A little bundle of energy

No, I'm not talking about those crazy kids at the park. I'm talking about me! Yep, 34-year-old me!

I just wanted to brag because I have been working out a lot, and I'm proud! Today, after the weekend's nasty weather, was nice and sunny and warm. So I hopped on my brand-new bicycle and went for a ride. After last week's discovery of the butt discomfort associated with bikes, I wasn't sure how long I could go. I did have a gel seat cover I didn't have before. I decided to go part of my little-over-3-mile walking route, but in reverse because that wouldn't require me to cross the busy road in order to ride the correct side. Most of the path is residential, but part of it is on Golf Course. If I go in reverse, I just take a right onto Golf Course and another right onto the residential area, and the rest is quiet streets.

When I got near to home, I wanted to keep going, and I did. This, unfortunately, required me to confront the nasty hill that nearly ended my life last week. It's the final part of my ride home. As I approached it, I told myself to "just get to that third tree up there." As I struggled and gasped, I said, "maybe the second tree would be fine." Quickly, I convinced myself that just the first tree would be plenty good. At the same time, I was messing with the gears. But I couldn't remember which way to go if I was on a hill. I then turned something so that the pedals went all crazy and I almost fell off, so I stopped and fixed the settings to somewhere in the middle. At this point I had lost all momentum and would not be able to restart up this mountain. Again, I was walking it.

When I got home from my 30 minute ride, despite gasping for breath and being quite purple from the heat and exertion, I still felt really revved-up and energetic. So I hopped on the treadmill for another 40 minutes. I wanted to go even longer but I had to work and started to realize I may be pushing it on time.

I tracked my path online at this site and found I had gone about 5 miles on my bike and I know I went 3 miles on the treadmill. I'm very proud of my 70 minute, 8-mile workout! What motivates me? Two words: swimsuit, vacation.