Traumatic Mountain Bike Weekend

Hello July!   Where in the world did June go?  Seriously, I blinked and it was gone!   I did manage to work on my monthly goals and I feel as if I made some amazing progress during the month of June in some areas.  However in others I feel as if...well...as if I’m spinning wheels and going nowhere.  We had another amazing weekend....even if it was a bit rough at times!  So lots to talk about it all today!!!

The weekend

Wow...Saturday was hot!   

We spent Saturday morning running our errands.  It was also grocery week so that took some extra time!  But by lunchtime we were ready to head out with our bikes!  Did I mention that it was hot?  Oh and did I also mention that my shoulder issue that I wrote about in early May had reared its ugly head again?  Why yes...the arm was aching more all week.   But even with these two factors, we were determined to get out there and keep up the trend that we started...the good habit of riding on the weekends.  I was a bit hesitant about the ache in my shoulder and the heat...but I am tired of being fat and unfit so out I went!

My legs were stiff and tight when I started but they did eventually loosen up and I had a surprise for Jason.  I usually lead the way so I led him to a new trail within the park that we were riding in.  The trail turned out to be short but really cool.  You climb for a short bit and then you ride a ridge for about a half mile. All was going well until.......yup, it happened!  I was traversing the trail and well...I don’t rightly know what happened. I know I skidded a bit and then I was flying through the air.  I ended up in on the side of the trail, tangled up with my bike!    I didn’t care about the bike at that point and just worked to untangle my legs and get the bike away from me!  Jason was by my side in mere seconds.  Honestly, I feel for Jason. I have gone down two other times in front of him...one spectacularly on a trail with a drop off to my right!     Each time I can see the utter panic and terror in his eyes!  Anyway, back to this wee little tumble. I got myself to a sitting position. I had fallen on my right side and my bad shoulder/arm took the brunt of the fall.  But somehow my left wrist ended up scraped.  My right leg had brush burns from my calf up  to and covering my thigh.  And somehow my left ankle ended up with brush burns.  Literally all four quadrants of my body got mangled.  (I don’t THINK I went over the handlebars...but maybe I did!). I sat on the side of the trail a bit.  I may have cried....but not out of pity...out of shock and pain....remember my bad arm/shoulder took the brunt of this fall. The tears stopped and  then I began to moan!   Oh no, I wasn’t in any physical distress!  But I noticed my bike!  My poor perfect baby!  She is perfect no more!  She had a scratch on the front fork!

After whining about my scratch, I got back up on that bike and started riding again.  We rode awhile  and then headed up a big hill.  Halfway up that hill I knew I had a problem.  I stopped.  I started to walk. I didn’t know what the problem was, but I suspected that it was just a let down from the adrenaline rush I had experienced through my tumble off the bike.    I however knew I was pretty much done riding for that day. (Other  than for the return ride back to the car) I pondered my options.  We hadn’t seen a soul on any of the trails. (Did I mention that it was hot...REALLY hot...no other fools were out!).  I caught up with Jason who had stopped to wait for me.  I told him I just wasn’t right... he was concerned but I told him that I wasn’t sick or anything, just probably the after affects of my accident and my shoulder hurting.   I sent him up the hill to finish the trail that we were on/heading to. (It was an out and back).  I took his knife (I knew he wouldn’t leave me out there without some form of protection) and I sat down in the shade to wait for him.   It was exactly what I needed.  

Turns out I was suffering the very early stages of heat stroke. I figured it out while I sat there.  I have had some serious issues with this in the past...even to the point of passing out. But it has been quite a while so it took me a while to put two and two together.   Sitting in the shade sipping my water for the 20 minutes it took him to finish the trail and return was just what I needed. 

He returned to me and we set off back for the car....I was fine!    Well...sore but no longer feeling sick!

So on Sunday we headed out with our bikes again! I was still sore...all over, but I’m no sissy!

We headed to the Trail of Tears.  Yes, back there again.   I had completed it both of the previous weekends so I had no doubts about my abilities.  We also went much earlier in the day to beat the heat.  We started to ride.   I could tell that I was riding a bit more tentatively, I’m assuming due to my tumble from the day before.  About a mile or so into the ride my shoulder started to ache....and then that pain started to radiate into my chest.   Now, I KNOW that the muscle/nerve issue that I’m having will cause that chest to hurt...but when your chest hurts it is hard to NOT obsess about it!   But I kept going.   For some reason my feet would NOT stay on the pedals!  (I will be soon upgrading from the stock cheap pedals to a good pair!).  Then  my hands started to sweat and my grip was constantly slipping!   It was ugly!  My shoulder started to pound with each bump we hit!  And I was stopping constantly to take breaks.  Finally We decided to turn around.  The ride back was BRUTAL!   The pain in my shoulder and arm only intensified.   My right hand and thumb became excruciating pain any time I squeezed the handle bars, shifted gears or used my breaks.   I actually cried the last mile of the ride.  (Yes, I cried while riding...and at one point we stopped to rest and I just kept my head on my handlebars to ‘rest’ and hide my tears.). It was a bad ride all around!  The Trail of Tears took me down again!   But in all fairness...I’m sure a lot of that had to do with the aches and pains from my tumble the day before.  

Even with the two rough rides...between the accident and the bad ride, I saw improvements.  I saw myself get further up a hill than I have before.   I saw myself handle each and every stream crossing without wimping out and walking across.  I definitely saw improvements even amidst the ruin!

My thumb was in bad shape the rest of the day...as in I struggled to hold Jason’s hand because my thumb was that tender.

It was a gorgeous day that we didn’t want to waste.  So after dropping off the bikes.  We turned around and headed out for a hike.  Yup....we were out for about two hours hiking.   Felt good!!!

So we had another active, even if traumatic weekend of exercise!

Food wise, I nailed the weekend!  I was within my target each day!

Monthly Goals

At the beginning of each month I set a few goals for my month.  I have them in the back of my mind during the month...but they are not something I have to think about each day.  (Well...maybe I should!). June was no exception.  I set some goals in this post. 

Here are my June goals with the results!

1.  Track every bite of food!   Victory!
2.  Put money into my savings.   I totally smashed this goal and put quite a bit into my savings account!
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!   As of the 31st of May that number is 247.2.    I managed this one also...maybe not a smashing success...but I managed this...as of the last day of June my weight was 246.0 (I did see 245.6 on Saturday!)
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and at least two runs a week.  I had to adjust my goals mid way through.  I decided that I couldn’t focus on biking AND running and have any success at both.  So running is on the back burner until a time when biking is easy and then I will jump back into running.  But in terms of exercise. I walked at work most days...and we got at least two HARD bike rides in each week!  So VICTORY!!  I have also seen some incredible improvements on the bike!  I have been mountain biking religiously each week and it seems as if each week I see some sort of improvement.  

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week. I managed this.  There were a few days that I was higher but it was almost always totally in check!

7.   Walk at least  of 5 k steps a day at least five days a week..no more average for the month!!!  This is the rough one. I didn’t make this one!!  But I came very close.  I will be adjusting this goal in future months!

8.  Transparency with my weight...even if it goes up!!! (Not gonna.. thisis my month!!!). I feel as if I have continued the trend of transparency!!

So what are July goals?

1.  Track every bite of food! 
2.  Put money into my savings. 
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!   As of the 30th of May that number is 246.0.
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and aim for at least two bike rides a week.

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week. 

7.   Walk at least  of 5 k steps a day at least four of my work days.   Weekends...I need the steps OR a bike ride!  

8.  Transparency with my weight...even if it goes up!!! 

So there you have it.  My crazy weekend and a recap of my monthly goals.   July goals are quite similar with just a few tweaks!   But I am confident that July will see more weight loss and even more improvement on the bike!!