Putting in the Hours

Monday: On Monday, I wasn't scheduled to work until 2 in the afternoon. My plan was to sleep in, then go for a decent length bike ride. Life intervened. I assumed that after co-habitating for more than a year, TWT and I would have it down, but moving into a bungalow all our own (well, mostly his. I am like an illegal subletter in the real estate of love) has presented new challenges and expectations to be managed. (Subtext: we were both being jerks). I chose to spend the morning and early afternoon working on our relationship and building a foundation for future cohabitational success. (Subtext: we fought).

By the time I made it to the gym, I only had time for a 45 minutes on the Elliptical.

RRC Point: 1, barely.

The rest of the week's workouts followed a pretty similar pattern.

Tuesday: 45 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes core

Wednesday: 45 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes lower body

Thursday; 45 minutes on the stationary bike, some intervals

RRC Points: 3, barely.

Friday: Things got better. I had a super-important-meeting in the morning. Then, after lunch and quick nap, I changed from nylons to bike shorts and went for a ride. I trekked out to Clive and rode my bike to Redfield again. It wasn't as fun as riding with my friend Ranger Dave, but it was a beautiful day for a ride. Along, the way, I saw this turtle, hanging out by the side of the trail, so I stopped to take a picture. I am trying not to take it as a sign of my impending slowness, but a talisman of perseverance.

The ride was about 44 miles, and took a little more than 3 hours. Because it was so flat, though, I am giving it one point.

RRC Point Total for this week: 5

It is incredibly painful to feel like RAGBRAI is looming*, rather thank feeling excited to get started. It was also incredibly hard to read about Steven's adventures in Colorado, where she is jumping off of mountains and vomiting, and not feel like a huge load of crap. She's going to run up a mountain next month, that's how hard core she is. Plus, no matter how much I love Iowa, it's hard not to feel a little mountain envy.

On the other hand, feeling bad about one's self doesn't burn any more calories than math, so I am choosing to look on the bright side. Not only did I manage to accomplish a breathtaking amount of work in the non-fitness part of my life, I also did make it to the gym every day. Participating in this challenge forced me to carve out the time, when I would have otherwise crapped-out. Now, in the future, I can look back on this week and remind myself that no matter how busy my life seems to be, there's always time for fitness.

After my ride on Friday, I thought, "mountains, we don't need no stinking mountains." We've got miles and miles of rolling hills, verdant fields, cows, red barns, big fluffy clouds, sunshine, cool breezes: Iowa's just dandy. I am excited to try to ride all the way across it.

*Last night I had my first RAGBRAI-anxiety dream. We were bivouacked on a mountain side, after trekking through some distant land, though it was also RAGBRAI and we were in Storm Lake. I realized I had forgotten everything important: bike shorts, jerseys, sleeping bag, and I had to figure out how to survive until my mom could bring them to me when we got to Algona (though I have to say, if I did forget anything, the LAST thing my mother would do is drive them to Algona for me).