Weekly Update #11

Last week was the slowest in months. Last Friday I woke up with pain between my back and chest. Felt as if I had pulled something. I had some trouble moving and breathing at times. 

Monday my friend and I went out for an easy walk at Deer Island, 2.7 miles. We jogged up some hills, but we walked most of the peninsula. 

Friday I went out on the bike and completed 25 miles. My body was complaining for the last 10 miles. Saturday I was feeling pretty damn sored. I suppose it’s to be expected when I took a full week off from the bike. 

The good news is that my chest and back pain are gone.

Saturday my brother and I decided to take the boat on the water for a couple of hours. The sea was pretty damn choppy for some reason, but it was lots of fun. 

Lucas is home! Vero, Jose and Lucas left the hospital on Tuesday evening. 

That’s pretty much the week. 

Some of the issues that have risen can be discouraging but I have to make sure to remind myself why I’m trying to get healthy in the first place and push myself when I’m down to keep going.

Thanks for reading. 

Weekly Update #8

I slacked with the blog last week. I can’t believe I didn’t post anything during the week and this update is late. There’s a reason for it all but it’s not a very good reason.

The good news is that I stayed relatively active throughout and was able achieve my goal of getting out 4+ days a week.

On my last update I finish by saying I would either go a party and stuff my face with food or go riding. I kind of did both.

I went to the birthday party but didn’t stuff my face. I also went out on the bike after the party! And I broke the bike during that ride. 

From the start of the ride I felt the chain slipping from on the gears. It, the chain, eventually came off the large chain ring on the way to Deer Island. On the way back home the chain came off the cassette and got stuck between the cassette and the seatstay. 

One of the spokes broke and the rim bent. I was able to pull out the chain and walk the bike home for the last half mile.

I brought the bike to the shop on Tuesday to have it fixed and got some upgrades and accessories. I picked it up all fixed on Friday evening.

Weekly Breakdown:

Monday: My friend and I  walked Breakheart Reservation, 4.5 miles / 1 hour and 15 minutes. We followed the Couch to 4K app for the first half hour then we jogged up all the hills.

Wednesday: I went back to Breakheart Reservation with my cousin and his nephew. We biked the 4.5 miles, I didn’t log the activity so no time recorded. He let me borrow one of his old bikes 🙂 Thank you Jesus! 

His nephew had an accident coming down one of the hills and scraped his knee and hand. He’s okay.

Saturday: I jogged my usual route around my house and the beach. It was 3.7 miles and 54 minutes. It wasn’t as hot as last week; it was only 80 degrees instead of 95!

Sunday: I went to Deer Island to practice clipping and un-clipping my new bike shoes to the new pedals. I went around the island 5 times and climbed one of the hills for a grand total of 13 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes. 

I was concerned with the pedals clipping and un-clipping mechanism. My friend Jose had told me I would fall the bike a few times before getting used it. I was determined not to fall and I didn’t, until I did! 

Throughout the ride I was stopping and practicing un-clipping the shoes. I felt really comfortable after one hour. When I decided to call it a night, I rode back to the parking lot. I get into the parking lot. I un-clipped my right shoe. I came to a complete stop when I got to my car. I set my right foot on the floor. My body decides to go to the LEFT! I slowly fell to my left side. As I hit the ground I couldn’t stop laughing, I lay there for about a minute literally laughing out lout. I got a scraped knee.

This week I’ll be more active on the bike. I need to fall off a few more times I suppose! The goal for the week will be to get at least 30 miles in one session. The most I’ve done so far is 16 miles.

I mentioned that I had neglected the blog this week. The reason is that I started playing a game on my phone. I’m very close to being addicted to it. The good thing is that I’m aware of it and this week I will intentionally stop myself from playing it as much, but look at that sweet gear the commander is using!

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great week ahead!

Weekly Update #5

This week’s goals went out of the window by Wednesday. On Tuesday night I went out for a 3.75 mile run and it all seemed normal until the next morning. My plantar fasciitis came back and put me out of commission for the rest of the week. I went out for walks, not long ones, but I needed to stay a little active. 

That’s the bad news, on to the good news:

1) I got a new guitar – I’ve always wanted to learn to play an instrument and this week I decided it was going to be the guitar. I also want to learn to read music. I got an acoustic guitar, it’s actually my brother’s old guitar that he never used, you can see from the picture he didn’t play much. 

My guitar goal: be able to play at least 6 songs. Ideally 3 in Spanish and 3 in English. 

2) I got a new bike – I’m concerned about the PF not going way. I’ll give my feet some rest and bike instead. Thanks to my buddy Jose, who is a huge bike enthusiast, I bought this awesome bike to get me started. I believe I have all the basics to get me started. Padded biking shorts, helmet, bike rack for my car, a bib (I didn’t know its function), and the bike! 

I took it out for a 10 mile test drive today and I loved it! I’m excited about this and terrified that I’ll like it. I still need to get the heart rate monitor and a phone mount for the bike.

A huge to Jose for spending hours educating me on the cycling lifestyle as well as finding me this bitching bike. Also  thanks to my brother for the guitar, I intend to put it to good use.