I fell hard this weekend. I kept loosing my focus and sight of my goals… and then today, I turned it around!



Let’s start with Friday. All the crap at work just can crashing down on my head. After lunch with my boss it was all I could do just to sit upright. I was a zombie for the rest of the afternoon. I got home, and just curled into a little ball of misery. My fiancé’ managed to coax me out of my shell by waving a piece of pizza under my nose! After drowning my sorrows in pepperoni and cheese, I thought I was finally ready to take control again. We spent some time discussing my goals and I was ready once more! Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and I had a red day! L



Saturday came and I drove 130 miles to see my daughter play in a water polo tournament. Seeing those girls in the pool inspired me all the more! I was ready to dive in the pool myself, swimming has always been MY sport. When I got home, though I was ready, willing and able to go out and spend some quality ADULT time with my sweetie. We went to an Irish Pub and my goals flew out the window again! Almost faster then I could think I had ordered a Black and Tan…BEER! Another day in the tank.



Today I woke up, with my goals fixed in my mind. I packed our bags with nuts, powerbars, apples and bananas rolled in protein powder and water, and then OFF we went to tackle some hills with out bikes. It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day. Not too hot, not too cold. 26 miles!! That’s right I put 26 miles (give or take) on my bike today. We started in Occidental and the trek started UPHILL. Neither of us made it to the top (we had to get off and push). But we WIZZED down into the beautiful Coleman Valley. We peddled past rolling meadows and ancient barns. The fall colors were amazing. Then back up some KILLER hills. All my training started to pay off, for as my fiance’ struggled (and HE’S always been the avid biker) I was ready to keep on peddling (and sometimes did). Not only did I feel I had gotten a payback from all the workouts in a physical sense, but mentally, all those times I did one more rep, one more interval, one more lap, one more step payed off too. More then once I gutted my way to the top of a hill, legs and lungs burning! The joy of speeding down the other side was 10 times more exhilarating knowing I had pushed myself to the fullest! We finally made it down the other side and headed toward the coast. We flew down one AWSOME downgrade and near the bottom at about the 10 mile mark I heard a ‘poof---ssssssssssss’ My fiance’s back tire had blown! Ripped the valve stem right off the tube, and us with no spare! We ended up walking a good portion of Highway 1 into Bodega Bay where we managed to jerry rig something to get us the rest of the way back. Still, the views of the ocean were magnificent, and the coastal breeze, perfect. The rest of the trip took us along Highway 1, Bodegea Highway (through Bodega where they filmed Alfred Hitchcock’s “the Birds”), and the Bohemian Highway. We passed rolling fields full of cattle, race horse ranches, and through a beautiful redwood forest. I couldn’t believe that I finished up with even MORE energy with when I started! Then, when I got home, I did my upper body workout so that Saturday wouldn’t be a RED day! I finally fell like all the work I’ve been doing these past months, MEANS something. I’m focused. This last week of my challenge will be STELLER and I’m ready to face whatever comes after it!