So first of all...the big secret! Ok, so let’s start by saying that a week ago I posted about my June goals and how I did with those and I posted about my goals for July I wasn’t as transparent as my goal suggests I should be. You see, for the first time in a long time I have set a mini weight goal. I stopped doing that a few years back because of the pressure to reach the goal and the panic and eventual shut down when I messed up and it was apparent (even if only to me) that I wasn’t going to reach the goal. But, yes I have a goal of how much weight I want to lose this month. It isn’t huge...but I have a very definite goal for the month of July. That number???? 5 pounds. That is 1.25 pounds each week. Quite doable I think! (And I seem to be on track this far). If I don’t make it, that’s ok. As long as I have lost SOMETHING I will be happy because my official goal is to weigh less....but my unofficial goal is 5 pounds.
So the weekend rolled around. We ran some errands on Saturday morning and then headed out on our bikes! It was hot again! We said we were not going to ride hard or long. Just a stretch of our legs..Sunday would be the long ride! However, I had two secret goals for myself on the ride.
First....we hit a steep hill and I didn’t make it far up that hill but I came out of the saddle to try to peddle standing up. That is huge for me as I like to keep my rear end firmly planted! I know to really do well in mountain biking that I need to get comfortable out of my seat. Climbing while standing is my first goal...and specifically making it to the top of that demon hill while standing. (Ok making it to the top at all will be a victory!)
The second goal for the ride was to go back to the trail that I was exploring last weekend when I wiped out. Last week was my first time on that trail and in this past week the area of my tumble had become a huge twisted mass of tree roots and protruding rocks in my mind. Because surely they had to be monstrous! I also knew that the longer I waited to do the trail again the more those tree roots and rocks would grow in my mind! So I headed straight for that trail and cleared it! And yeah, I have no clue what made me fall...there was NOTHING monstrous!
After those two items had been checked off my list we headed to the creek. The water was delightful and a wonderful way to cool off. (The bike ride back to the car was not so hot either!)
You can tell that we were happy and having fun by the grins on our faces! The scenery up stream was pretty nice also!
Sunday rolled around and I felt a twinge in my foot as I showered, but nothing out of the ordinary...I’ve had a twinge for the last week or so. Not worrying about it (twinges are common in my feet), I carried on with my activities. I flipped the laundry and took two steps out of the laundry room and I let out a yell. My foot had a sudden harsh pain! I hopped to the kitchen sink and standing on one foot I put the few dishes in the dishwasher, grabbed my drink and headed to the living room. I made it exactly two steps. Intense pain. Tears of pain. Double over in pain. BAD! (Now lets just say I have a pretty high tolerance for pain..hello I walked on what was most likely a broken foot when I was younger!) It took me forever to make it the 15 feet to the couch. I immediately elevated my foot. I ended pretty much staying like that until about 1pm. At about 9:30 am I did get up and ride my bike across the living room...to see if riding was possible. And here is the other secret...I REALLY wanted to ride! I wanted to throw caution in the wind and damn the consequences. But I knew that if I needed to put my foot down that it would be harsh pain and quite possibly actually not hold me under the intensity of the pain and that very likely I would go down. Not worth the risk. So I stayed home while Jason went out and rode. I laid on the couch with my foot elevated and watched you tube videos. (I watched beginner mountain bike instructional videos and then got suckered into watching crime scene clean up videos...yeah I’m sick and twisted apparently!)
After Jason got home I strapped my foot into a hiking boot and we went out.....no not hiking.....just to a couple stops. The hiking boot gives more support to the ankle than a shoe! The intense pain had passed and my foot was just aching and tender. We ran into a pet store (we are looking for a big tank so we can put all the crabs together) and into Aldis’s (bottled water..their bottles are BPA free) and Wawa for gas (need my tank full for my work week). My foot was tender but it felt good to get out. I also know that if my foot stays the same that I can drive my car and that I can make it into the building tomorrow at work!
So that is the secret...I am so upset that I missed Sunday’s ride! But Shhhh don’t tell Jason!!!! I am on a roll and seeing slow progress on the bike and the weight is starting to come off too....I didn’t want to stop the progress! Jason has assured me that he will push me extra hard next weekend!
So there you have it...my secret weight loss goal and my secret that a passion for mountain bike riding might just be growing within me! Bring on this next week! I have some weight to lose and some trails to ride!!!
