Has It Been That Long?? Really??

Since I last posted?  Wow.  Not a lot different here, but I am getting some good miles in on the bike each week - anywhere from 150-200+ miles per week.  I've kept pretty busy just doing stuff around the house (stupid outside housework!), puppy training classes, & riding.

Taylor finished up puppy class 2 weeks ago - she did pretty well, but I still have a bit of work to do on the Leave It and Come When Called commands.  The next class starts in about 2-2.5 weeks and I'm not sure we'll have those commands down by then.  I may wait until the October class because I really want her to have the others down well before we start another class.  She has been a PITA and a true joy, all at the same time. :)  There are times, where I wonder what ever came over me, to get a baby at this time, but I suppose in the long run, she will well be worth the effort. 

She turned 5 months old last week and today she went in for spay surgery.  I really hate that she is or could be in pain from this, but hopefully, it won't be for too long.  She had 2 teeth pulled while there (the baby fangs) because the adult teeth were almost completely in, micro-chipped, and nails trimmed.  She also got a long acting (till tomorrow probably) pain medication injection and an antibiotic injection for some sort of skin rash (a few bald-ish spots on her from scratching) that is good for 2 weeks.  I opted for the laser surgery - supposedly it is better for them - no sutures to take out and less blood loss.  She's been sleeping pretty much the whole time since I got her home at 2pm.  Hopefully, she'll be back to almost normal by next week....

Riding.....Tuesday/Thursday Hammer rides.  I thought, at one point this year, I said I wasn't doing those kind of rides this year.  What happened?  I got sucked in, I got better, I got faster, I became able to hang on with this group of guys, so I ride hard & fast on Tuesdays & Thursdays for 35 miles at an 18-20 mph pace!  Saturday rides have been with the guys, but we usually go to the Grocery Bag and ride with the Cyclepaths.  Those rides range anywhere from 40-60 miles and they, too, are hard & fast.  I try to hang on with the fast boys and usually do unless it's extremely fast (faster than 20).  

Sundays have become "Metric Sundays".  We do a nice route from Dallas's house down to Brogden, Pinelevel, Micro, and back to his house.  It's a really flat route, 65 miles and supposed to be a "recovery" ride from the hard Saturday ride.  For the most part, it is a recovery ride.  Pace has been averaging 18-19.5mph!  Yea baby!!  That's a recovery ride!

That's about it, I guess.  I'd like to get back out for a 2-3 day backpacking trip, but probably won't do that till later this year.  Company coming up next week for a 2 day visit.  Can't wait!! :) <3  September 18/19 to Greenville, SC for the USA Pro Cycling races.  Paris Mountain!!

Later!!

Taylor:

Coosa Backcountry Trail - Vogel State Park, Georgia

This past weekend, I had a trip planned with one of my friends from the Atlanta area.  He wanted to hike the Coosa Backcountry Trail in Vogel State Park, Georgia.  I mentioned that I would like to do something like that and he asked if I was interested in joining him.  Sure, if you are sure you don't mind the company.  He didn't, so we made the plans....

Below is a quote from him about the trip (he's not the long-winded writer I seem to be at times).

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModoVincere Well, the trail proved to be tough. We hiked to the halfway mark and decided to cut it short. Came down a forest road and managed to get caught in a total gully washer...omg, the rain was coming down! So the map got soaked and basically was useless.....we soldiered on. Took a wrong turn and just kept going. I think we hiked pretty close to 15 miles total. Found someone to give us a ride in the back of their truck. Was very glad to get back to the park.....now I'm resting and nursing the blister on my right foot. WP is quite the hiker....not that I'm anything impressive, but 15 miles in one day is a long assed hike!

I'll add a bit more detail to MV's ripped post...

Hmmm, I didn't think the trail was too terribly tough, but tough none-the-less. I think our biggest problem was not having a good topo map and/or corresponding profile map. We thought we were further along based on the profile map, but while stopped at lunch (after 3hr of hiking), we looked the topo map over and realized that we were NOT where we thought. Not quite to the half-way point.

So, realizing that we had quite a ways to go, it was a bit depressing....it seemed like the next climb after lunch was harder - maybe it was, maybe we're just out of hiking shape, but we became a bit discouraged and thought that we'd just cut the hike short by taking the forest road. Maybe about 9-10mi total hiking (had we taken the correct direction at the intersection of the 2 forest roads).

So, we get to the intersection of the 2 forest roads. Due to the inability to read the topo map after it got all wet - we chose to head to the left. Should've gone right. We walked and walked and walked. At one point, after stopping at a campsite to rest, MV said he was about ready to just pull the compass out and head cross country. He knew in what direction the park (main part) was, so we "could" do that. But, we didn't. Soldiering on...

OMG....'twas a gully washer about 30min into our short cut!! Stopped to put our rain covers on the packs and soldiered on. My camera was in a shorts pocket and got wet (even though it was in an unzipped Ziplock ). I think MV's phone got messed up too. I had water sloshing around in my boots, we were totally soaked. I just wanted to finish....miserable with water sloshing in my boots. I'm glad I had sock liners (Wigwam Gobi) on, otherwise, I think I would be nursing a blister or two also...

After about 2hr from the diversion to the forest roads and going mostly downhill (and thinking we'd just die if we had to turn around and hike back UP the way we'd came), we came upon a campsite with some guy camping. We had decided that we had had enough, especially getting caught out in the gully washer, that we would try to hitch a ride back to the park. 1st guy turned us down cause he'd been drinking. Told us where to find the trail....duh. We know where that is and it's at least another 4mi hike on the trail plus what we had left to get to it. Fortunately for us, a big redneck Dodge truck came along and they gave us a ride back to the park.

I was so glad to get back to the park and get out of those damn wet socks & boots. My feet were like prunes - all wrinkled.

I did have a great time and don't let MV fool ya...he's quite the hiker too! I would really like to go back and complete this trail. Yea, it's quite a drive, but I want to finish it. Not sure I can do it in a couple weeks, but the fall would be a really good time - maybe less leaves and more views from the ridge tops. Dang!! I had a great time!! Already thinking about when/where I can go around here or towards the western part of the state.

Gotta get my butt into hiking shape (as does the bf) so we can do the Foothills Trail this year or next together.  

I unpacked everything from my pack this morning (Monday, July 26) and weighed it as it came out.  Pack weight empty=5.6 pounds.  Gear into pack=11.3 pounds.  Water carried=6.5 pounds.  Total pack weight=23.4 pounds.  It would have been lighter had I not carried the water, but being unsure of water sources, I felt it best to carry the water.  The load did get lighter as the day went on. 

Sonny and I at the start of the hike....

 

 OK....that's enough picture posting for one morning...Here's a linky to the photobucket site.....

I do wish that I had been able to get some pictures while it was pouring down rain....it was a true gully washer!  The water flowing down the forest road was, at times, deeper than my boots.  I think the majority of the water sloshing in my boots was from runoff from my legs... 

New Addition To The Household...

First of all......NO!  It's not what you think!! :)  Yes, I got rid of the teenagers, but........I added a baby!  A Miniture Pinscher! 

She is a Chocolate Min Pin and I picked her up on 5/28 - her name is Taylor (Taylor Cheese).  The bf had rescued a Min Pin (or so we thought - after seeing him recently, I think he's part Min Pin and Dachshund).  When I picked her up, she was 10 weeks old.  It's now July 20 (almost) and she is 4.5 months old.

Wow.  A lot of the time, I think - "what in the hell was I thinking?????"  My life is so changed with having her - from initially getting up a couple times per night, to taking her outside a lot, to house training, to teaching her commands....It is JUST LIKE having a baby in the house!  OMG. :)  But, as much trouble as it seems at times, I wouldn't change anything. :)  

I can't express how great it is to come home from work or from out cycling and have someone be excited to see me.  Tiger?  Well, yea, I guess she's happy to see me, but is more like - Feed Me!!  Taylor is SO happy to see me after work.  I am getting my backyard fenced in this week too.  It will make it much easier (or so I think) to get outside with her and play and work on some commands.


Ummm, what else?  She's been to doggie daycare 3 times since last week.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I will continue taking her.  She is doing very well on house training - when I don't get to her in time, she will use the "puppy pads" and when I do get to her, we go outside to 2 specific areas.  But, I noticed, this past Fri-Sun, that she was peeing anywhere in the kitchen that she wanted to.  Not acceptable.  It comes from the daycare because she has free run over an area inside and outside and just pees/poops where ever she wants to.....this is brought home.  So, I'm not sure whether to continue taking her and just being more diligent with her at home or what.....


That's all.....here are a few pictures (the first few are from 5/28 and a little blurry cuz she is all energy!) from when I brought her home (weighed in at 4 pounds 2 weeks afterwards at the vet)

This last photo is after one day at doggie daycare - she is whupped! :)

Oh, and at her last vet visit on 7/9, she weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds!!! She gained 3 pounds in a month. :)

First Century Of The Year

My riding buddy Dallas wanted to ride the century route that we had done 2x last year, Saturday a week ago. I was in, as were 6 other guys. So, we had myself, Dallas, Cliff, Randall, Brian, Grady, Russell, Philip in for the ride.

Left at 7am and we ran a nice easy double paceline for the first 25mi. Stopped at a store that Dallas had stopped at yesterday while driving the route and the operators had locked the bathroom and would not let us use it. Not bad for the guys, but I wore bib shorts and needed to take the jersey off in order to get the bibs off. I was sorta pissed cause I NEVER have to pee on a ride, but I did this time and the assholes wouldn't let us. The guys went behind the store....I had to ride over to the tobacco curing barns and take care of business.

But, while waiting for the "person" to come out of the bathroom, Russell said he didn't think we should be stopping every 25mi and he was going to pick the pace up. DH. I could tell that the pace was faster when we started. He doesn't know how to ride in a group. Surging & slowing. Slowing on the declines and surging on the up slopes. Just take it easy up the climbs and the group won't fracture.

I bitched and whined to Dallas and he went and told Russell to ease the pace up and to take the climbs easier. That worked for a little while. Another thing - he can't hold a line worth a shit and no one likes riding behind him. Oh well, enough about him for the moment.

We did pretty well for the next 30mi, reaching another rest stop by 10am (55mi). I was starved by then, as was Randall (and he had already eaten 2 PBJ's). I had up to that point, 2 gels and 1.5 bottles of Perpetuem and 1.5 of water. Randall and I had a cheeseburger, coke & split some Ruffles Cheddar chips. Everyone told us it was a bad idea, but we knew better.

From this point on, we had a headwind and whenever Russell was on the front, my legs were really screaming. I couldn't have cared less about the pace for the ride - I just wanted to finish without hitting the wall at 90mi or cramping. We ended up breaking up into 2 groups - the Russell group and the Dallas (sensible pace) group. Philip started to cramp because he wasn't drinking enough and when he came off the front, we told him to just sit in the draft and rest. He did up until the next rest stop and then got himself into the Russell group....bad idea.

Made it to the next rest stop at 73mi with an 18.7avg. At this point, I was filling my bottles with luke warm water from an outside spigot and then dousing my head & back. The others followed suit. Russell was hell bent on getting started again and said for us to hurry up. Go The F On then. Since Philip had cramped, he should've stayed with the Dallas group, but he didn't.

Dallas pulled for the most part in our group and when he went off, I followed because I was directly behind him. Randall pulled, then off. Then Russell. Then the group split into 5 & 3, as I just could not keep his pace - it was myself, Dallas, & Randall. They left us in the dust on the way to Kenly. When we got to Kenly, Brian had waited on us and the other 4 had gone on. It was good that he did, as he helped Dallas pull.

We have no idea the route the others took, but learned, upon arriving home, that Russell & Cliff dropped Grady & Philip. Grady had dropped Philip. The 4 of us made one more stop for water & Nutter Butters (for me & Randall - we were hungry again!).

So, we finally arrive back to Dallas's house around 2pm (I think) to find just Russell & Cliff. We asked where Grady & Philip were? They shrugged shoulders and said they didn't know. Probably 5-10min later Grady showed up. He was in bad shape.....couldn't really talk and was covered in goosebumps. He was finally able to tell us that Philip was a ways off and cramping up. He finished with 113 miles.

Dallas went off to see if he could find Philip. The rest of us sat around on the carport talking and when Russell left, we talked about him. I told Randall I was not going to ride any long rides if Dallas invited him again. He said Dallas wouldn't be inviting him again and I think this is so.

After all of that ^ I felt pretty dang good. Could of had more food to eat, but I think I did good by starting to hydrate Wednesday and eating well last night. I'm really proud of myself for completing this ride. I've only been really riding for the last month and have done nothing more than 47mi in that time.

I stopped off at Lowes and picked up some french onion dip, Lays Wavy Chips, Jalapeno Doritos & Fresca. I ate some of that while I tried to figure out what I would have for supper and get a shower/cleaned up.......

That's all.

Going Solo - South Mountains State Park.

Well, I have decided that since I'm not "into" cycling nearly as much as I was this time last year, I would, maybe pick up another hobby. I used to go hiking/backpacking to the Uwharrie's quite a bit in the late 90's/early 00's and I really enjoyed it.

So, I decided that would be my next hobby because I liked it and I already had some gear. Boy, was I in for a surprise....I knew I wanted to get a new backpack - what I used to use was the old external frame pack - I wanted a new & improved internal frame pack. Picked up an Osprey Ariel a couple of weeks ago and a few other items. I "thought" I could just use most of the stuff I already had....

So, earlier this week, I decided to just go ahead and try this out...Picked out South Mtns because it's close to my Dad's house and I planned on visiting him this weekend (his birthday is tomorrow). Packed up the gear I had along with the rented sleeping bag from REI and put the pack on. OMFG. Heavy. I decided to stop at REI in Durham on the way and see about a few "lighter" items. Replaced the heavy (1.5#) pots with a 10.7oz set, replaced the 2 # Thermarest with a 16oz one, ditched all the clothing except a shirt & clean undies, ditched all the food except a meal for supper & breakfast. Put the pack on after doing this. Wow, that's much better! :)

Then I put the REI Half Dome tent inside.........holy cow! Now the pack is heavy again! Oh well, not much I can do about that now because the tent I wanted is on backorder. So, I go with what I have. BTW, the tent weighs in at SIX POUNDS!!

I arrived at South Mtns later than I planned (a couple things to take care of for my son caused delays), but thought I could get to camp in 1.5hr. I didn't plan on the whole 4 miles being pretty much UPHILL. Followed the creek for a while, then crossed it at the lower waterfalls. Then the trail went UP. OMG. This was strenuous for a first time out hiking in ages. But, I motored on. Finally, I reached the top of a really long climb (shadow picture) then headed down, thinking it's not much further.

Wrong. More uphills, a few flats, but the majority was uphill. I was seriously wondering what the hell I got myself into....I finally reach the trail to the Jacobs Branch campsites after2hr. I set the tent up, go down this really steep trail to the water source, climb back up...Boiled the water for my meal - at this time, I'm lightheaded from not eating since 11:30am - and it seems like it takes forever. Finally, get the meal ready and while waiting on this to "cook", I start my campfire. I'm actually doing pretty well with this solo thing.

Eat my supper, let the boiled water cool off and add that to my water bottle. Another couple arrive around 8pm and set up across the field. I'm pooped, so I went on to bed around 9pm. It was windy the whole night, got just a tad chilly. I know one thing - I do not like these mummy style sleeping bags. I don't like my feet so close together - I like to spread out. I'll have to find something with a larger toe box...

Up around 7am, eat breakfast and begin packing up around 8am. It starts to sprinkle, so I hurry up & get things packed up. My hips and right knee are hurting before I head out and only get worse as I head back. I thought the downhills would be easier, but they weren't. Actually made my hips and knee hurt more. By the time I reached the waterfalls and traversed down the steep stairs, my legs were shaking. I didn't think I'd ever get back to the car, but I did.

I'm going to replace the heavy Whisperlite stove with a Snow Peak GigaPower stove and that heavy assed tent is being replaced with a Big Agnes FlyCreek UL2. Also, I need to pick up a pair of trekking poles - I think those will help too.

That's about it. I'm thinking of going to Eno or someother park either next week or the week after.....

It was great fun! I sorta wish I had someone to go with me - might be a little more fun, but overall, I did have a great time. :)

Linky for pictures until I can add them here, once I get home tomorrow.... 

Ft Benning, Family Day on 4/14

I finally got around/time to try and get a bit of write-up done on Family Day/Graduation (sorry for the delay).

The time finally arrived...10 long weeks since I had seen Kyle, minimal contact - a few letters, a few calls and an occasional text message between us.  I was SO eager to get to Columbus, GA last week to finally get to see what the Army had done to him, to hug him and tell him how much I loved him and how VERY Proud I was of him!

Wednesday, April 14 was designated as Family Day.  This day started out at the barracks where Kyle lived while at Sand Hill (Ft Benning).  OMG.  This was absolutely awesome to see the Company come marching out from the bay singing "Drill Sargent, why don't you leave me alone?  Why don't you let me go home?"  Not sure if I can embed the video, if not I'll do a youtube linky for it.  

So, the Company came out and I looked and looked at all the young, bald-headed men in 3rd Platoon.  Where in the world was my son??  I could not find him for the life of me, amongst all the baldness & some wearing the BCGs.  Finally.  Finally, either I or his step-mom found him.  I did not recognize him because he had his BCGs on!  Captain Oliver talked about several things, then told the families the significance of the Berets, what each color stood for.  When he talked of the black berets, the Soldiers bent over, pulled the berets out of their back (tucked into the belt) and put them on.  They all stood back up at the same time.  OMG.  It was so awesome to see those young men in the black berets.  What love and pride I felt for Kyle!  

Also during the Family Day proceedings, there were certain young Soldiers recognized for their achievements during BCT and 5 Soldiers took the Oath of Citizenship.  Isn't that awesome??  These young men becoming citizens of the US, going through all they did through basic.  It's just great!


After all of that, Captain Oliver released the Soldiers to their families until 2030 that evening.  I could not get off the bleachers fast enough to find Kyle!  I did manage to not cry when hugging him, but lemme tell ya, I almost did.  It was so good to see him!  Everyone gave him hugs, we took more pictures, then he went up to his area to get everything that he needed, leaving just what he needed for the next days Graduation.  We got everything except the large duffle bag into my car.  He had a lot of stuff.


In several of Kyle's letters, he told me where he wanted to go eat, the stuff that he really missed.  Our first stop for lunch was Red Lobster.  Kyle ordered a spinach/crab dip for an appetizer, salad, and main meal was lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, baked potato.  When the salads came to the table, everyone began eating and I looked over at Kyle (sitting beside him) and he was shoveling the salad in pretty dang fast!  I told him he could slow down, that he had more than 7 minutes to eat.  LOL.  The rest of the food came out and he did manage to eat that a little slower.

After Red Lobster, it was over to the ice cream shop, similar to Cold Stone here in the Raleigh area.  He had some big ole cup of white chocolate ice cream with Reese's Pieces.  The rest of the family had ice cream too, but I was too full to have any.  After the ice cream, we headed to the mall to look around.  Everywhere we went, there were strangers coming up to Kyle, thanking him for serving, shaking his hand, wishing him luck.  It was very moving to see this happen.  So, it's around 5pm by now and Kyle is ready to eat again.  The rest of us are still so full, but it's about Kyle that day, so we ask, where do you want to go?  Outback was the answer.


After supper, it was back to Sand Hill for Kyle and hotels for the rest of us.  The next day was the big day!  New post for Graduation so that this one isn't extremely long....it's already long now as it is and pictures have to be added. :)


This is C Company, 3rd Platoon.  Kyle is 3rd row, 4th from the front.

The soldiers who became citizens of the US on 4/14.

Kyle and I.

It-was-fun-just-tooling/putzing-around....

Well, this post will be a bit of explaining about my upcoming year and about the last couple of rides I've done......

Many who read this blog know that I was injured back in December and that injury took me out of cycling till January 20th or so.  I had planned on starting back to riding, training for Mitchell and doing a couple of organized rides prior to AoMM for training rides.  But, even the best laid plans can fail for one reason or another.  My plans fell through when the weather turned cold & nasty the last week of January and didn't let up till sometime this month.

During this time (January, February & part of March), I tried to get on the trainer to ride, but I hate that thing and just ignored it.  I felt discouraged, disappointed, and depressed about cycling.  I even had thoughts of selling every single bike I own and quitting cycling.  But, I knew deep down, that I would regret those sales so, I held on to the bikes.  I hated the fact that I had lost all of my cycling fitness, knowing how strong I was prior to Nov/Dec 2009, and that it was going to be a long hard road to get back to my fitness level of June 2009. 

That road is a discouraging road.  You go out to ride, thinking you can ride 50-60 miles and ride as hard/fast as you could 6 months ago.  Wrong.  I figured that out quickly when I went to G'ville, SC to "try" and do a 40-60 mile ride the first weekend of March.  I even had these grandour thoughts that I could still climb.  I set out to climb up/down/up/down Paris Mtn and then ride elsewhere to get in that mileage.  Uh huh.  I made it to the 0.75mi point on Paris Mtn, where the road takes a left and goes UP.  I couldn't do it.  Not at 3-4 mph.  I turned tail and ended up riding around Paris Mtn area for 2 hours.  A hilly 2 hour ride for my first ride in 2 months.  I had a pathetic 25 miles.  Yes, that's 25 miles in 2 hours.  You can figure out the pace. :(

So discouraged after that - I didn't ride again until March 15 (I think) and I did a quick 16 miles or so after work one day.  I rode again that week on Sunday, March 21 for 2hr.  I did manage to do a little further distance, 30 miles.  But, my butt hurt like the dickens!  And, I had to fight the wind.  Anyhow...My last 2 rides have been of the "It-was-just-tooling/putzing-around" variety.  23 miles last Thursday, the Sunday ride, and a 15mi ride with my buddy Dallas (who hasn't ridden in 2+ months either).  And, you guys know what??  I actually enjoyed those last 2 rides.  You should have heard Dallas moaning & whining about the pace at times, but I had to remind him to forget about it right now.  Time in the saddle is what counts for both of us now.

What's my point to all the above?  I'm taking the season off.  I'm not going to do Assault on Mt Mitchell (sold the pass) nor will I be doing any organized training rides prior to that ride.  I'm going to ride, try to get back on a Tu/Thur schedule with Dallas and some of the other guys, but I'm not going to be concerned with how fast we go (like I was last year) or I'll try not to. :)  I want to finally enjoy cycling after 2.5 hard years of cycling without "seeing the roses or even smelling them".  I'm sure Dallas and I will get back to form and be able go knock out 60mi rides in 3-3.5 hours, but it's not all about that this year.  I think being burnt out and having close to 3000 miles by the end of May the last 2 yrs has taken it's toll on me.  I'm ready for something different with cycling. :)

That's about it.  I do want to do other activities this year, things that I used to enjoy but lost due to cycling every bit of spare time I had.  I'm going to work on getting fit enough to hike the Foothills Trail in SC/NC sometime this summer.  I'd like to take a week off from work and hike the whole thing (77mi).  I think it will be some awesome fun!  Who knows what else I might try....maybe a BRP tour?  We'll see....

Right now, I do feel much better, knowing I'm not doing any rides up to AoMM nor AoMM.  It's like the monkey is off my back now. :)

Phone Calls!

w00t!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I got to talk to Kyle this morning for almost 45 minutes! :)  He had tried calling last night, but he had to let some others use his phone and it was going dead.  He said that if one person in the platoon didn't have a phone or was unable to use a phone, the whole platoon lost that privilege, so he let his Battle Buddy (Rivera) and a few others use it.

OK...things are going pretty good for him, now that he's not a squad leader. Still, he said he only has about an hour in the evenings to write & get prepared for the next day, so it's still hard to write to everyone. I guess Sundays are the better days for writing since they don't have to do much.  They will get in trouble right now if they are caught writing after 9pm, so he doesn't want to do that.

His platoon (3) won the Basic Rifle Marksmanship and the whole company was awarded with a milkshake & pizza party (I think the whole Co because he said even though they won, they were last platoon to get pizza) and he ate 2 WHOLE pizzas! He didn't quite make it to the Expert for marksmanship, he's a Sharpshooter and can re-qualify after 6mo.

He had 2hr to use the phone this morning and next weekend, he thinks they will have the phone from Fri-Sun!!! I hope everyone there does everything they are supposed to do so they all get to use the phones!  They are getting more privileges as they move through Basic.  They now can go to the PX without the whole platoon going with them - just themselves and their Battle Buddy.

Oh yea...his Grandma sent him a box. A box with note pads, pens, envelopes, stamps. But........................underneath all of that was 8 Reese's, 6 Almond Joys, 12 Butterfingers and something else!!! LOL - he said that he opened it and was about to freak out! Fortunately for him, he had opened it not under the DS supervision (he had to tape it all back up and then open again and pretend to be surprised!) so when he finally opened it, he had to take it all to the DS, who said he couldn't have it. He really wanted to have some, but didn't cause he knew he and the rest of the plt would get into trouble. LOL at his Grandma :)

He has been getting lots of mail from family & friends....20 push ups for each pc and 5 extra for each sticker. I think that one letter I sent him had about 10 stickers on it!! He said he had to do around a 100 that day at mail call!! For his birthday (yesterday) all he had to do was 19 push ups. He was lucky too...usually what happens on your birthday is once you do your pu, the DS steps away and says "have at it" or something like that - the platoon then just attacks you and gets to give you a birthday "beating" /eek/ !!! Fortunately for Kyle, the DS needed someone to help him get the cell phones and chose Kyle! :)

That's about all he said or all I can remember right now. :)  If I remember more in a little while, I'll post it up. 

I guess I can go for a ride this afternoon since he's already called me today. :)

Adopt a Soldier

Since Kyle is now a Soldier in the Army and I've found that I really enjoy writing to him, I thought that there are probably other Soldiers who are deployed overseas or elsewhere who would also enjoy getting mail and care packages.  I'm sure getting mail & packages during the week can make their lives a little happier.  So, I signed up at the site listed below and should find out information about my Adopted Soldier by the weekend.  I'm really looking forward to this...

This is from one of the discussions on Facebook at the Ft Benning page - a post from another Mom/wife/gf:

I took this from the http://www.adoptaussoldier.org/ website ... I thought a mother could really appreciate this and maybe all of us (myself included) feeling left out and forgotten because of letters going elsewhere and ours not getting answered as much as we want them to be might get a bit out of this perspective:

Those of you that share this soldier with me have seen this...It is the most amazing letter that will hopefully put into perspective what our troops go through day in and out and how thankful they are even if you do NOT hear from them!!

I am a soldier deployed to central Afghanistan and I wanted to tell you how very much your support means to all of us fighting over here. I know that you write out of the goodness of your heart, many of you writing countless letters, which often go unanswered. You write and mail packages and pray for these fine young soldiers, the best our country has to offer, often in harm's way each and every day. I know that it might get a bit discouraging sometimes, sending letters and emails and packages into the "big black hole of Afghanistan and Iraq" and you must wonder sometimes if you are making a difference. Well that is why I am writing this...to tell you that you are!

Our soldiers...most importantly, YOUR soldiers, are doing unbelievably stressful and dangerous work. The average soldier in my Brigade lives and works out of a remote Combat Outpost. This can sometimes mean sleeping in the dirt, sleeping when they can in between incoming rocket and mortar attacks. They normally go weeks without a shower (thank goodness for baby wipes!), eat cold chow, with few phones or Internet being available. We are in the midst of the "summer fighting season" which means that we are engaged in numerous firefights and IED strikes every single day. When you go "outside" the wire you are always tense and high-strung, searching for that command wire of an IED, meeting village elders as you immerse yourself in a totally foreign culture that you neither fully understand or are part of, and are often viewed with deep suspicion and frowns. There are indeed rewarding moments where you smile; children in particular have the unique ability to bring a smile to the face of the gruffest soldier, but you never let down your guard. When your armored security vehicle rolls back through the relative safety of the gate after days on patrol where you perhaps carried a 100 pound pack on a mountain at 10,000 feet it is sometimes all you can do to stumble to your sleeping bag for some much-needed rest.

So where do you come in? You, quite simply, are there to greet us with love and support when we stumble back through the gate.

Mail has always been cherished by soldiers in a war zone for as long as there has been the written word. It's hard to describe what it's like when those magical words of, "hey, the mail is in!" is excitedly passed from soldier to soldier. The atmosphere instantly lightens and smiles appear on the tired faces of soldiers who look 10 years older than their age. The closest I can describe it as is that it's akin to Christmas morning. The toughest soldier takes his box or letter from a loved one or a Soldiers' Angel and does his best not to grin like a 10-year-old getting that new bike from Santa, retreating to someplace quiet to open his mail. That's an unspoken rule for soldiers....unless 10,000 Taliban are about to storm the gates or a nuclear bomb is about to vaporize the entire countryside, you DON'T disturb a soldier when he or she is opening up their mail! It may be behind the guard tower or in their sleeping bag by the light of a red-lens flashlight, but a soldier opening his mail is a very intimate and private moment, one to be cherished.

What do you all bring to us over here? A slice of home. You may think that you don't have much to offer in your letters that often go unanswered. You may feel you are rambling on about the weather or about how you find cemeteries a peaceful place or who just won "American Idol." But to a soldier in a combat zone? That is life. That is normalcy. That is what we have to look forward to when our duty here is done. When you write these letters, even though they may go unanswered, you need to know that every letter that you seal and put into the mailbox will cause a tremendous smile on the other end.

On behalf of all of us soldiers over here I want to thank you for what you do. With the lack of Internet access, limited time, and plain old exhaustion, most of your letters and emails often go unanswered. Please know, however, that they are deeply appreciated. You are doing your own part in all of this...you are showing your support. And that is what a soldier needs...knowing that he is not forgotten, that his efforts are appreciated, and that many, many people back home are thinking about and praying for them. Thank you so very much for what you do.

Steve

Soldier Update & Other Misc Stuff

So, it has been 5 weeks since Kyle left for Basic training at Ft Benning, GA.  It's been an adjustment for me - living the single life, but, I have adjusted pretty well I think.  It was pretty dang hard the first couple of weeks with an empty house, without his presence here, but as the weeks went by, I found myself not dreading to come home to the empty house anymore.  It's actually quite nice to come home to a clean house, to a kitchen sink that's not full of dirty dishes, to a stove that's clean, to a house full of testosterone filled teenagers. :)

Of course, I do miss Kyle, very much.  But, at some point in our lives, our children have to leave (the nest) and become the young adults which we used to be (I'm almost as old as dirt now).   He's is own man now and will have to make his own decisions pertaining to his future.  I am confident I raised him well and that he will make sound & wise choices throughout this period and in the future.

I didn't get many letters for the first 4 weeks he was gone.  A couple the first week or two letting me know that he'd arrived at Ft Benning safely and some of the stuff that was going on while he was in the 30th AG Reception.  He was there from February 2 through Feb 8.  Mostly, it was a lot of Hurry Up and Wait while there, a bit boring just doing paper work, getting shots & hair cut.  He got to call and talk to me during that time once, basically to let me know he was there and everything was fine.


I heard from him next (letter) a week later on February 16.  I would come home from work and go straight to the mailbox.  No letter.  Next day - check again.  No letter.  It became very discouraging - I had no idea what was going on down there, why he wasn't writing me.  Unbeknown to me, he was selected to serve as a squad leader in his platoon.  Being a squad leader just took up a lot of his time, so much so, that he said he had 10-15min in the evenings of personal time....just not enough to sit down and write everyone.  Every time someone messed up, he had to do push ups.  Now, he's a "nobody" and likes that so much better! :)

He was a pretty good squad leader - of course I knew this because it was the way he was here at home.  At the end of each phase (Red, White, Blue) they have to choose another squad leader so that others get the opportunity for leadership.  His squad didn't want him to not be their leader because he was very good.  Because his squad was ran so well, it earned the squad 20 minute phone calls this past Sunday.  :)  He spread the 20 minutes around to different family members and a few friends.  Now that they have moved on to the White phase, they should be getting more phone time.  *crosses fingers*

What all has he done??  He's received his M16 and initially thought it would be great, but once he realized that he had to take it everywhere with him and if left unsecured they are punished.  Punished by having to hold it by the front sight and charging handle with just his thumb & forefinger, arms outstretched!  I bet it didn't take but once for him to make sure it was always with him & secure!  They've rapelled down a 50-60 tower - loads of fun, but painful due to the rope wrapped super tight on his butt & groin.

Gas chamber - in with masks on, take them off, recite last name & last 4 SS, put mask back on, take back off, put helmet on and then outside.  Lots of coughing and tons of snot! :D  They've done confidence/obsticle courses, land navigation, spent the night outside a couple times.  Plenty of time at the range zeroing/sighting their weapons, live fire practice, learning how to clear rooms, how to identify IED's, and combative fighting techniques.  With the identification of IED's (claymores), if they failed to find one & let the instructor know (i.e. someone stepped on one) - it went off and that person was covered with a coating of baby powder!

I knew he would be hungry between meals too!!  He ate a lot here while at home and now, it's just 3 meals a day.  He gets 7 minutes to shovel the food in, but says that he's still hungry.  He's missing Bojangle's and candy.  Sounds like they're feeding the guys well too.  I'm sure if there is something on his tray that he hasn't tried before or didn't really like before, that he will eat it now!!!  I think we will be taking him somewhere to eat where he can just pig out!  He'll probably be sick afterwards cause he won't be used to eating such a large amount of food, nor will he be used to the spices/seasonings that will come on the food.  Oh well, he deserves it!

Wow...there is just so much in these last couple of letters...5 pages (front/back) to me, 3 to his Dad & ex-stepDad....and each one talks about different things!  He's done pretty good with the PT stuff, but has to work on the sit ups he says.  He was doing them differently here and they are harder in Basic.  He works on those every night before going to bed, doing anywhere from 25 to 40 sit ups.  He also did well at the 2 mile run - 14:18min and was 20/240 guys!

That's about all - he talks about the weather down there - how one day it can be really nice and the next it just sucks.  He's very tired of the cold, having numb hands/fingers & feet.  They were out one night and when they went to sleep it was nice, but by 2am, it was cold/pouring rain, 40mph winds and the DSs got everyone up and sent them back to the barracks.

Things Kyle misses right now: Bojangle's Biscuits & Gravy, Fried Chicken & french fries; a medium steak and candy (as far as food).  The thing he misses the most is sleeping in on Saturdays.  He has to be up at 4:15am every day and then in bed by 9pm.  They get 6-9pm as personal time too.  This next one is just too damn funny!!!!  He misses the WOMEN!!!!  He says he really misses looking and checking out all the hot girls!  All he has to look at are the lunch ladies and the ocassional DS's wife.  He said that he's already looking at women that a year ago he would've never even looked at!  OMG...I think it's just so funny to hear my son talking that way. :)  "In a couple more weeks, if things don't change, I'm going to be turned on by ugly lunch ladies".  LOL.

That's pretty much it for now.  Hopefully, I'll get another letter in the mail for me this week.  I've been mailing Kyle pretty regularly, at least every other day.  He has to do 20 push ups for each piece of mail he gets.  I wonder if he has to do extra push ups for the stickers I've been putting on the outside of the envelopes??  :D  Oh yea, his birthday is this coming Saturday and I just could not resist getting a musical card for him.  Two cards actually.  /evil grin/  (don't worry - Kyle has always been the clown & can take it as well as dish it out, so he'll be ok with the cards).  He will have to get up in front of the platoon and do the Chicken Dance and sing That Smell (Lynyrd Skynyrd).  I'll try to keep this Soldier-In-Training updated as I receive letters.  This one is so long because I've received 4 or 5 letters of length the past couple of days....

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Now for me....since getting injured in December, the sucky weather in January & February, I have not ridden but 3 or 4 times.  Totally have lost all fitness in my legs/butt/lungs for cycling and I'm trying to build it back up slowly.  I have a ride coming up April 10 and possibly one April 11 (not sure if I'll attempt both) and both are climbing rides.  I have to get my ass in gear & train for not only those, but the main one - Assault on Mt Mitchell.  So, while visiting the bf in Greenville, SC this past weekend, I thought I would attempt a 60 mile ride with a climb up/down/up/down Paris Mountain.  Boy, was I stupid!

60 miles my ass.  That's right...my legs are in no shape for climbing, so I abandoned that idea and instead opted for a plain ole 2hr ride.  My butt and legs were so sore afterwards and the following day, it was hard to sit, get up, and even walk!  But, I rode on Tuesday for an hour and will hit the trainer shortly tonight.  I'm hoping that a week or two of easy riding then start on the intervals towards the last of March.  I think I can be ready for AoMM.  I sure as hell hope so.

Pretty much it for this post..........:)

I Went And Done It....

Signed up for Assault on Mt Mitchell.  I really hadn't planned on doing the ride this year, but a cycling friend sorta "pushed" me along to register.  Now, that I've registered, I'm glad that I did.  I've been either injured/sick or the weather has been frigid for North Carolina so I haven't ridden in, oh, going on almost 3 months.  

I do have my work cut out for me to get ready for this ride by Monday, May 24 - but, I know what I have to do in order to be ready, and I will get it done.  HTFU.   I absolutely hate the trainer, but it looks like this week will consist of at least an hour of riding the next 4 days with a metric ride on Saturday.  Yep, that's right, I said a metric (63mi) on Saturday.  Remember, I haven't ridden outside since 1/23, which was a 40mi ride at a 16mph pace.  HTFU.  I plan on riding the Frostbite Metric route Saturday and hope to goodness I can manage a 16-17mph pace.  It's pretty flat, a few of the Clayton-area rollers, nothing that I shouldn't be able to do.

I suppose after the metric on Saturday, I'm going to head down to the Tigerville, SC area the following weekend to do an AoMM training ride put on by the Spartanburg Freewheelers.  This ride will go over Caesars Head - the one that I bailed on the climb last year because of cramping.  It's a 6.4mi climb with an average grade of 6% (2000' climbing per the web site).  Between that weekend and March 27, I will probably hang around this area and ride N. Raleigh with some "Irregulars" or the Hammer guys.  March 27 is another AoMM training ride - Marquis de Sade, an 82mi training ride.

I guess the rides I do leading up to Mitchell will also get my legs ready for something else I have planned for this summer.  I still can't publicly say what that cycling event will be, but it will be epic and not something that I've previously done before.  So, time to HTFU, say the heck with the cold I seem to have picked up over the weekend with the bf, and get the bikes ready to ride and get my butt out there on the road. :)

Mt Mitchell doesn't give a rat's ass that I have not ridden my bike in 2.5 months - I gotta get my butt out there and train or Mt Mitchell will eat me alive come Monday, May 24!!

A Soldier In The Making

Last year, my son had an Air Force scholarship and was accepted to UNCC.  This AF Scholarship was based on my son completing a "technical" i.e engineering program at Charlotte.  He decided sometime over the summer last year, that he really wanted to study History and work towards a History major - maybe teach at some point.  

Because of this change in major, we (he) had to send in a Change of Major request to the AF.  This request was denied.  He was told that he would either have to pursue an engineering degree or a foreign language degree.  Kyle had no desire to pursue either of these and decided to forgo the AF Scholarship.  My thoughts were that he could go to Wake Tech or JCC for the Fall semester (possibly the Spring semester as well), re-apply for an Army Scholarship and hope for the best come the Spring.

So, he attempted to register at both places, but that failed.  All classes were filled at Wake Tech and there was a problem with his registration at JCC and he could not take the placement tests there.  Upon finding this out (spent one morning at work trying to find classes for him at Wake Tech), I gave him 2 choices --> either go to UNCC (he was still registered for Fall classes, but had no where to live) and maybe live with his Dad in Mt. Holly (near Charlotte) or he could enlist.  I never in a million years thought I would hear what I did that evening upon arriving home from work.  My baby boy told me that he would enlist in the Army.  OMG.  I was shocked.  There were no words for how I felt at this time.

We spoke to the Army Recruiter down in Smithfield and Kyle decided that he would pursue a Warrant Officer commission and hopefully, fly helicopters.  He had a physical and other things done in September, took the oath, signed on the dotted line and would be leaving in February for Ft Benning, GA.  It was an up & down time for me.  On one hand, I thought he couldn't leave soon enough and on the other hand, I was sad/scared that my baby was going to be leaving home, to venture out into the world on his own.  It was tough.

And, the closer it got to February 2, 2010, the more upset I became.  Good grief.  Just thinking about him or at times, just looking at him, brought tears to my eyes (and does so while I try to compose this blog post).  The last week he was home was pretty hard.  I was sad/happy/excited/scared - so many emotions running through me.  I could cry at the drop of a pin.  But, I had to get that crying out and at least try to show a strong face the day he left.

That was hard.  Very hard.  I took the afternoon off from work to come home and spend the last bit of time with Kyle before the recruiter arrived at 3pm.  I did really well during this time and while the recruiter was here at the house.  But, I just could not hold it together when it came time to give/get a hug from Kyle.  I simply lost all composure and the tears flowed.  I could not let him go.  One hug.  Let him go.  No - I have to have another and let him know that I am not crying because I am upset that he's going off to learn to be a Soldier.  I let him know that I am SO very proud of him, excited for him starting this new part of his life, and that I am ok.   Damn.  That was so hard to do, but I knew he was excited and really looking forward to what lay ahead of him.

The next day was a little bit hard, but a good group of friends at work and a plan for cleaning out the kitchen kept me busy and not much time to think about Kyle.  I kept fairly busy the remainder of the week - working on the interior of the house (painting kitchen) and other odds & ends, that I didn't have a lot of time to think of him.  But, I still did come evening time. :)

He was in Reception from Thursday, Feb 4 - Sunday, Feb 7 and went "down range" to begin his 9 week Basic Combat Training (BCT) on Monday, Feb 8.  I received a short note from him on Monday and a phone call!  It was so good to hear from him!  He sounded so grown up already.  He told me that he had had 10 shots, head shaved, blood work, eyes/hearing checked, and a bunch of other things.  He said he was in a barracks with about 60 other recruits, that it was hot because they were right beside the showers, he had top bunk and that he was really excited to be starting Basic.  The first 4 days consisted of a lot of Hurry Up and Wait....

So, I have not heard from him since 2/7 or 8, but he did call this past Friday night and hung up without leaving me a message!!  I assume he was calling to tell me about the snow they were getting down there in Columbus.  I do wish he'd hurry up and write me again - with an address so I can start writing to him.  I guess if I haven't heard anything by this weekend, I might contact the Base and see if they can find out what Company he's in and an address.

I will be headed down to Ft Benning the week of April 15 to see Kyle graduate.  I'm really looking forward to seeing him and know that I will see a new man.  I'll say it again....I am Very Proud of my son!!!!!!  And, I love him very much.  I'll update the blog when I have more info to share about Kyle. 

Jan 17 - Jan 23......

Just a weekly report instead of daily for this week...should work better since I've ridden this week, but nothing spectacular.

Sunday - no riding because, IIRC, it was raining.  Or for whatever reason, no ride.

Monday - I was off this day (MLK Holiday), beautiful weather, high 50's to low 60's (IIRC), so I headed out for a short 20-something mile ride.  Usual route out towards Auburn-Knightdale and back home.  Felt pretty good, but I'm not trying to push the pace too hard.  Yet.

Tuesday - another beautiful, warm day and I just had to leave work early and go for another ride.  Same route as Monday.  20.5miles

Wednesday - trainer ride after work.  Decided that I needed to start some sort of "training" since I seem to do better when I have a plan to work by.  So, given that, I decided I would try to do some intervals.  Because I've pretty much been off the bike for 1.5 to 2 months, I didn't think I could do 3 or 4min intervals, so I chose to do 2 minutes.  Managed to eek out 6x2min zone 4 intervals.  I was really surprised by this - as I've previously found intervals to be very hard on the trainer.  Not that these were easy, they weren't, but I'm pleased that I was able to do them.

Thursday - I didn't really want to get on the trainer, but I did because I knew it would be good for my legs and with the reduced calories I've managed for the week, it would also help with the weight loss.  Since I really didn't want to ride the trainer, I told myself that I would just do 30 minutes and if I still didn't feel like riding, I could quit then.  30 minutes came and went.  I don't think I'm getting enough warm up, with just 10 minutes, because by 45 minutes, I felt a lot better and decided to go on and finish the next 15 minutes to give myself a full hour of Active Recovery riding.

Friday - I decided to take the day off because Dallas had emailed earlier in the day about riding on Saturday.  My legs were also a bit sore or I could definitely tell I'd been riding every day this week.  Pretty much a lazy afternoon.

Saturday - Dallas said this was going to be an "easy-moderate, flatish 35mi ride".  It was pretty flat, heading out towards the Kenly area, with the only "real" hills at the beginning as we headed down Antioch and took that from Thanksgiving Rd all the way to Hwy 222.  We rolled out from Dallas's house around 10:30am, with myself, Dallas, Randall, Brent & Russell.

The return route was on a few roads that I hadn't ever ridden on or just didn't remember them - mostly flat with a few rollers.  I did ok, I suppose, for my second ride with them, but by mile 26 or 27, my legs were definitely running out of gas.  I just couldn't keep up with them when there was any incline to the road and fell off the back.   Dallas and Randall stayed back with me and we rode a bit easier than Russell & Brent, who went on off the front, but would wait on us at turns.

I eventually, just said the heck with it (trying to hang on) and just rode easier, getting dropped about 10 miles from home.  Dallas came back for me, set an easy pace and pulled me back to the rest of the guys who were waiting for us at the next intersection (Thanksgiving & Hwy 42).  They decided to take Jordan-Narron Rd to Buffalo to get home instead of the usual Thanksgiving to Covered Bridge (which Dallas lives on)...dunno why other than they wanted to get that climb up J-N included.  As usual, I am dropped on this climb, the guys waiting at the turn.  3.5 more miles home and I get in behind Dallas and try to hang on to his wheel.  Did manage to do that.

Legs are super tired all afternoon and since my son is gone for the weekend, all I planned on doing was keeping the couch warm, watching some basketball & a movie or two.   40 miles/2:25hr, pretty much a slow 16mph pace.  It was rough for me, but I'm sure it was really easy for the rest of the guys since they've continued to ride while I was out with the injuries.  I felt like I had ridden a metric today - that was pretty hard.  But, I'll just keep up with the trainer rides during the week and keep coming back on Saturdays - eventually, I'll be back in shape and able to hang with the Hammers again.

Oh yea, with the reduced calories per day (somewhere between 1000-1200/day) and all the trainer/outside time I've put in this week, I'm down 3 pounds (as of yesterday).  Finally.

Next week will be more time on the trainer and a Saturday ride with the guys hopefully.  Tomorrow will be Active Recovery on the trainer because it appears that it will be a rainy day, per the weather liars.....

2 In A Row

With the weather being really nice around here for the first time in a while, I took advantange of it and got a few things done yesterday and today.  My car was the first thing to get taken care of after I got off work on Friday.  It had not been cleaned up since back in September or October and was filthy.  Filthy both inside and outside.  With that task completed, I headed home to do a bit of detail work on the car and spent about an hour with that.  Just beautiful outside.  

The second thing to take care of Friday was to get a ride in.  Accomplished that with an 18 mile ride from the house out towards Auburn-Knightdale road, over to Shotwell, back through town and then home.  Again, beautiful outside and I sure do wish I were able to ride longer right now.  Patience.  Friday's ride was not all that slow either - managed to get the 18 miles done in a little over an hour.

I had an email from Dallas earlier Friday asking me if I was able to ride now.  I replied back that I thought I was, but I haven't ridden in almost 2 months and there was no way I'd be able to keep up with him, whether that was on the road or at Umstead.  He told me that the guys were going to ride today and that I should come out and ride a bit with them.  I agreed and the plan was for me to ride somewhere between 12-15 miles and then peel off to head back home.  Wow.  I believe I left a lung out on Hwy 231 somewhere.  I did ok for the first couple of miles, but as soon as there was any kind of incline to the road, I struggled.

Thank goodness for Randall.  As, I'm losing a lung and the wheel in front of me going up 231, I move over to the right a bit and motion for the guys to go on.  They're not having any of that though.  Randall comes up beside me and tells me to just keep going at the pace I'm going and he puts his hand on my back to "help" me along.  I would not have made it if he hadn't done that - not once, but twice during the 13 miles I was able to ride with them.  We finally reached NC 39 and I told Dallas I was turning to head back to the house.  

Headed back via NC39 to Antioch, Thanksgiving, Covered Bridge.  Ended up with 23 miles in 1:25hr.  The time with Dallas and the guys was 13 miles, 40-something minutes with an 18.5mph average!  Holy Crap!  No wonder I lost a lung out there this morning! :)

Tomorrow might just be 30-45 minutes on the trainer then Monday (MLK Holiday) I will try to get out in the afternoon and ride 25 miles from the house.  Gradually, getting back into riding.....

Early Riser, I Am Not.

That is correct.  I don't know why I thought I would be waking up at 5am to get on the trainer for 20-30min.  I didn't manage to do so this morning and doubt I do at all.  I am simply not an early morning person.  So, to make up for that, I walked for 30min during lunch today and managed 45min with Coach Troy this evening.

I will walk again at lunch tomorrow, see Matt (my physical therapist) at 5pm and maybe do another 45min to an hour with Coach Troy.  I also did really well with eating good today...right around 1450-1500 calories.  Also, no sodas for 4 days now....

Short & sweet, eh? :)

21 Days

21 days for my new habits to be permanent (hopefully).  I need to get back on the training wagon (and losing weight wagon), which is going to be difficult due to being injured right now, but I'm going to try.  

• Ride trainer in the mornings for at least 30 minutes, start with 3x/week, working up to 5 days.
• Workout with Coach Troy 3x/week.
  
• No sodas.  Period.  Water or green tea.
• 200 healthy calories every 2 hours.

I would like to be able to do this until I see the doctor again in 3 weeks and have a weight loss of 5-6 pounds by that time as well.  Hopefully, after that I can start the serious training for Mitchell and be ready for my first AoMM Training ride on March 6.  That training ride is 60mi in Upstate SC, hosted by the Freewheelers of Spartanburg.

I need to be ready for AoMM in May and for something totally different by the first of June.  If I can nail the above things for the 3 weeks leading up to my doctor's visit, I should be able to keep it up through to May and then June and be in great shape! :)

New Year's Day Ride

Yes, you read that correctly.  I decided I was tired of sitting on my butt watching tv and decided to make a few changes.  One change was to get out this afternoon and ride...didn't matter that it was slow and very short (5.5mi/21min) - the whole point was to start with something instead of nothing.  The second change I've made for the new year - I emptied all the sodas down the drain and cleaned the fridge of any unhealthy food (wasn't much).


The weather was overcast, a bit windy, and the temperature around 47F.  I managed to get shorts & tights on fairly easily, but the base layer/jersey was a little more difficult.  Finally dressed, pumped the tires and off I go!  OMG...that felt so good to be on the bike.  


Country Lane/Barber Mill Rd/Amelia Church Rd/Guy Rd/Hwy 42/Barber Mill/Country Lane.


Doubtful that I'll be able to get out this weekend to do another short ride because of the weather, but one can only hope. :)