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A new month!

Today is the first day of a new month, a clean slate if need be, and it was gorgeous! I took the usual route, and took some pictures along the way to post here. The trails were pretty crowded this time, which is great but makes me nervous going around corners and coming up on people. I dont want to crash and hurt someone! This route is getting pretty easy for me, I think next week I will switch it up. what took me an hour is now taking about 35 minutes, and I would like to keep my ride at about an hour. It's kind of funny, though, I worry that I am not ready, its too soon. Kind of like a security blanket.
My decrepid phone wont seem to give up any photos, so I dont have any to put on here tonight. Very disappointing. I was excited about it. Oh well. I have better things to worry about.
You know its really amazing how much exercising helps your mood. If I sit around being a lazy ass all day before I go into work, I'm really not feeling it, I have an off day. I just go through the motions, doing the bare minimum, and watch the clock go backwards to what seems like an endless shift. But if I get up and get going with a ride and errands and chores I am motivated to go the extra mile and have an awesome day. Amazing.
I think I ate the exact same thing as yesterday, I made a ton of hamburgers so we had leftovers for dinner tonight. OOOOH...except I have fallen in love...I found habanero pistachios at hyvee! How could it get any better!

8/30/09

I have been inspired to start a blog by my SIL Marylinn. I have recently "gotten back on the horse" so to speak and started cycling again. I bought a Cannondale road bike last April to help me achieve my century, and it has become a great friend to me. When I ride, all my problems go away. It is just me and my bike. Flying over pavement. I usually do between 6-10 miles each day, depending on my work schedule, and it is usually a different route everyday. Lately though, I have been sticking to one particular route because I hadnt been getting any satisfaction from progress, since I didnt really have anything to measure. The route I take is about 6.5 miles, and takes about an hour. I measure myself by points I need a water break and how I feel after conquering certain hills. I felt really good today, the hills are getting easier for me. The first time I went up "the North Ridge Hill" I thought I was going to pass out and die! But each day I go back for more, and now look at it from a new perspective. Each day when I stop at that stop sign and look at the monster in front of me, I know I can do it. I have done it everyday for the past 2 weeks. I can do it today. I secretly look forward to climbing that hill everyday. It is a challenge I know I can conquer.
I have decided to log my food intake as well, just for kicks.
Breakfast: Bowl of Kashi Go Lean (awesome stuff!) with milk
Snack: 2 peanut butter choc chip cookies(cant deny my sweet tooth)
Lunch: Turkey and swiss with slice of tomato, jalepenos and mayo, and I ate the rest of the tomato;)
Snack: Glass of chocolate milk. I drink this after my ride to replenish my blood sugar so I dont crash.
Dinner: 2 Hamburgers with swiss, tomatoes and jalepenos with mayo.

I have found that denying myself pepsi is a huge mistake right now, so I drink some, but not as much as I drink water. I also found that I am not as hungry since I started excersising everyday. And denying myself certain things or following a strict diet is setting myself up for failure, so my two cookies a day and a pepsi makes everything so much easier and is not hurting me one bit. And some days, I dont even think about having a cookie!