which way which way which way". I decided to turn right and go over to the battlefield.



3.5 "Oh wow..there is someone walking on the side of the road. I better pick up the pace on this hill so that it doesn't look like I'm biking in slow motion."



3.6 "Ahhh on the battlefield. What...I don't remember that hill going up to the observation tower! I better get a drink of water."



4.0 "The observation tower and Bloody lane. I've gone Bloody far enough! It's time to turn this bike around and return from whence I came."



4.5 "I could have sworn I went up a hill at this point going the other way...but here I am going up another hill"



5.5 "Decisions decisions decisions. I could go home the same way I came out....2.5 miles of not so gently (to a biker) rolling hills. Or I could go down to the canal and go home via the canal. The canal would be 1 mile of a fun downhill road, then 5 miles of the canal (relatively flat) and then one mile of uphill to get to my house. Hmmmm.....long but less hills or short but hilly." In my immense logic, I chose the canal...a longer route.



6.0 "weeee, I love going downhill"



7.0 "I better start praying for strength to train...this stuff is difficult"



8.8 "Mileage wise, I would have been home if I had taken the other option...what I fool I am"



9.0 "Why didn't I put on my padded shorts this morning? Ohhh I was so brilliant and thought that the extra layer of clothing would be sufficient. Well you know what...your brilliant mind failed you....My butt HURTS"



9.5 "Can I quit????? Oh my word. I can't. I'm on the canal.....secluded. I have to keep going. I can't quit. I don't want to quit..but I oh my word...even if I wanted to quit I can't because I don't' have my cell phone...I don't have the emergency number for the canal for them to get someone to help me. And I'd be too embarrassed anyway to call up a park ranger to come get me because I'm 'tooo tired'. I have only one option. Onward ho"



10.0 "Ohh my, I can see the road. I'm almost to the end of my travels on the canal."

10.5 "HILL....ohhh stinkin' hill up to my house. Ohhh wow.....I didn't know anyone could bike this slow. 3.8 mph Ohh lookey...now I'm up to 4.5 mph. Ohh this is pitiful!"



10.8 "was that a rain drop? Ohhh no...no rain, please no rain!"



11.0 "IF I can just make it to the next mailbox, I'll be good."



11.01 "oohhh blessed mailbox. Now I need to make it to that tree....."



11.1 "Ohh look another mailbox to strive for. And look, my speed is up to 6.8"



11.15 "I can see our property. Hmmm...I wonder how lame it would be to cut off the road as soon as I reach my property instead of waiting for the driveway. Oh shucks, there's a limb down, I can't cut in through there anyway...I guess I better wait for the driveway."



11.21 Ohhhh blessed driveway!



I got my bike and myself inside and literally less than 10 minutes later it was pouring down rain! I squeaked that ride out! But my goal for this week was a 10 mile ride. I did it! (I wish I would have done a 12 miler though...because that is next weeks goal...and that would have been awesome to be a week ahead)