Monday, September 15, 2008

Body not in harmony

Saturday morning we woke up before the 7am alarm and hit the ground running. Kathy ran to the farmer's market, I ran to gas up the car. Back home we ate, Julie ate some more, Julie stretched, we both geared up and headed out for our bike ride. It was supposed to be hot on Saturday, so we decided to ride as early as possible. Plus there was the threat of storms in the afternoon.

Now while it was cooler in the morning, it also started out at 90% (yes, you read that correctly) humidity. The temperature rose throughout the day while the humidity dropped. Why couldn't they both start out low and rise throughout the day? It probably has something to do with our proximity to Washington DC and all those politicians. :-)

The good news is that my legs felt great! I'd stretched a lot and everything muscle-wise was working. The only scary part in the first 5 miles was going across a 2 lane bridge with no shoulder...and the car behind me just HAD to get past me. Only there was on-coming traffic. I think maybe there was an inch between us. I'm pleased I didn't end up going over the bridge and ending up in the creek! I can't say whether this driver was one of those people who is afraid to cross the yellow line to get around a biker, or if this driver was just a jerk.

The bad news is that for me with my exercise-induced asthma, biking up hills in 90% humidity is like trying to breathe underwater. Kathy wanted to know if I wanted to turn around and go back. The thought of going BACK across that 2 lane bridge had me saying "no -- let's go on." So we pedaled on our little 13 mile loop, ending back several blocks from home. I didn't want to just ride 13 miles, but I knew doing that loop again wasn't an option. For my lungs, at least. So we did a couple of laps around the neighborhood, clocking in at the end with 18 miles. Go Julie! Go Kathy!

Sunday we both were pretty worn out from organizing a dinner party at a friends house...plus Kathy had some work to do and she had to pack for LA. So we opted not to ride. I don't even feel bad about wimping out. I think we both needed a day that wasn't filled with lots of errands and biking and all the other household chores. And I finally got that stack of paperwork filed and the mound of laundry ironed!

Today I had checkups with the doctors. I've apparently lost 1/4" over the years and now am 5' 6 3/4" tall. And in the losing category -- since August 27, 2007 I have lost 14 pounds!!! The doctor had to take out her calculator and subtract because she wasn't sure of her mental math! So the biking and visits to the gym and hikes helps. And I'm sure the red wine with dinner helps my cholesterol too -- we'll find out when the blood work gets done!

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