Hell on Wheels

Captainsblog, Stardate: 63951.3

One of my year 2 goals was to get a decent bike and start riding... working to longer distances. Well I've now got the bike, a Trek 7100 - its a hybrid, and I LOVE it! I had been doing some random riding around my community, jaunts of 5 - 8 miles, no biggie, and having fun with that.  Jen and I started investigating rail trails, and liked the idea.  So last weekend we rode the "Panhandle Pathway" from Winamac Indiana to Star City Indiana, just 9 miles round trip, but very nice.  I like the rail trails because you are not dodging traffic and they are mostly flat and very scenic.  Yesterday we decided to tackle part of the Kal-Haven Trail which runs from Kalamazoo Michigan to South Haven Michigan. We started in South Haven - went to Bloomingdale (the 1/2 way point) and then back to South Haven for a round trip of 33.87 miles.  I am thankful to my good friend Matt who has given us TONS of good advise, helped me select my bike and figured out what size I needed.  Matt also helped me select a good women's specific saddle (from the Body Geometry line of products by Specialized).  Would it be inappropriate to tell him that my butt thanks him???  That saddle made SUCH a difference.  We rode the 32+ miles and we made it, we were tired, but not "OMG I think I'm gunna die" tired. We are planning on doing a ride at the end of July that is 68 miles (one way).  In talking to Matt, he told us that when doing long, multi day rides, the worst part is getting back in the saddle as it were, on day 2.  So today we decided to hit the Pumpkin Vine Trail in Goshen Indiana (10.2 miles round trip) to see how we would do.  The first mile my butt was like "uh, NOOOOO, get me off of this thing right NOW"  and just above my knees were screaming "what the *&^%$ do you think you're DOING??"  But after another mile or 2, they loosened up and the ride was great. My 1st post on this blog that talked about riding a bike was when I was 8 weeks post op, not quite a year ago.  I was crowing that I had managed to ride 3 miles, and that was a great accomplishment given where I was.  I never would have DREAMED I could ride over 30 miles! It is an amazing feeling to be able to do that! So onward and upward, racking up miles to longer rides, in preparation for the ride to/from Yellow Springs (don't remember the other terminus of the trail we'll be riding).  I've got my wheels, and I'm givin it hell!

Peace out my peeps!

Celebrating My Re-Birth Day

Today I celebrate my re-birth day.  The new me was born one year ago today. The past year has been one of great change.  There have  obviously been physical changes, but so many others as well. HUGE changes in habits of mind in relationship to food.  I am not perfect and of course I have days that I want to eat in response to stress.  Sometimes I do succumb to that a little bit, but that is no longer my primary coping mechanism.  I characterize it that I now eat to live... as opposed to living to eat.  When I frame a celebration, of course food needs to be planned, but it is different for me now, as I don't have to worry that I'll over indulge on sweets and feel bad later... because I CAN'T go crazy on sweets or I'll be sick.  So it takes the pressure off in that sense.  

My perception of self is a work in progress. People say "hey there skinny" and I do not  know how to react.  I used to rebuff the comment telling them I'm not skinny etc.. but my teachings tell me that to refuse a gift (and a heartfelt compliment is certainly a gift) is to insult the giver... so I don't DO that any more.  I know that I am still overweight and one goal that I had was to no longer BE overweight... so I'm not sure how I balance this with people telling me that I don't need to lose any more.  I'm still working on knowing how to know when it is enough.

My level of physical activity has drastically changed too.  Some things are obvious, like the ability and DESIRE to ride a bike and walk for extended periods.  But others are not so obvious... like last night I was weeding in the garden and was hunkered over for some time before it occurred to me... "HEY, I can do this without feeling like I am asphyxiating myself!"(bending over for any amount of time reduced my air intake before I lost weight).  I can carry things and just help with physical things around the farm that I wasn't as involved in before because I was so winded.  This morning I was thinking I'd like to tackle the stairs at Mount Baldhead in Saugatuk/Douglas again and see how different the experience is from the last time I did that.  poor Jen thought I was going to collapse on the way up... seriously, I'm not exaggerating here, and I was also worried, but would not give up until I reached the top. 

I am creating a "year two list" of things I'd like to at least try sometime in this second year of my new life.  So here goes:

• Climb a rock wall
• Run - not necessarily do a running event, but just see if I can... you know... run!
• Get a good bike - and ride regularly... building up to longer distances
• Climb Mt. Baldhead
• Climb Tower Hill at Warren Dunes State Park

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  I owe an immense debt of gratitude to the people on my support team:

• Creator 
• Jen
• My family: Kids, siblings, extended family
• My Circle of Friends
• The awesome folks at Team:Bariatrics
• Roseann

Peace out my peeps!
OH here's the count T minus 103 and counting...