Trail of Tears Again

We had a fabulous time again this past weekend. Jason has turned into a bit of a wonderful motivator.   He is really helping me remember to push myself and keeping me motivated and moving. 

Our weekend started off with our normal grocery trip extravaganza. We typically end up going into three stores… Mostly because I’m cheap and we can get different things quite a bit cheaper at some places.  We went early and got all of our stuff purchased  and put away by 10:30 on Saturday morning. We grabbed the bikes and out we went. We decided to head to my favorite park and we decided to also take it easy and not really push ourselves too hard. I still pushed myself really hard.  There was one area that I have never even attempted, and I was determined to do it. I kept my head down and I was really chugging on.  I didn’t even tell Jason I was going to attempt it, I just kept riding toward the section and motioned him with my hand to keep going!  I was killing it until I looked up and forward and saw how much more I had to go to complete it.  At that moment my body just gave up....or rather my mind gave up and my body believed my mind!   No worries, I’ll get that one eventually. I have so many things that I need to conquer… And I will! It was a really good ride… And might I even say, it was a little bit fun!

We went home, and dropped off the bikes and within a very short period of time we were heading back out the door. We decided to walk all around downtown Frederick, the town where we live. 3 1/2 to 4 hours later, and my legs were toast! We moseyed through quite a few stores but the highlight (for me at least) was the open house at one of the old churches in downtown Frederick. The congregation for this church founded in 1784...that’s some age right there!  

Pipe Organ

We got home, showered and we had our weekly picnic… Grilling our dinner. I was one tired girl by the time we went to bed!!

On Sunday, I woke up and actually felt pretty good. I had a little stiffness maybe, but overall I was feeling pretty good. So we grabbed the bikes and out we went. Jason left the final decision of where we were going to bike that day up to me. I was so nervous when I suggested that we go to the trail of tears. Seriously, this trail has chewed me up and spit me out on so many occasions. Like here  Or here .    So, it is always with fear and trepidation that I go to the trail of tears. But, there was also a small amount of idle curiosity within me. You see, we had not been to the trail of tears in over a month. I have been riding religiously throughout that one month though. How would my body do on this trail. (And the trails that I do ride, are pretty difficult… Some of them are even ranked more difficult than the trail of tears… I just have some mental block to the trail of tears) but, I suggested it and off we went. Jason kept telling me that we didn’t have to do the whole thing and to not forget that it’s OK to walk. I hit the trail and I am proud to say that I made it the whole way out to the turnaround point without having to walk my bike over any hill!   I did still walk through the one feature… But I rode every other inch of that trail. There were sections that were hard for sure. But, they were not as hard as they used to be. Yeah, it kind of  shocked me to find it easier this go round!!!  I was so excited at the turnaround mark because I had ridden every section of the trail! I had not walked! I had not stopped to cry! 

  I was worried about the trip back though!   I knew I had at least an hour of riding to get back to the car!  I told Jason that I was worried and he reminded me that I can always stop to rest and I could always walk. I honestly fully expected to have to walk. I started back.  There were some sections that I was slow as molasses on the way back. But I am here to tell you, that other than that one big dip of a feature… I rode every inch of the trail back to the car! Yes, I surely did. So now for the really big announcement about the trail of tears… There were a few fleeting moments of fun-ness that happened. I’m not going to say it was all fun… I’m not even gonna say it was half fun… Because I would never admit something like that!  (Hahaha. Jason says someday I will admit it!).  But there were moments of fun for sure. I was flying on some sections… And I love to go fast! Am I ready to rename this trail to something other than trail of tears? Nope! Honestly, I think it will always be the trail of tears for me… Even though Jason insists that eventually I’ll call the trail of tears easy.

We dropped the bikes off at home at around 2 o’clock at home and since we were already sweaty and hot we figured why not go out for a hike. We didn’t go long or hard. Just an hour in the woods. Just enough to stretch our legs! By the time we were done… I was totally fried. Even Monday morning I was aching  something fierce. My biggest issue is the arthritis in my knees. But that’s OK, I know that I did good for my body this weekend!

We are killing it on the trails!   I just may become a badass mountain biker yet!!!

Life lessons learned on a Mountain bike

We have been riding our bikes a lot lately.  It has been difficult as I am still quite overweight.  It has been crazy as I have very few skills that pertain to riding mountain bike trails.  It has been eye opening!  I have constantly been learning.  But the lessons that I am learning are not for mountain biking only.  You see, these lessons really do pertain to life in general.

So what I have I learned?

1.  I have learned that I need to not be embarrassed about being overweight and being out on the trails.  You see, only about 20% of the population actually exercises.  What?   So how in the world can I feel shame when I am beating about 80% of the population?   Sure, I huff and puff. Sure I struggle.  But I am doing it!   This pertains to ANY and ALL forms of exercise...not just biking!

2.  I have learned that sometimes we don't want to do something even though we know that it is the best option for us.  Sometimes we do have to push ourselves.  And that is ok   But many times we will find out that those days that we push ourselves out of our comfort zone turn out to be the best experiences!

3.  Our worst enemy is actually ourselves.  I went out to ride and I didn't want to go.  I was resisting and came up with a gazillion excuses in my head.  I totally talked myself out of wanting to ride and those voices in my head continued the whole way on the ride.  I rode SLOW.  I rode SLOPPY.  I moaned and I groaned.  I felt like I had been hit by a train.  Yeah, there may have been other factors that contributed to my feelings, but I do know that those thoughts that filled my head really affected my riding.  I talked myself into a bad ride.    I knew it....but it seemed that I was powerless to turn it around!    This really was a lesson that I needed to learn, not just for mountain biking but for life!  You see, I can talk myself into saying  "I just can't lose weight'  and once you say it....you really do start believing it.  We believe our words...we take them as gold and therefore we really don't TRY.

4.  A more recent one is the fact that this journey of learning to mountain bike is filled with times where I could give up and call myself a failure.  I fall off the bike.  I have to walk.  I struggle.  It would be so easy to give up and call it quits!  But quitting is NEVER the way to reach a goal.  If I want to succeed, I need to get back on my bike and ride!   Weight loss is the same.  I will have meals or days where I struggle.  Sure, I could quit.....but that would  never allow me to reach my goal.  To Succeed in weight loss I need to get my butt back in line and keep trying.  I have to get back on that bike and ride  If at first you don't succeed, try try again!

I am sure that there will be more and more life lessons learned while I am out there on the mountain bike.  It just seems to happen naturally as I am riding  Events occur and then I sit on my bike thinking about them as we ride onward.  But you know what?  I am open and willing to learn. I want to make me the best possible me that I can.  That is part of my weight loss journey.  And to make me better, I have to learn and grow.  So bring it on!!!

Scales are Stupid: A common conception during a weight loss Journey

What a crazy week it has been.  I have been totally working this healthy lifestyle.....like straight up rockin' it!  I have felt good about my efforts...but as always there is a reckoning on the scales each week.  And this week the reckoning wasn't good!   A weight loss journey is NOT for the weak hearted because it will chew you up and spit you out sometimes!

I set a goal for myself for the month of July.   I was really worried about this goal because I have shied away from making goals in terms of how much weight I will lose in a set period of time.  But I did it anyway.   I set a goal to lose 5 pounds for the month of July..   It honestly isn't an ambitious goal by any means!  However, it was a stretch for me.....afterall, I was on track with my food and exercise in June and lost less than 2 pounds. 

Something happened though and I started out the month of July with a bang.  I didn't do anything differently, but the weight was falling off of my body.  By the time the middle of the month rolled around I had already lost 4.8 pounds!   I was so excited!   I was on target to lose a heck of a lot more weight ....much more than my goal of 5 pounds!

I was on top of it!    And then this past weekend I had my official weigh in and BOOM, a straight up maintain!  Uhhhhhhhhh why?  I did EVERYTHING exactly the same!  NOTHING changed!   SOOOO......Here we are with 2 days left in the month and I have 0.2 pounds to lose.  I am feeling quite hopeless.......I know that my weight pops up at the start of each work week!  (However,  wouldn't weigh in officially until Friday....so I guess I have a few more days to get that 'first of the month' weigh in)

Regardless of how frustrating this is.....I am clinging to the fact that my coworkers, people that had no clue that I had kicked my weight loss efforts into high gear have been constantly talking about my weight loss and how they can see it!  The first day that this happened, it happend about 4 times.  In my head I was thinking, "I'm wearing this outfit EVERYDAY for the rest of my life"  because surely it had to be the outfit right?  But no, the compliments started to come..from random unconnected people on different days.. So whatever I am doing IS working!

SOOO, this last week's review.  July 20-July 26

Highlights:

*We managed to get in some swimming  but only one bike ride (it was so stinkin' hot!) which I wrote about here.

* For the first time in ages my legs were not all bruised and scratched up (from this quest to become a mountain biker) and I celebrated by wearing a skirt to work.  Seriously, I haven't wanted to wear a skirt because people would probably start to wonder!

* The extremely hot weather broke and we had some nice days.  That coupled with the fact that I am back to my normal job at work (which means that I'm not scrambling on my lunch break to get work reassigned and/or completed while I am breaking from my temporary duty of training a group of new hires) was the perfect opportunity for me to get back to my routine of walking on my lunch breaks!  It felt great!
*  I have conquered the Reece's Cup!  They have no hold over me!  (more on this in a future post!)
*  I was  finally ready to announce my entrance into the world of chronicling my weight loss efforts through video  (and very shortly my efforts to become a mountain biker despite the obstacles in my way).
You can see this weeks episode right  below!   Click subscribe (and like) to get updates and because it will help me out (the more subscribes and likes I get the higher I move in the search engines!)  I am excited  about adding this extra level of support and accountability!

Other than the lackluster maintain on the scales, I had a fabulous week.  I made healthy strides forward.  My food was under control.  I was in charge.  I felt empowered!   This weight loss journey will have it's ups and downs.  There will be moments of frustration.  There will be periods of slow results.  I will not let that stop me!  I will keep pushing forward!

Is it growing on me: mountain bike update

Happy Monday!   Another work week is upon us.  I am totally blown away to realize that this will be the last week of June!   Where has time gone?   This year is flying by!!!!   I am sure some of the fast passage of time is due to the long work days and commutes...and of course we have kept so busy over the weekends...and that has added to the speed of time.

Before I go into the weekend of bike rides, I am proud to announce that we got out two times after work.  Why yes, we rode our bikes twice after work last week.   Not perfect, but a really good start!!!

This past weekend was no different.   We knew we had a few obligations so we planned out our bike rides.  Therefore, Saturday morning rolled around and we were headed out by 9 or so!   We headed to a bike trail that we have been doing pretty much weekly.  We knew that this was only going to be a lighter easy ride because of time constraints.   It was just that.  However, the ride winds us uphill...and then we go up a steep fire road to get to our current favorite trail in that park (ok, ok, ok....it’s the main trail we ride in that park...I’m thinking exploration of some more of that parks trail system is in our near future!). Once we get onto the trail we are mostly uphill until we get to the upper parking lot. I have managed to climb the fire road without having to stop to walk.  Just last weekend I managed to navigate that trail without stopping.   BUT, I have always had to take a break between the two sections.   On Saturday I climbed the fire road and I didn’t take my customary break.  I just turned right onto the trail and kept riding.  I rode my heart out and did not stop until I got to the upper parking lot.  I had a momentary thought of taking a ride  around the parking lot and heading back down the trail with no break.  However, I figured that I had already had a major victory....and that a little basking in my glory was in order!     Victory.....Ahhh it sure does feel sweet!

We ran our errands and completed our tasks Saturday afternoon.  My legs were a bit ...well I can’t even say sore.  They weren’t sore but they were tired.

Sunday morning we headed to the Trail Of Tears.  Oh yeah, apparently just conquering it last week was NOT enough. Noooooo, we went back!  (Jason is such a slave driver!  Shhhhh don’t tell him that I said this, but it’s good for me!). It wasn’t exactly easy.   But I had a few victories. 

Never in my life have I been fast enough to ride up on a group of riders.  But on Sunday I did.  We arrived at the trailhead and we saw some bikers heading out.  We took our time getting ready to give them some space and then headed out.   Within a mile I was nipping at their heels. What?   No....we slowed down and killed time and then started riding again.    Once again I was back to nipping at their heels.   It was a totally new experience.   They did leave us after about 3 miles...mostly because we stopped for a bit...but then again, maybe they took a side trail because this is an out and back trek and we never saw them again.  Hmmm.

The second victory?   I did have to walk a few times on the way to the turn around.   I think it was two or three times.  I also did have to walk up two hills at the beginning of the return trip after the turn around.  But about 3-4 miles into the return trip I realized that I had only had to walk twice since we turned around.  I started to think about the near impossible feat (for me).  Could I make it the rest of the way without stopping to walk?   Last week I had walked multiple sections...but I had already rolled those sections.  Could I do it?   I was going to try!   I almost failed twice.  The first time I was ready to give up...but then saw some hikers on the uphill section that I was struggling to climb.   Heck no was I going to walk with people looking!!!!  I somehow found the strength.   The last time was at the very end.   I held it together simply  because I knew how utterly close to the end I was!  And I made it at least 5.5 miles with no walking!

No that’s not to say that we didn’t break.   We stopped once or twice to let a biker go by.  We also stopped at one stream crossing to enjoy the scenery and drink some more water.  It wasn’t perfect...but I can see improvement!  It is still tough, but there are improvements

Sooo. At the turn around Jason asked if I was having fun.   I refused to admit any such thing!!!  (And that’s what I said...I admit nothing!).  It’s hard though...still sooooo incredibly hard.  But the fun times are starting to pop through!  Just don’t tell Jason...because I can’t admit it to him...I’m having too much fun calling him a slave driver or my personal favorite...I call him Hitler!    Don’t feel too bad for him though...I give kisses as I hurl my names at him!    But being honest...I’m finding it more difficult to come up with insults about the trail of tears.   I do refuse to acknowledge the beauty...I just say ‘I can’t tell, there is too much sweat rolling into my eyes’.  He knows the truth though.   And that truth????  It’s kinda...dare I say.... growing on me?