Talked into it.

Well, last night I REALLY didn't want to work out before I went to work. Crystal did something to her back so wasn't going to go. I was at Kale's work with the kids when Crystal told me she couldn't go. Kale asked if I was still going to. I said, "no, I don't have the key."

Crystal promptly said, "the gym is open until 7:00 PM or I could give you the......" I quickly cut her off with a very loud SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!

Kale started smiling, and told me (more or less) that I was being lazy, and just because Crystal couldn't go, didn't mean I couldn't go.

So I went. I did 30 minutes on Eli, and that was enough for me. But hey, I did it!

Slug

I was a slug last night. Got home, ate leftover tacos, walked around the house aimlessly, went to visit a family, went to church to wait on LaRae, went to visit another family, came home and watched The Education of Little Tree, tossed and turned trying to go to sleep.

I don't like being a slug.

Today, I may get to bike a short one...tomorrow 25 miles. Then gone to Ohio Sunday and Monday and will have to run while there. Back Wednesday for a day before flying to Idaho!

No ride, but a good laugh.

I went to Big Springs up South Fork Canyon to go for a MTB ride, and was geared up and ready to go before I realized that I grabbed the shoes that had no cleats. Grrrr... On a happy note, there were some BYU guys in the parking lot hopping around on their MTB's, periodically checking to make sure I was still looking. They were trying desperately to strike up a conversation while I was getting ready. One of the guys was hopping over when he tried to clip out and fell on his face. It was a virtual cornucopia of youth conference friendly euphemisms. Hilarious. No workout, but a good laugh. Totally worth the drive.

Biking without incident

Yesterday was 71 degrees and dry...and 11 miles on the bike with NO incidents. I was a good little boy who avoided all confrontations with mini vans. Although every white mini van coming up behind me (seen by me in my rear view mirror) made me nervous! I watched them carefully to see if they were planning to move away from me and give me room or if they were drifting towards my side of the road to smack me with their side mirror or an open door as they passed politely by.

They all moved away from me.

Life is good.

When I got home, I tossed the rock I was carrying into the bushes.

Running

Well, this AM was supposed to be day 2 of my week 1 on the running program. After the first 2 minutes running, I realized my ankles were hurting pretty bad. I walked the next 4 minutes like I'm supposed to, and stretched my calves like crazy. Then I ran the next 2 minutes. I was planning to complete the 5 cycles like I was supposed to, but after the 2nd 2 minute run, I realized I'd better stop. Wow. They were hurting again. Not to the point where I was in excruciating pain (like when I was first diagnosed) but they were definitely hurting.

I guess they're not healed all the way, and I think my blading is affecting them in a not so hot way. So, I guess I'd better back off on all those again, and rest them up. I think I can keep blading, but I'll probably back off on the mileage I've been doing.

It sucks. I used to be limited by what I can do by the effort it took to breathe. Now I can breathe fine, I'm being limited by my calves and ankles. I must be getting old.

Neighborhood biking

I hate biking in neighborhoods, but when there are no bike trails in Oshkosh, I bike on the road so I usually cut through a neighborhood to avoid the main roads until I get out of town. Here is why I hate biking through the neighborhoods:

Yesterday about 5 p.m. I biked down Witzel Ave. which is a very busy road but leads west out of town into the country. About half a mile down Witzel, I cut through a very nice neighborhood, planning to skirt the worse of the traffic and come out on the west side where things open up. I've done that many times before with no problem. The neighborhood roads are wide and there is virtually no traffic in the neighborhood, so I don't have to worry about getting run over.

Well, I pedaled up into the neighborhood and rounded a bend. Up ahead was a white mini van backing out of a driveway. I could tell that the driver didn't see me because the van kept backing, so I swung out towards the middle of the street to give it some room. The driver continued backing as I went by until I was even with the back of the car. Then the driver slammed on the brakes. There was no danger since I was a good 10 feet away from the back of the car when we were even with each other. I think it scared the driver though...because of what happened next.

I pedaled on and the mini van finished backing out of the driveway, turned up the street in my direction and caught up with me. The woman driving the van pulled up alongside me and slowed to stay even, wagging her finger at me through a rolled up window. She was obviously mad and must have been blaming ME for causing her to brake while backing out of her driveway.

Remembering a story a few weeks ago that LaRae told me about a friend at church who said that she defuses road rage by flashing the peace sign at other drivers when they get mad, I decided to do that. So I flashed the driver a nice peace sign backed with a big smile, doing my best Richard Nixon imitation.

To make a long story short, her finger wagging changed a bit. She switched fingers from the index finger to the middle finger and flipped her hand over so that the palm was up, the wagging finger becoming a definite statement of how she felt about things at the time. Her face wasn't a smile, but a grimace. Her eyes glared. Her lips moved, lip synching something I can't type here. Then she sped up and left me behind.

So much for peace symbols putting a damper on road rage.

Something similar to this happens about once a month here. Last time it involved an older gentleman in a min van who was mad because I came to a 4 way stop at the same time as he did, him to my right. I didn't come to a complete stop at the 4 way, pedaling through it while he waited on me, wagging his finger at me as I pedaled through. He then chased me down in the mini van and swerved toward me, barely missing hitting me with his outside mirror as he went by.

Its dangerous biking around all the nice people in Oshkosh. Or maybe its just mini van drivers?

Anyway, I completed 7 miles on the bike without anything else happening on a very nice 80 degree late summer day. No one else waved at me with one finger.

More blading

Monday AM I went to the gym with Crystal again. I've started a running program that was in a runner's world book I bought. This week I'm doing wk 1: 2 minutes running/ 4 minutes walking, repeating 5 times. It's supposed to keep me from injuring myself. So far my ankles are holding up quite well. A little bit sore, but not too bad. I'm supposed to do it 3-4 times per week, then next week another run/walk ratio begins.

Today I went blading with a friend. We did 6.5 miles, but went much slower than I went by myself. It didn't hurt nearly as bad, but I still feel like I got a good workout in. I'm hoping to make it to the gym tonight, also. It depends on when Kale can make it home from work.

Since I haven't altered my diet, I've decided that I need to up the workouts to 2 a days. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm hoping it will motivate me to start eating better. We'll see.