First Back to Back Pedal In

I pedaled in yesterday. I pedaled in today. That’s another first.

The pedal home yesterday was uneventful aside from the sweat dripping itchy-ly down my scalp and stinging-ly into my eye (and the pedals squeaking! They squeaked this mornign too! AFTER I used the teflon dry lube I had purchased!!)). Ugghhhhh so far I prefer the 36 degree, low humidity weather over 60 & 98% humidity or pedaling!! My face & scalp perspire profusely. Ladies may ‘glow’… I was simply bright pink & dripping. I had a bit of a headache going home.. I think it was due to dehydration (I didn’t drink enough water over the weekend...& had a bit of sangria) Even though I drank 64 OZ(2 bottles full) plus a couple of hot teas, during the day… it wasn’t enough o catch up from the weekend. Over the weekend, my sniffer seemed sensitive subsequently I was repulsed by the scent of chlorine in the water.

I did a few chores, had an apple, gorgonzola& pine nut wheat pizza for dinner (the salad stuff was a bit too ripe... (How I Miss Ignacio and his dear green mug!)) Since I didn’t feel too tired (legs) I actually walked 1.5 miles. I should be walk/running since I have my first 5K on Feb 24th but I didn’t want to be too tired to manage the ride in this morning as I knew the wind was going to be against me.

According to wunderground the wind will be against me both ways today! Pedaling in it was a moist & slimy 62 degrees w/ 99% humidity and a steady breeze around 13 mph SSW. Going home, it’s supposed to be 70 degrees w/ 15% humidity and wind at 26-(36gusts) mph NNW. I’ll appreciate the reduced humidity even if it will be a struggle the entire way home against the wind! ( update.. I may cave & accept an offerred ride. when the wind was 13 mph , I was thinking I could handle that I still be able to pedal to work tomorrow... BUT I am afraid that if I expend all the struggle to make headway against winds at 26 mph with gusts up 36 against me... I will be so exhausted I will be unable to pedla to work tomorrow.. and it may be better to accept the offerred ride, go home & do a little walk/run as a pedal subsitute. The choice is between disspaointing myself regardin completing my first full back to back days.. and conserving the effort so I can continue pedaling the rest of the week.)One thing good, I slept with windows open & Mollie was out chasing leaves. There’s a saying down here that goes like this: “If you don’t like the weather, wait a few hours, it’ll change, This IS Texas.” Obligingly the temp tomorrow morning will hover around 33 when I’ll be starting out.

Now to the important stuff. At the end of this week, it will be 1 month since I started bike commuting the 8 miles to & from work I have decided that as much as I dislike biking in humid conditions… I can and will sustain the commuter biking. I have added the challenge of completing a 5 K. Out of curiosity I started keeping track of my food intake. (& noted that I eat too much cheese, creamy things, chocolate& generally don’t manage my portion sizes, especially for dinner. I eat dinner too late & am overly hungry so I eat too fast! I need to increase veggies. I am so-so for fruit & am doing well with the variety of whole grains.) So here goes

I refuse to utilize the term DIET.
It’s only a 4 letter word, yet is drowning in implicit negativity. However in addition to increasing my awareness of what/why I am eating something, further modification is needed if I am to rid myself of the less alluring half of me. As easy as a prepackaged plan might be, I am not up to the expense of one. I am not keen on diet pills either. Any ideas here? For the past 3 weeks, when eating something sweet. I have been trying the ‘3 bites rule’. I am considering setting myself a more controlled menu during the week, then allowing myself reasonable indulgence on the weekend (or maybe just 1 day of the weekend). But is this like allowing the alcoholic to drink only on Saturdays? Does it work better to allow access during the week to chocolate by keeping 1-2 dak chocolate individual sized squares available? What about my daily 1 cuppa tea in the morning? I have an earl grey with 2 tsp sugar & real cream? ( I can’t stand the idea of the chemical fake stuff! I use stevia for other things… I could substitute this for the sugar.. My largest daily issue is dinner. How bad would it be if I started to purchase frozen dinners? (For quicker mealtimes) Any brand you can recommend as being tastier/healthier? Ones I should avoid? (I prefer organic but don’t have to have that. I have a strong preference for whole grain!) What about those shakes/canned liquid meal replacements? I have never really attempted any of those… I think I would feel unsatisfied.. yet obviously I I have been over satiating my taste buds to the point of numbness… so perhaps a little discomfort is part of the purging? What about initiating anything with a fast? I normally do a 24 hour water fast once per month (usually on a quiet day over the weekend). I am not sure about fasting while biking 16 miles or walk/running (prep for the 5K) or any other daily exercise… I need to begin sneaking around my efficient metabolism... and or really kick starting it out of super-saver mode.

All the commenter’s are providing me the great resource of their encouragement. I have begun to explore other individual’s blogs. So many amazing people out there in the running or tri universe were once in similar shape to me I can’t help but be aware of hte many admirable folks out there! Thanks for reading & offering your 2 cents! I’ll be interested in the response regarding lifestyle food changes (if we need to use the term diet temporarily.. I suppose we can)!

Riding into the Wind (or my E/mental Hump?)

Going home yesterday was the longest pedal yet, aside from the Test ride when I walked 4 miles!Was it my emotional /mental state? I left the building feeling mentally strong having declined the offer for a ride ½ way, uttering the truth that I need the exercise. I was a little under the weather with cramps & a small headache, but nothing terrible. I didn’t think it would be any worse then wishing I was home in pj’s with a cuppa hot chocolate.

It took me 75 minutes to pedal home! (The same 8 miles that I have once made it in 38 minutes.). The ride took forever! Even telling myself I was 1/3 of the way, or ½ way didn’t work , as I needed to start encouraging myself before I even turned off the road employment was located on. I never got off & walked, though that may have been a faster mode of transportation. I was pedaling in easiest 6 gears and my legs were burning. My breathing was mostly ok, more laboured then usual, but my legs were aching. Muscles in my neck were aching. The trees weren’t bending towards the ground, on the leafless types; you could barely detect a breeze. There was a wind about 8-10 mph NNE so it was against me. The evil wind was determined to keep me from home. Several times I wished for a car or truck of a friend to pull over, or even a random stranger offering rides to Maine for.

After I finally wobbled wearily into my driveway, I let the cats out, shoved The Beast in & immediately got together my 8-5 clothes for the next day, made a lunch, then dinner for myself( I was starved by then so I wolfed down Way to much too quick!) I was getting ready for my first back to back pedal. It started raining at 8:30p.m.

I didn’t make the back to back pedal. My resolve weakened. A friend called. I accepted a ride into work. This may be for the best as when I woke up this morning, I still had menstrual cramps, a small headache, but more significantly, my entire body was SORE. In my 3 weeks of commuter pedaling, I have never been this sore. Everywhere. I feel like I need another 4 hours sleep. AND my scedule for sleep/pedaling/life has been pretty similar to last week.

Is it the wind? Can the monthly steak & chocolate craving harbinger cause such difficulties? Do I just need to whip my emotional /mental state to the next level; firming my resolve to ride daily? Since rain is becoming an issue (our winter is Jan-March) what is my best next purchase? Slicks with slime or rain gear? How have you urged yourself thru a hurdle?

I think some of it is mental stamina. Even though I turn down the offer for rides (sometimes) simply hearing the offer, places the idea in my head and my idle brain gropes the thought while my legs are pedaling. I can recall how very tired I was the first week I rode every other day, pedaling 3 days. I literally came home feed the cats, got ready for the next day then collapsed into bed. To wake up having never moved.( But feeling pretty darn good with satisfying still in bed morning streches)

Tomorrow, it’s a 60 percent chance of rain, sleet & a winter storm warning. I will probably make arrangements for a ride. (Though today was also a winter storm warning with a 60% chance of rain…. And it has cleared to a backlit aluminum grey with a steady wind at 15 mph NNE. This will be even more challenging to pedal into then yesterday!) My opportunity is either adjusting my emotional/mental pattern and /or how to better conquer riding into the wind. I think the answer is to just get out there & stop being a wimp…( or maybe initiate menapause...)

I'll get better. I can't get myself a new bike next Dec. unless I do get better!

2nd Day of the Reluctant Bike Commute

First a note about last night’s ride home:
Work ends at 5pm. I changed into my biking clothes(same motley assortment from the day prior) loaded my work clothes into 1 collapsible wire basket & jacket & woolen in the other on the rear, hopped on (With a wince for my poor sore ‘butt bones’! Ouch, just doesn’t sound expressive enough!). It didn’t seem too bad. I kept telling myself things like… ‘¼ of the way, ½ way, almost there’.

My front light went out right about dusk (of course) Well nothing for it but to keep pedaling; that area of town doesn’t have sidewalks either. It wouldn’t be any safer to walk the bike. At least the back light is still working. (It wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t add this next bit.. just don’t laugh too loud!!) Pedaling with your back hunched, arms & wrists supporting a percent of your body weight, doesn’t feel ‘natural’. The back of the helmet is banging my back. I decided I need to crack my neck… I sit up a little straighter & commence with satisfyingly noisy results. And almost wreck out. Scraping hard along a tall curb with my right foot desperately doing a touch & go sequence repetitively to prevent a total tip over! Yep, I guess I shouldn’t try to do that again.(at least until I have more confidence, better balance & bike coordination!). The darn rear brake is still sticking when I go up any incline or for what seems like miles after I have to use them!

6:01 pm I wobble to a squeaky halt in the driveway to the astonishment of 3 pair of surprised cat eyes( as they were probably staring at the dead bug, wondering why they hadnt heard it pull in). I dismount, wheel the contraption in & immediately turn the screw that I was told would loosen the back brake. Weirdly I am Not hungry, the idea of food seems nauseating.

I pack up a lunch, pack my clothes for 8-5(Yippee Fri is jeans day!!). This time I actually load the stuff into the baskets. Yesterday I was frustrated by how long it took me to get out the door! I seemed uncoordinated trying to get the helmet on, earpieces in, mp3-playing-phone on, gloves on, keys hung on basket….. Jeez I thought I was organized! HA! 9pm, I am finally hungry so I have a cuppa herbal tea & toast (I know this isn’t good but….)

01/04/08
Preloading the bike, & parking it facing the French doors, seems to have helped!
6:42 I am on the seat (still painful!) The flat areas seemed better today. Somehow I was breathing more smoothly. Sunrise slipped through the horizon with no glimmer of beauty, only steely illumination indifferently lighting the corpse of an unfortunate possum. Today the first incline tried to kill me. I barely made it to the top before I got off I walked thru the conveniently located parking lot. I started walking halfway up the second incline. 7:34. I was peeling off gloves at the back door to work! I made it another day. The Director of the department was the only other early bird, so he held the door for my humble pink faced self.

In the bathroom, changing in to 8-5 clothes, I am feeling a little success. This isn’t easy, yet.(does it become easier for chubby, normal, non biking genetic types??) Biking to work (or anywhere) is one of those nice ideas, a nebulous feel good floater that never really incarnates into action. At least until the path leads no other way.

When I get home tonight, I will have biked (well: coasted, walked, wobbled, huffed) approximately 48 miles. 1 week ago, I had biked 0 miles the week before….
( But I am worried because the wind is picking up and the cloud coverage is thick, if only lightly grey. I hope it doesn’t rain on the way home! )

Please wish me a safe Dry pedal home!

Menu
Breakfast:
1 cuppa EarlGrey(double bergamot) cream, 2 sugars
Steel cut oats w/ rasins, walnuts, cinnamon, vanilla
Glass of vanilla soy milk

Snack:
Banana
hot green tea
1 ghirardelli dark chocolate square

Lunch:
Blueberry lowfat yogurt w/ granola
P&j Sandwich

Snack:
milk
raw cashews & rasins

Dinner:
Koppe Bridge Swiss cheese & mushroom burger(almost all of it)
shoestring fries( with salt)
1 Shiner Bok

The First Ride 01/03/08

The First Commute:

Last night I tried to prep. I packed up a lunch (apple slices, cheese, a banana, p&j sandwich) I packed my shoes & work clothes in a bag along with a barrette & hair tie & a little girly foo foo stuff. I put everything on my desk, with the bike leaning up against it.

5:20 a.m. in the shower. After starting the tea kettle, I climbed into my bike attire. Bra, sports bra, old grey yoga pants, a wicking white turtleneck. I was nervous and didn’t drink my entire cup of earl grey or eat all my oatmeal. After getting the cats their breakfast, turning the radio to NPR, I loaded my stuff onto the bike, put an a maroon woolen, then strapped on the old gold bike helmet (given to me by Brett (Zen & the Art of Triathlon).slipped on old brown Isotoner gloves, turned on the tunes, zipped the forest green stadium jacket, I wheeled everything out & locked the door. It was 6:43 a.m. The temp was 24 degrees. It was dark and I was feeling like a fool (trying to decide if I looked more like a bag lady that had ‘acquired’ a bike, or a tick at the traveling flea circus!)! I turned on the lights and wobbled off into the surreal grey that creates intimidating shadows not visible in the cityscape by day.

From the start the ride was Hard! My pedals seemed to be pushing back against me. The earpiece fell out. The front light was so dim as to be nonexistent (rather comparable to the headlights of a ’61 VW so I should have been comfy…). The dark, both compressed the space around me, and seemed to elongate the distance. My legs were tingling from cold. My rear brake was intermittently sticking. I walked up both inclines I had pedaled up on the test ride. The crimson streaks heralding sunrise were awesome and all mine to appreciate!

I was breathing like a steadily moving freight train pulling coal uphill when I rounded the corner & could see the destination. The parking lot wasn’t crowded yet. Only one co-worker was walking up from his truck to the building, so he was the lucky witness to my pink face, steaming breathe, shaky dismount (my legs seemed to want to continue the only motion they could remember) and quiet exclamation of, “Wow, I made it.” This morning took me longer, 7.6 miles in 1 hr and 8 minutes. He held the door open & the bike & I wobbled in. After leaning it against the wall, I unloaded my of work clothes & headed in to transform from ‘out-of –shape-commuter –cyclist into the ‘business casual’ 8-5er.

While legs, fingers & face were defrosting, I attempted to fix the clean but now sweaty, flat hair. I simply ignored the red face. After an hour my legs & arms weren’t shaky feeling. My ‘butt-bones’ HURT. (But I have been told I will just have to keep going to allow that region to ‘toughen up’). The slow pace means that my muscles aren’t screaming. This is good since I have to ride bike home & do this again tomorrow. Work has been fine. I felt a little sleepy at first, my eyes seem dried out, & I feel a bit bedraggles with flat hair!, but otherwise no worse for the bike commute!

Even though I am a newbie were I am employed; I am lucky. My boss & another are training for triathlons, a few other coworkers are training for marathons, 1 is training for a 5K, and 1 is a power lifter. While they may not comprehend, the painful trials and sense of shame that can accompany being overweight, out of shape and exercise attempts…. they are encouraging my endeavor of bike commuting to work. (Realistically with a deceased motor and the lousy public transit in this town, biking is my only and best option. Even at my slow huffing pace, it is still faster then public transit, and it’s an opportunity for me to get into shape by developing some muscle, reducing some weight, or gaining some wind, while not spending cash on gas!)

Wish me a safe pedal home!

PS. While this is to be primarily about my personal experience becoming a commuter cyclist. I am going to try to note what I eat…


Todays menu:

Breakfast:
Glass of water
½ cup of earl grey tea( cream, 2 sugars)
Steel cut oats w/cinnamon, pecans rasins added

Snack:
Banana

Lunch:
Whole wheat p&j sandwich

Snack:
Apple slices
Slice of Colby jack cheese

Dinner:
?