My Christmas Eve, 2009

Well, this isn’t what I had planned.

Here I am, in the middle of Minnesota, being pummeled by a winter storm that’s expected to drop 20+ inches of snow on us between yesterday and Sunday morning, and I’m spending Christmas all by myself.

Due (mostly) to the fact that I took off to Florida for Thanksgiving and left my retail position in a bit of a bind on Black Friday, I offered to make it up to them by offering up my full ability for Christmas week. It was one of those slap-yourself-in-the-face moments when you realize right after you said something that you probably just made a big mistake. Kara, of course, missed seeing her family for Thanksgiving and would not be denied Christmas with them, so in lieu of not quitting my job we decided it would be best for me to just stay in Minnesota and work through the holidays.

So now, here I am, bundled up with just myself and Kara’s cat Maggie. Maggie won’t speak to me, we tend to have a love-hate relationship (mostly hate). It’s nothing too bad, but she tends to get excited very easily, and I’m not a fan of being clawed, so I tend to let her indulge herself anywhere but on my lap; this, she doesn’t take very well to, and in turn, essentially avoids me like that plague.

Back to this winter storm. It’s bad. So bad that for the first time in my life, I had to dig my car out of a 9 inch tall mountain of snow this morning before going to work.

Kara and I went out practicing driving in the snow a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on the whole situation. Just drive slow, don’t accelerate through the piles of white powder and take turns very, very easily. All of that is easier said than done.

Five minutes from arriving to my destination this morning, I managed to lose control of my car…Only for a fleeting few seconds, but it was enough to physically shake me up a bit. I tried to brake too quickly and in turn, proceeded to do a 180-degree spin in the middle of the road; but I did not panic! I calmly regained control of the vehicle, and then proceeded to overcompensate and ended up coming to a stop in the middle of the road after doing another 360-degree spin the other way.

Luckily, there weren’t any cars within a half mile, and I didn’t end up in a ditch or wrapped around a pole…But it was definitely a shaking experience, and not one I’m looking forward to ever repeating.

So now, after a long, uneventful, dragging day at work I’m back home and ready to kick of my Christmas Eve/Day off with a bang, literally.

It is my goal to play 24-straight hours of Modern Warfare 2 on my new, shiny XBox 360. I’ve been hooked on the game since I got it, but now, with no one to share my holiday with, I am opting to share it with hundreds of random gunslingers online. I fully intend on lasting a full 24 hours, starting here in about 20min, and lasting all the way until 9pm CDT tomorrow evening.

It’s going to be long and grueling, but I hope and have faith that I can pull it off. And maybe, just so I can look back down the road at how dumb this idea probably will turn out, I may even give updates throughout the night on here to chronicle my progress.

So Merry Christmas to all! Enjoy your families, friends and loved ones.

To all my Florida people who may or may not read this, enjoy the warmth…You have no idea what you’re missing.

And to my XBox….Please, please don’t Red Circle of Death me, kthx.

Make It Go Away

I really wish I could figure out what is wrong with me these days. Lately I’ve been having really strange “head pains” that I can’t seem to describe very well. Up until the last hour or so, the last two weeks have been filled with mostly “woozy, cloudy, pressure” in my head that makes me feel loopy and very much not-right.

Now, in the past hour, it feels like the onset of a migraine. And I don’t know which discomfort I prefer; if I had to choose one, that is.

This is a problem I’ve never had before, and being the pessimist I am, I can’t help but wonder the worst. My dad thinks it may be an after-effect from my recently-kicked Swine Flu, which would make sense considering it hadn’t started until not long after I was over that.

Maybe its just S.A.D., which I’ve come to learn about since living in the gloomy tundra of Minnesota; where you’re lucky if there’s one glimmer of sunshine every couple of weeks. Or maybe its a far more serious issue that I need to get checked out.

Either way, I just wish it would go on its own way and leave me alone.

A Tale of Two Weeks

It’s amazing how different two weeks can be. The last time I blogged, I was reporting on the awesomeness of our trip to Florida. The sun, friends, family, roller coasters, perfect health and a Florida victory. So what went wrong this week?

Really, that’s not the best question in the world…The question should be what HASN’T gone wrong in the last week?

It all started the night after I wrote my last entry. The day started off good as I had a friend from work over to indulge in my new XBOX360 with me, but ended bad after he left. When I returned from gathering the parking pass from his car, it didn’t take long to realize that our front door broke and I was locked outside; Kara inside.

After about two hours of being out in the cold (literally) our handy-dandy apartment mechanic had it all fixed and working better than ever. I was finally out of the cold and back in the nice, warm, loving arms of my other. The following day started off not terribly bad, but as my work day went on, I gradually felt worse and worse. I became light-headed, nauseous, hot and dizzy. I decided to tough it out and stayed for my whole shift, but as the night wore on, a nasty sore throat joined the party.

Not much sleep was had that night, and when I woke up Friday morning, I was even worse off than before, and a small rash on my hands and forearms decided to hop aboard the Nussy Sick Train. I called Kara half-freaking out, and she rushed home and rushed me to Urgent Care – which was closed. A short time later, after vomiting in front of three people for ten minutes, I was admitted to the E.R. where I donned a beautiful hospital gown and began a three hour adventure of facing some of my biggest fears.

Needles.

With a complete disregard of my protestations, the nurse hooked me up with an IV which I took like a man (tongue-cheek) that was set to constantly pump me full of hydrating fluids and benadryl. Ohhh my, benadryl.

You sneaky, sneaky drug, you.

Benadryl knocks me out cold. Usually it takes about twenty minutes, but regardless, I’m out like a rock and there’s no waking me. And now they’re pumping it into me through an IV? I knew immediately that this was going to be an adventure. I was out like a light in no less than five minutes, and for the next three hours Kara and the nurses guarded me in my coma-state.

In the middle of my benadryl coma, I was ushered out of my room for chest xrays. I don’t recall this movement one bit. Apparently they wheeled me to another room, asked if I wanted to stay in my bed and do the test there, or get on the table (I, again apparently, answered “Stay in bed”) and performed the test with me sitting up in my bed. Again, don’t recall a minute of this.

The next time I was awaken was to give a urine test in which I somehow managed to get up and walk to the bathroom and do my business with not falling over onto the toilet or floor. I conquered this like a champ, and I do remember the sheer accomplishment I felt by completing the mission.

After an unknown amount of time, the doctors came back in and diagnosed me with the flu. The didn’t, however, mention to me that it was H1N1…The elected to just let me read the paperwork’s diagnostics after we left the hospital to realize I was a Swine.

The remainder of the day was spent sleeping heavily, with Kara waking me up periodically to feed my grilled cheese and my drug cornucopia. My only wish was that I would be better enough the following day to enjoy the SEC Championship game, and that was not to be.

Saturday I woke up feeling slightly better, but this rash that was just on my hands/forearms had spread to cover about 60% of my body and it itched like mad. Another trip to the (closed) Urgent Care and a few hours later I was sent home with even more drugs to partake in (but no IV!) Now what could be worse than being diagnosed with Swine Flu, you may ask?

The 2009 SEC Championship Game, that’s what’s worse.

The game made me nervous but I had a quiet confidence about it; and honestly, there were three to four other games throughout the year that I was more worried about. If I had known the outcome, and how we came out completely unprepared and completely uninterested, I would have just stayed in the hospital with no TV. Our players were completely nonchalant, our coaches got completely out-coached, and we came away with a loss that still stings and is probably up there in my top three “Worst-Feeling Defeats” as a Florida fan. The two days before the game provided me with obvious foreshadowing that I just chose to ignore as bad luck (with my health, that is).

Since Saturday, my health has been on a constant roller coaster (heh)…One day I feel like death, the next I feel like I was never even sick. I finally do feel, however, that I am getting a lot better but now there’s a side symptom that I genuinely hope isn’t here to stay.

I’ve become a snorer. I’ve never snored bad. Occasionally, yeah probably…But not night after night.

Poor Kara, Bless her heart. She’s done everything in the world to make this Hell week better, but now she’s not feeling well and my snoring is causing her even less sleep. I hope it gets better and is just a side effect from all these drugs I’ve had to pump through my system for the last week.

Otherwise, it might be another Hell week; but for her.

Return to the Tundra

I already miss Florida.

In fact, I missed Florida the second we got to the Tallahassee airport to head back to the Frozen North. I miss the sun, I miss wearing my shorts and t-shirts and I miss no snow.

Visiting there again after being here for five months really made me appreciate everything that I grew up taking for granted. Seeing palm trees everywhere was a particularly great sight. Kara always says “I want to see palm trees!” and I always laughed at her.

“They’re just trees,” I’d say.

But no, they’re not just trees. They’re a symbol of warmth. They’re a sign that you will not have to deal with cold weather for more than a month.

They truly are beautiful and from here on forth, I vow to never take another palm tree for granted.

Kara and I landed in Florida on the busiest travel day of the year without a hitch. No delayed flights, no lost luggage; not even any problems in security or a single hold-up whatsoever. It was incredible. My only complaint are the idiots at the Memphis airport who didn’t realize they could lift their chairs up to move them instead of sliding them all over the floors making the most God-awful noise I’ve ever heard. But I digress.

My parents picked us up from the airport and man, was it good to see them. As I’ve written here before, I’ve grown closer than ever with them over the past year so it was a definite breath of fresh, sunny air to see them again. We caught up for a couple hours before Kara and I (from here-on to be known as “we”) headed out to Los Compadres, a staple of Tallahassee dining, to meet up with 15 of my closest friends for an all you can eat buffet of Mexican goodness.

We had such an amazing time gorging ourselves and catching up with these great people. If there’s two things about Tallahassee I miss, it’s my awesome friends….And food. I miss both of these things dearly, and it was great to get to spend a couple of hours enjoying both.

The following day was Thanksgiving and, as usual, was spent napping, snacking, watching football and gorging ourselves even more. Kara being the antsy person she is, got my family and I to play a heated game of Scrabble in which she ran away with the W at the end. And to be honest, we let her win because my parents and I all felt bad about her not getting to spend the holiday with her family. Dinner was terrific, and after a bit of spending more time together, we called it a fairly early night.

Black Friday was spent not at my retail job (THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!). We got up early and hit the road for Orlando. After taking care of some business, we headed to SeaWorld for a bit to see Shamu and get Kara’s Manta credit. I was really excited for her to ride Manta as it quickly became one of my top 5 favorite roller coasters and I was ecstatic to see her reaction. Unfortunately, I hyped the ride quite a bit and she was left a bit disappointed after the first time around. Luckily, though, her second ride was a lot better and I’m very happy she enjoyed it as much as she did.

After a photo op with a Shamu costume, visiting the real guys, and checking out the baby dolphins, we left my second favorite place in the world and hit the road to Gainesville. We spent the night at Chris and Amber’s house watching the Gators beat #2 Michigan State (sorry baby ), hanging out, and playing some Guitar Hero before it calling it a night.

Saturday was by far the greatest day of the trip. We woke up early and headed out to UF for a long day of College Gameday, visiting friends, tailgating and FOOTBALL! Florida came away with their sixth straight win over florida state (and I WILL be writing a huge blog about all of that) but more importantly, Florida came away with a new huge fan. The Swamp won Kara over immediately, and I’m so lucky to have someone whose so open-minded and accepting. The stadium was rocking that night, and she loved every minute of it, to the point where she remarked to me the other day: “I don’t want to wait 10 months to go back!”

Sunday was another early day as we headed back to Orlando to meet up with my grandparents and Kara’s friend Dan. We were supposed to go to Universal to ride their new coaster Hollywood Rockit, but it just didn’t work out. Instead we had a great lunch with my grandparents, and had a invigorating game of mini-golf at Congo River that came down to the final hole. Overall, this was another great day, but the drive back to Tallahassee afterward was long, tiring, and frustrating due to the traffic.

Our last day in Florida was spent relaxing, and lunch at my favorite place in the city: Po’Boys! I finally got to introduce my parents to the wonder that is this amazing Cajun dining joint. We were all stuffed to brim afterward but golly, was it worth it. A few hours later and my parents dropped us back off at TLH and it was back to the skies.

As the snow falls outside and I get to experience my first time driving in it, I look back at the last 25 years of my life and realize just how much I took palm trees for granted.

Not anymore.

And We Wait

Florida, we’re coming!! Don’t go anywhere!!

Its the busiest travel day of the year, and we’re sitting in Minneapolis-St Paul Airport waiting to board our airborne chariot to sunny (rainy?) Florida; by way of Memphis. And what makes me the happiest about our travels on this day?

We don’t have to go thru Atlanta.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Atlanta airport, but it is the absolute last place on this planet that I want to be today. Instead, we get the pleasure of traveling through Memphis, which I came to love the last time I flew. Its nice, clean, well-organized and not Atlanta on the busiest travel day of the year.

Today is also the first time Kara and I have actually flown together. Every time either of us has flown since we met, its been to visit each other; not go somewhere together. Its a strange feeling, but nice at the same time. Flying is fun, so how do you make it more fun?

Fly with your significant other!

We can’t wait to get to Florida. Sun, 70’s, friends, family, rollercoasters and food food food.

Oh, and a pretty big football game on Saturday.

See you all in the Sunshine State!

Palm Trees For Winter

I’ve never come to fully appreciate the beauty of a palm tree. Being surrounded by them my whole life, to me they were always “just a tree.” You take certain things for granted when you’re around them all the time, and for me, one of those things are palm trees.

Man, lemme tell ya…I cannot WAIT to see palm trees in two days.

Kara and I are flying to Florida on the busiest travel day of the year (Wednesday) and will be spending 6 glorious, sunny days in my home state. We’ll be spending Thanksgiving with family and friends, rollercoasting in Orlando, and seeing the Mighty Florida Gators send the florida state seminoles to the hells of six and six. Everything about this coming week has me absolutely giddy.

I can’t wait to see my parents for the first time since August, and devour hoards of turkey and cranberry and mashed taters and everything else amazing that comes with Thanksgiving.

I can’t wait to gorge on All You Can Eat with a bunch of close friends.

I can’t wait to go back to Orlando, check out the area, ride MANTA and get a new credit at Universal.

I can’t wait to finally be back in THE SWAMP for the first time this season and watch Florida demolish the Noles.

And most of all, I can’t wait do all of this with Kara at my side. This truly is going to be a week worth being thankful for; just like this entire year has been.

Palm trees, I’m coming home.

Changing of the Seasons

Happy Friday the 13th! And what makes this Friday the 13th particularly scary?

I turn 26 tomorrow. Now THAT’S scary.

Birthday’s used to be something to look forward to, now I’m just dreading them. I feel like I’m caught in a parallel universe between still young and fun, and time to buckle down. Where does the “fun” have to end? I know I’ve dragged my fun around for a lot longer than most people. I guess everyone goes through this sort of thing, I just like to vocalize everything that goes through my mind.

You know what else is fun? Sun.

I love the sun, which is no surprise considering I’m from Florida, and this Northern weather adjustment period seems to have been a long process, that’s only about to get longer. Apparently the three snow showers/storms (whatever they’re called) we had here in early October were just an apparition. From what I’ve gathered, it never snows that early and was the earliest recorded snowfall here ever. I enjoyed those snow encounters, since it was the first time I’d ever actually seen snow fall, but now it seems as though it’s really gonna be winter.

The weather here the past two weeks has been perfect fall weather. Upper 50’s and low 60’s, sunny every day, light breeze, no rain or snow. But as Kara and I were leaving the movie theater the other night, and the air became a bit brisker, she made a comment that she “felt like winter was upon us. I bet it starts snowing soon.”

I went straight to my Blackberry and pulled up the forecast for the next ten days. No snow, same perfect weather.

*phew*

But even I started to notice a change beginning yesterday. There was no sun, the temperature was dropping slightly, and the breeze was picking up. As I sit here and type today, overlooking trees with dwindling leaves and a gloomy sky, even I can feel the changing of the seasons upon Minnesota. And a quick check of the forecast now mentions the possibility of flurries in the next week.

So much for fun in the sun.

There is a silver lining, however. The massive amounts of snow that I’m sure is just right around our corner does bring us the opportunity to do new, fun things. I am looking forward to trying skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling. And you can’t go wrong with snow angels.

Maybe I’ll even build a snow fort.

So Much for Being A Floridian

I finally did it today.

I went to the dark side.

I became a Minnesota resident.

A few weeks ago I tried, and failed to do so. Apparently a different state-issued driver’s license and a social security card aren’t proper forms of identification here, so I had to have my dad mail me a certified copy of my birth certificate. It arrived yesterday, and if there was one thing I learned from my first failed attempt, it was to get there early.

I arrived at the DMV 25min before opening and ended up being the second customer through the doors. After taking a number, and three other people who came in after me going before me, my ticket was called and I was off to take the test. I was nervous, considering most of my studying was a 15min cram session about three weeks ago, and with all of the crazy roadways in Minnesota, and the fact there’s snow here, I figured I’d probably have to retake the test.

In the end, I passed with a score of 82%, and by my calculations, that was one wrong answer from getting a DENIED on my application. It ended up costing me $24, which was less than I thought it’d be, but the funky thing happened with everything was done.

“You’ll receive your new Minnesota driver’s license in the mail in 4-6 weeks.”

HUH?? 4-6 WEEKS?

“Yes, 4-6 weeks. Here is a temporary license, keep it with your Florida license at all times until you receive your Minnesota-issued license. Have a good day.”

Since when do they mail you your license? Do other states do this? I know in Florida you get your shiny new State of Florida license on the spot, within 10 minutes of completing the test/application.

Regardless, I’m no longer a Floridian…But hopefully not for long.

Birthday Date-Night

So last night, Kara and I embarked on a mid-birthday-week date night, that was funded almost entirely by coupons/free meals received via e-mail from local restaurants. She had the great idea to sign up for their newsletters, and in turn, receive free meal offers.

The plan worked out beautifully last night.

Our evening started with a great dinner at Noodles and Company where I loaded up with a large buttered noodle and crispy chicken breast bowl. We had eaten at Noodles once before, and I didn’t find it all that filling (we had trios), however, this trip was far different. My biggest knock on the place was the price-to-filling up ratio wasn’t in my stomach’s favor, but this time I was pretty close to bulging.

Once we conquered Noodles, we headed down the road to Champps Americana Bar and Grill, where we had a coupon for a free Mile High Ice Cream Pie. And MAN, they didn’t lie about the whole “Mile High” part!

This ice cream treat was about 9 inches tall, with each end wrapped in crunched up oreos, and whipped cream. Composing the rest of the “sandwich” was a layer of chocolate ice cream on each in, a layer of mocha ice cream on each end, and a thick layer of vanilla ice cream in the middle. The entire thing was sitting in a lagoon of hot fudge.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

We staggered out of Champps, full to the brim, and headed across the street to the Eden Prairie Center where we would venture to see Paranormal Activity at the AMC theaters. This movie was pretty much a last-minute decision as we had heard a couple of bad reviews and almost decided to see The Fourth Kind instead. So glad we didn’t!

This movie was pretty much terrifying. Kara kept repeating “it’s just a movie. It’s just a movie!” throughout the whole thing. For the budget it was very well done, and I’d definitely buy it on DVD. There were a few standard horror movie “scare tactics” used (and by that I mean quick, jump-out-at-you-kinda-scares) but most of the fear came from the unknown. Not knowing what was next, and the idea that this situation COULD be real.

Overall, it was a GREAT night, and I’m so glad we got to spend it together.

Back In the Saddle

After a failed attempt on Monday night where I only made it 1.75 miles before calling it quits, I jumped back on my newly upgraded bicycle today in an effort to pick up where I left off with a new gel seat, and a headlight. Granted, I didn’t really need the headlight this time around considering it was 2 in the afternoon when my journey began…Just thought I’d be informative on my enhancements.

Today was a fairly frustrating day in that the winds were blowing at over 16mph, and while I hit my highest miles per hour (7.7), I feel 3/4 of a mile short of my goal for the day. In reality, I’d like to make at least a half a mile progress every time I head out, but with those strong winds in my face for most of the trip today, I was far too exhausted to meet my goals; which was frustrating considering how otherwise beautiful it was outside today.

Following, as usual, are my stats on the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be less of an issue with the wind and I can meet my goal of four miles.

A Real Gouging

Over the course of this football season, it has become blatantly obvious that the national sports media is only interested in what pushes papers/garners air time. Florida has had a huge bullseye on it’s back from day one, and every little mis-step has been blown to astronomic proportions. Any little thing that could be nitpicked has been, and then has been regurgitated over and over to make sure the people of the world don’t miss out on how horrible the Florida players and coaches are as fans.

Right?

So does someone want to explain to me, in light of Brandon Spikes being labeled the dirtiest player in the history of college athletics, why what I’m about to point out below hasn’t been discussed at ALL? There has not been one single, solitary peep about the following incident.

This is an image from the Clemson-florida state football game this past weekend (which, I must say, I enjoyed immensely) that clearly shows Clemson defensive end Andre Branch taking it to FSU’s David Spurlock. And when I say taking it to, I mean it.

He is even using his other hand to position the helmet in a way that makes the gouging more accessible. And if even that wasn’t enough, it appears as though he’s trying to break the dude’s back, as well.

The still picture provides quite a good illustration showing the intentional gouging, but it gets even better when you see the video, which I’m posting right below. (The gouge-in-question is located to the bottom left side of the pile.)

This incident, to me, is FAR more appalling than the Brandon Spikes incident. And I guarantee that Spurlock will not come out and say he didn’t feel it was intentional, like Georgia RB Ealey did after the Spikes, as I’ll call it from now on, “fake gouge.”

All I want is fair and balanced reporting, is that too much to ask?

Stir-Fried Heaven

My eating adventures in the North have been both expansive and satisfying. I’ve been introduced to the wonders of cheese curds, Chipotle, Cheesecake Factory and everything-on-a-stick at the Minnesota State Fair.

And before today, I was almost 100% certain nothing could be better than those fine establishments I mentioned above…

Enter: BD’s Mongolian Grill.

This is a place that, apparently, originated in Michigan, and ever since I met Kara, she’s done nothing but rave about it. Finally, last week, the first one in Minnesota opened up and taking advantage of a birthday coupon I received in my e-mail, we ventured out to the restaurant today for lunch. I was hyped up but kinda nervous, because it seems like whenever I get overly excited about something, it’s always a letdown.

Not this time, my friends.

The place is set up so that you have full control over everything you eat. There’s an amazing salad bar off in the corner that rivals any I’ve had before, but the main attraction is the self-serve “everything bar,” as I’ll call it. You are supplied with a bowl that you load up all over your stir fried dreams onto before handing it over to the hilarious “Natural Born Grillerz.”

Your first order of business is hitting up the meat/sea food area. It is here where you have every possible meat under the sun ranging from chicken, to shrimp, to prime rib meat. All of the food is raw, btw.

Once you stack up your meat, you head to the veggies bar, and then the spices/dressing bar. Once your concoction is to your satisfaction, you get in line for the Grillerz to put it all together for you. Once back at your table, you have the option to eat your stirfry right from your plate, in a salad wrap or, as we prefer, in a tortilla with rice.

I cannot stress how amazing this place was, and reasonably priced, as well. I seriously may be addicted already, and it’s kind of scary to think about the fact that it’s located with two minutes of my job. Scary in a I’m-going-to-blow-all-of-my-money-eating-here-everyday kinda way.

Below are some pictures of my first BD’s experience. I just want to eat the screen looking at these.

And on top of my free birthday stir fry, the nice people here topped us off with an enormous desert treat.

I won’t be eating again for a week.

Enjoy the Dubbayou

Sure, Vandy was 0-5 in-conference and 2-7 overall before they stepped on the field last night in The Swamp. And sure, Georgia Tech hung over 400 yards rushing and 50+ points on the Commodores a few weeks earlier.

And yeah, the offensive play-calling was FAR from enticing (did we lose our playbook from the week before? Did UGA eat it after the game?). But you know what?

Florida’s 27-3 victory extended their school-record and nation’s longest winning streak to 19 in a row, and has the Gators sitting pretty at 9-0 in 2009. Offensively, it wasn’t pretty but guess what? It’s a win. The defense continues to look like the best in school history. Our special teams continue to be amazing. And even with the games not being 50 point shalacking’s like last year, only once this season has a game actually been in doubt (Arkansas).

And unless something brews up out of nowhere, this appears to be the first week all season where us Gator fans can sit back and just enjoy the win without having to ward off unwarranted controversy. And let’s be honest….For everything that’s going right this year, it sure feels like a losing season.

However, sitting on top of the mountain and having to deflect issue after issue is a lot better than sitting at, say, 4-5 and having real turmoil surrounding every aspect of your program. When you’re on top, everyone wants to knock you off the throne. Everyone will find the smallest thing to jab at you with. Everyone roots for the underdog.

It feels great to be the Top Dog.

Stickin’ With It

So I’ve had a strong history of starting a workout regimen….And not finishing.

It’s one of the things about me that is really frustrating. I used to run; for a week. I started doing push-ups and crunches in the morning and at night; for half a week.

I don’t want to get too excited about this cycling thing because it’s only Day Two right now, but I really believe I’m gonna keep with this. The only thing that’s going to thwart my efforts is the weather, because once it gets really cold and snowy…Cycling probably won’t be the easiest thing in the world to continue staying active in.

With all that said, following are my BIM Active stats from tonight’s venture.

Looking at these graphics, a couple of things stick out at me. First is, I made it a whole mile further tonight than I did last night, while averaging the exact same MPH. Also, the first hour’s numbers are skewed because every time I got a 1/4 of a mile, my Blackberry would beep alerting me of where I was, which would in turn stop my music. This happened with my stored music, and with streaming radio. After the first mile, I decided to just go music-less, at which time I only stopped maybe one more time for the rest of the ride.

Another thing that yells at me is that each mile I went, my speed picked up while the elevation change (while, admittedly, not drastic) was more against me than in my favor. It appears I get stronger as I go…Or perhaps more anxious to finish haha.

Either way, I’m very pleased with my progress so far. I’m getting Kara’s bike fixed tomorrow at work and then she’ll be able join me…Who knows if that will help or be detrimental.

Riding Solo

Well, that was interesting first go-around.

Hitting on my post earlier today regarding my new-found interest in cycling, Kara and I set out this evening on our first two-wheel adventure! But it did not last long.

Three minutes into our journey, we realized the rear tire on Kara’s bike that we had just filled up…was flat. Not wanting to get in the way of my mission, she gracefully bowed out and encouraged me to take to the streets on my own. Braving the cold, breezy night, I completed my first of (hopefully) many peddling excursions.

Here are my stats for this first trip:

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t THAT cold, and yeah…Perhaps they’re not the most impressive stats in the world, but all that matters is I’m proud of it!

And exhausted.

As you can see by those graphics above, I started off slow, trying to get acclimated with my new old bike, and even with an elevation change in my favor, I still was a lot slower for the first mile than I was for the second mile and a half.

(Side Note: Stats are coming from a new App I downloaded today for my Blackberry Bold called BIM Active for free.)

I will continue this exercise as it was extremely uplifting and enjoyable…Even if I burn all over now. Hopefully I’ll show steady progression, and my cycling buddy will have her wheels ready to rock for the next time out!