Pizza? Yes, please!

Once again, I come to my computer complaining of my serious lack of athletic abilities....I seem to think this helps...or, at least, I am hoping it will help!  So...complain, I will!

Either I am not really adapting after all (those couple of times I thought I was were certainly flukes!!), or I am adapting at a snail's pace!  So slow, in fact, that I cannot even notice it!!!
Like watching grass grow...

I am FAR too impatient for this!!

Will it ever stop feeling like a roller coaster ride??

I really hope it does...

When will shuffling ever feel easier?  When will I actually enjoy it??  I want to enjoy it....and I enjoy how I feel AFTER I do it...but while I am shuffling...I can honestly say...I enjoy it about as much as I enjoyed getting a plantar wart dug out of my pinky toe this past winter....(I regret not taking a picture of that....it would have made nice visual here).

Especially the first mile.  That first mile is the worst....trying to loosen up my muscles and joints...trying to find a good pace...trying to find a good rhythm for my breathing.  It is during that first mile that my mind does the good majority of its protesting...it is an excruciatingly LONG mile....

And when I shuffled on Sunday, that first mile was no different.

Except, I never did find a good pace, or breathing rhythm, or loosen up my muscles.  Something was just....off....the whole time.

My left lower leg wouldn't relax...it grabbed a hold of itself, and wouldn't let go.  I tried changing my form...my pace...my speed (Perhaps I was going too slow!!  Maybe I was ready to speed up a bit!!).  I sped up, and  my muscle ceased up even more.  I stopped, and stretched.....I shuffled some more....I stopped and stretched some more....

No luck.

A good shuffle was just not going to happen that day.

Defeated, and a bit ticked off, I walked back to my car.  I put 5 slow, stop-and-go miles on my legs...but they don't feel like they really counted.  I didn't get my usual "I can conquer the world!!" feeling after that...and I went home feeling pretty disappointed in myself.


On Monday, still sore from whatever was going on during my Sunday shuffle, I decided to go for a bike ride.  It was a beautiful, cool, sunny day....and I LOVE to ride my bike!

I mean really.....L.O.V.E. to ride my bike!!  It's my favorite exercise to do...and not because it is relatively easy....well, ok....that's exactly why.
I want to love shuffling the way I love bike riding...

So, I went to the park with my bike.  I stretched, got on my bike, and took off.
Hmmm....I thought....I'm going to be cold.  I should have worn more clothes.  There's no way I'm going to sweat.  After all.....I'm JUST riding my bike!

The sun was warm, the birds were singing, the wind was cool and smelled like summertime.  I smiled to myself and took it all in.....ahhhhhhh, yes.....this was WAY better than shuffling!!

"I could ride all day long!" I said to myself....I was convinced of that!
Maybe I could get in 15 miles today!  I thought....

I rode along in silence, listening to the soothing, rhythmic "swish, swish....swish, swish..." of my thighs rubbing against my hydration pack I wore around my waist.  Usually, the sound of my thighs rubbing against anything would bring only the feeling of disgust, but not today!  Nothing could ruin my total sense of well-being.

In no time, I reached the 3 mile mark where I had to turn around.  Going in the opposite direction felt a little more challenging and I found myself having to shift my bike....a lot.

Whew!!  I thought.  There are more hills this way...and the wind is really picking up!

I continued on and decided to leave the confines of the park and ride on the bike path along 91.  My ride became more and more challenging and the wind became stronger and stronger.  I pushed as hard as I could, headed right into the wind and slightly up hill.

I will be ecstatic when I can turn around and head back!! I thought.

I was sweating my butt off!!!
Easy, aye??  No sir!!  This ride was not easy!

About 100 yards before I reached my second turn around point, I was exhausted.  I was tempted to just turn around and head back, but I pushed myself to my original destination.  As I approached, I passed a man carrying a small pizza as he walked by me on the path.  He smiled and said 'hello'.  I smiled back and took a whiff as I rode by.....oh, yum!  That pizza smelled like heaven!

By the time I arrived at the turn around point, my only thoughts were of taking a drink and getting off my bike to stretch my legs and hips.  My hips hadn't felt that tired since giving birth to my daughters and having my knees unwillingly forced behind my ears!

I stretched and got back on the bike.
This way will be MUCH easier!!  I thought....It should be all down hill and the wind should be at your back the whole time!  Finally....a few miles of easy, enjoyable, coasting!

I started again.....and there he was....about 50 yards in front of me....the pizza carrying pedestrian.  I swear I could smell that pizza again...and it began to take over my brain.

I could steal that from him...I thought.
....I could take it right out of his hand...
and he'd never catch me!

I could taste the pizza....my mouth began to water....hot, gooey cheese, crispy pepperoni, maybe some crunchy green peppers....

I HAD to have it!!

I got closer to him....he held the pizza in his left hand and walked along, totally unaware that I was plotting.....felonious thoughts.....

"On your left" I called out, as he moved over and gave another pleasant smile and a "thank you" to me.

I rode right on by him...
no "grand theft pizza" was committed....

I just wanted to be....done.

As I slowly pedaled along toward the last stretch to my car, the wind continued to blow considerably.  How is this possible that I am always riding into the wind?  I thought.

Finally, I arrived at the parking lot. I was excited to get off my bike and bask in the breeze.  I was sweating pretty good, my pants and shirt were wet and my face was hot.  I got off my bike and took off my helmet and.....

waited.....

for the breeze to cool me off....

but it wasn't there.  There was no breeze.

I looked at the trees...they were still as can be.

No breeze at all.

Where did the breeze go?  I wondered....

Then it hit me....I was the breeze.  I was a big, fat, blob on a bike....
I am about as streamlined as a 165 lb pumpkin....
the 'wind' was merely my own resistance to....well.....myself.

Me exercising feels like I am going uphill....in a wind storm....
My whole week has felt this way....
I feel tired and terribly out of shape...
and I have been creating an awful amount of resistance to my moving forward.

I don't really know how to snap out of it...perhaps I just need a good, long, slow-and-steady shuffle....

Or, perhaps I just need a pizza!