Lesson Learned

The number one reason I write my blog is to hold myself accountable. I am not some big blogger raking in the big bucks from my blog, you could say I am not monetized at all, but the fact that  people view my blog at all makes me do things that I might not always feel like doing. After my recent injury, I have really been slacking. I haven't really been working out at all. Not even Yoga has managed to find its way into my busy schedule. Hahaha. It is way worse for those who know I am on summer break. The second reason I write my blog, and it is a very close second, is to inspire other people to get moving, even if it is just for 10.

I was motivated to get out and change my current course of non-action by two of my old high school friends who commented on facebook that I have helped motivate them at one time or another. I am very grateful to the handful of regular readers I have, even though most of them are just my very large family. So those who know how all this started can probably guess how today turned out. I can get pretty enthusiastic about things. And some might say that I jump in over my head from time to time. Every once in a while, I even commit some major Fitness Cardinal Sins that are really just common sense. Well, thanks to April, Hannah, Anything for 10 Grace, and my fiance Matt, I have a story for you today.

I bought a mountain bike. Yes, I did. It is a Schwinn Ranger in purple and white. My fiance bought a bike almost as soon as we crossed the PA border, and I have been saying I should get a bike too. He rides his to work fairly frequently. My Anything for 10 sister, Grace, is a modern day hippie, and she bought a bike almost as soon as she got back to the US from Thailand. She also rides her bike to work, and anywhere else she needs to go really because she doesn't own a car. Grace bought a very nice road bike, and Matt has a nice enough hybrid. I went for the mountain bike. I was inspired to take the plunge this morning when I saw the encouraging posts on facebook. I woke Matt up, rushed around, and went straight to the store to purchase a bike. We loaded up Matt's bike as well because of course, in true Michelle spirit, I had to use it RIGHT AWAY!!!

Due to my haste and our sleeping in this morning, that landed us at the state park right about, ohhhh, HIGH FREAKING NOON. Yes, that is only the tip of the iceberg. You did know where this was going from the beginning, right? Matt could tell before we even left to buy the bike I presume because he was not very happy with me from the beginning. He knows me, and that also means that he knows I won't listen once I have decided something. I know that I should, but it is a lot harder to remember at the time. I bought a water bottle holder to put on my bike, but we didn't have any tools, so we couldn't put it on. I am very proud to say though that I did bring water with me! Obviously, it did me no good sitting in the car getting hot while we rode. I did not bring a snack, which was a huge mistake considering we got there right at lunch time. That was the exact opposite of awesome.

So we set out on our trail ride in a park we had never been to. I was a little wobbly at first, but I sort of straightened out as we went. Matt was way ahead of my the whole time and had to circle back around for me every once in a while. I had to confess to him fairly early in the ride that I have no idea what the gears are for. I mean, who really knows what those are for? Ok, well most people know, and especially the cyclists who set out on a trail ride. Yeah, I still haven't really caught on. I know low is easy to pedal but slow, and that high is harder but faster; however, I can't tell you when you use which one, and I definitely can't remember when I am in freakout mode in the middle of a trail ride at High Freaking Noon when I have no water and no snack. We only went on a 5 mile trail ride, but I have to admit, I honestly thought I was going to pass out and die there for a bit, and I just knew Matt would leave me there because he was so annoyed by the fact that once again, we were getting passed by powerwalkers. Yes, it happened again. I may have had to walk my bike up the giant hill at the end, and it may have really sucked at the time, but I am ready to go back again. Next time, I am going all Boy Scouts of America on that trail ride, and I am going to be prepared!