Wednesday March 31st, 2010 - On the Road Again

Having completed all of my errands on Tuesday, I decided to go ahead and try the road bike. I wanted to see if my knee was ready. My oldest son and I started out with a modest goal, but having reached that and still feeling fine, we continued to Old Littleton. From our starting point, the round trip is 24 miles. While I was totally spent with five miles to go, I did make it back home. My knee felt fine, but my butt was a little saddle sore. Last night I cursed the sadist that invented stairs, but this morning I only feel a bit sore. Nothing I can't handle. The ride felt beautiful. I love the wind rushing by me as I catch a good stride. It's a time when I can't fixate on negatives. It's sort of like mediation with a kick of adrenaline. The ride also assured me that it was time to hit the gym.

This morning I was a ridiculously inflated 326 pounds. I know that at least 3 pounds is excess water from all the water and tea I drank after the ride, but that still leaves me at 323 which is completely unacceptable. I have reduced my sugar, increased my soy protein, and I am managing my vegan diet better, so the end result is that I am coming into April with a good shot at losing 20 pounds. I wish losing weight was as much fun as gaining weight.

I've completed 7 chapters of my fiction novel "Positano." Here is the last paragraph from the 7th chapter...

My dad tried to calm me down as I scrambled up into the corner of the room. I was so frightened that I twisted myself into a defensive ball and just started crying. Initially, my shocked and bewildered father couldn’t console me. Slowly I started to realize where I was and a feeling of security started to calm me down. My dad was visibly relieved. I’m not sure how, but I fell back to sleep until my dad woke me up for the train. When we were safely on the train I opened my journal and wrote about my trip to Rome finishing with “I died in my sleep again.”