I bought some clothes to run in for when it gets colder. I got some underarmor thermal leggings and long-sleeve undershirt. I also go some sweat-wicking glove liners that I can wear under my mittens so that my hands don't sweat and get all chapped. I also got a new air compressor for my car since the last one went kaput on the day of Crip the Mass and my bike tires are sad. Oh! Hey I should have mentioned about that... you can read about it here and here... basically we wanted to involve wheelchair users in Chicago's September Critical Mass. Fun was had :) 

Well I tracked my walk/run today. Not very good, but not too too horribly bad. I'll just be glad if I don't hurt tomorrow. Yeah yeah I'm stretching... picture the stops as stop signs by the way :P ... but yeah my goal is to be able to run a mile continuously w/out the walking ... I'll get there but for now the intervals aren't half bad... def doable

( stats beneath cut )

Have you seen this build your own bike feature at Urban Outfitters? ... Yes, you heard me right. Urban Outfitters. Yeah, I know weird right, but check this out!

http://bikes.urbanoutfitters.com/build.asp

It is so incredibly tempting! If I were to build a bike there it would look like this one below...

We have a new bike in our fold. REI was having a really good sale earlier this summer on a commuter bike so I convinced my sister to get it. since her old bike from 1990 is 10 shades of broke-down. Its actually a pretty sweet ride for $300 or so. Its a Novara (whatever that is) and not as light as my Cannondale, but I don't expect my sister will be lifting it often. I realized the last time I was home that it doesn't make sense to have a road bike around where my parents live, and its not really all that helpful on Kelly Drive either. So this bike has flat handlebars and a bit of suspension and most importantly... front and rear fenders! I think it may also have a chainguard. Anyway, when I was home I outfitted it with lights and stuff so she's all ready for city dwelling :) Problem is, my sister doesn't know where to stash it *shrugs* no big... its mostly for use in the spring/summer and particularly when I visit.

I realized when I visited home earlier this summer that my fitness routine gets really messed up simply because I never have the resources I'm used to and so I don't really know what to do... and I overeat because I'm home. So my sister's gym has replaced their old-ass machines (which hurt my back something fierce) so that'll be cool... and now I have a bike to ride! :D ... and now that I'm starting running that adds another thing that I can do anywhere.

Okay so since I last posted things have gone downhill. Somehow I stopped enjoying riding. Most likely because every time I go out... and I mean every time... someone makes a comment about my weight. I hated coming back from a ride feeling dejected and disgusting instead of energetic and excited. Then I had some problems with my hip... it just has been a rough couple of months.

Now I'm ready to get back into the swing of things and ... of course... its winter. Never fear, I'm taking full advantage of this. You know one of my goals has been to start running. Well, my friend Jen and I are going to do a 5K together. I'm really excited about this. Its going to be hard and I know that I'm going to have to really start working and be careful not to hurt myself... but I think I can do it. I found a training thing online for people who want to go "from couch potato to 5K." The timeline was really unrealistic, but the chunks it breaks it down into seem like good goals. So I'm starting with little intervals: 5 min warm up walking then 1 minute jog and 1.5 minute walk on and off for 20 min. I tried it out on my way to the store tonight and I don't feel too bad. It wasn't  a full 20 min though, but I've been sick w/ a respiratory infection so not too shabby ifn I say so myself.

So now I need to pick out a 5K to do... I'm thinking a year from now. I hope that isn't unrealistic.

My eating also got really bad, but I'm back on the wagon. I think I may not be eating enough... okay, I know I'm not eating enough now so I have to straighten that out, but this past week (with the exception of the Halloween party) I've been focusing on cleaning out and detoxifying my system sooo yeah I'm good to go!

Also, even though this is probably going to sound really lame... I finally have a good outfit to run in. I know that sounds silly, but its really important. I have the right number of pockets in the right locations and there's no chaffing and I don't look like a fat bag lady... I think its really important to have good self-esteem while you're working out or else you just won't give it 100%. So I like to feel like I look cute when I work out.

Dude these look kinda cool. I mean the bike part is definitely cool even though the big plastic tub bit kind of makes me want to plant a tree in the back or something :P though that would be pretty awesome... a little mobile strawberry patch! OMG! :D

I  bought a shitty little bike, "Brownie", for commuting last fall when Rocket was stolen, but its just a tad toooo shitty to ride 8-9 miles to and from school everyday. I keep wishing I had just forked over enough money to get one of those cruisers or something because even though they're still crappy I would at least still be able to actually commute on it. Soo yeah part of me is still looking for a good bike for commuting and running errands that I wouldn't mind leaving locked up outside and wouldn't miss too terribly much if it got stolen.

I think a lot of it has to do with my just not wanting to form another attachment to a bike only to lose it again. Rocket meant a lot to me... he and I had been through four states together and so many big life changes. Although I love Puff a lot, I still miss Rocket.

Hey! You know what would also be supercool?!... a rickshaw bike! :P hehehe

*googles*

Ever since I went to Scotland last year for my friend, Emily's, wedding... and realized how easy and pleasant it would be to do a cycling vacation in Scotland... I've wanted to do one. Though now I'm wondering if I really want to do it in Scotland. I mean the people are great and the countryside beautiful, but at the moment I'm longing to be somewhere sunny and warm. So I'm contemplating all the places and ways that I could do this:

Scotland: already know the area I would begin biking from, follow the train tracks, stay in quaint B&B's or guest houses, and I know the people would be crazy nice... but it would be rainy and overcast for a good bit of my trip... and chilly.

Italy: would be gorgeous and especially since I've been wanting to go there for years, but all the trips seem to be through hilly Tuscany and involve 23 mile a day stretches, which I'm not sure I can do for 7 days straight. Plus I really wouldn't want to do this alone so would have to find someone to go with or more likely do one of these guided tour things :/ .... aaaand I'm guessing anyone I could find to go with would want to stay in hostels along the way, which are sooo not my thing.

France: meh... been there and done that. Not the bicycling part, but regardless the non-grueling cycling vacations are through Bourgogne and I lived there before so its not really anything new... plus I don't really want to go back.

Hawaii: this wouldn't be a cycling tour so much as renting a bike for my stay and going around as I like. Its not exactly what I had in mind, but sounds pleasant nonetheless and I could lay out on beaches all I like :)

Australia: I've never been and have wanted to go ever since my brother went ages ago... plus it would give me an excuse to visit Mel :P only thing is if I did go I'd have to remember the whole season mix-up thing so that I didn't go during their winter! Other thing is that Mel lives in bumblefuck outback nowhere and I wanna see the cool bits of the country and cuddle koalas and shit like that :D

Puerto Rico: I was just thinking about this yesterday as I was watching Top Chef and wanting to try the cuisine. It might be just perfect, but do I really want to go there alone? Oh, also... no habla espaniol.

Greece: would be supernice, but I really have no idea how bike-able it is... it seems hilly :/ and mehates hills

( Nutrition )

( Bodyness )

( Goals )

This Month:	89.68mi / 144.33km
This Year:	191.22mi / 307.74km
All Time:	414.89mi / 667.7km
Total Rides:	46
Total Time:	38:23:50
Ave. Speed:	10.47mph / 16.84kph
Carbon Offset: (all time)	0.12 tons / 267.7 pounds
Cost Savings: (all time)	$87

Well I did it! All 30 miles of Bike the Drive :D Instead of riding or trying to catch a bus down to Grant Park I rode about halfway down there and waited for the police car to come by signaling the start of the race and jumped the barrier into it. So I began going north. The wind was pretty rough going that direction so I spent the first fourth and last fourth of it struggling against that... However, when the wind was at my back for that looong stretch down to the Museum of Science and Industry I'll admit it was pretty kickass! :D I got going up to 18 mph at some points :P hehehe

The only problem really is something is off in my right shoulder and I keep losing feeling in my right hand. I mean I know its partly because I was putting too much weight on it, but I'm concerned so I hafta make a visit to the doctor or something because it took about an hour and a half for the tingling/numb feeling to stop :/ which made eating my pancakes perilous... syrup EVERYWHERE good lord :I

 

Activity Route: Bike the Drive Elev. Avg: 590 ft Location: Chicago, IL, Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 05/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+731/-728] Time: 07:38 AM Difficulty: 3.9 / 5.0   Weather: Partly Cloudy   56 F temp; 83% humidity   56 F heat index; winds N 10 mph Performance Distance: 31.15 miles Goal: 30 miles Time: 2:19:41 Speed: 13.3 mph Attained: 103% Pace: 4' 31 /mi     Calories: 2268     Map Chicago, Illinois   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 4' 25 -0' 05 13.6 +0.2 -7 ft 2 4' 02 -0' 28 14.9 +1.6 -4 ft 3 6' 09 +1' 38 9.8 -3.6 +10 ft 4 4' 18 -0' 12 13.9 +0.6 0 ft 5 4' 31 +0' 00 13.2 -0.1 +3 ft 6 4' 28 -0' 02 13.4 +0.1 -4 ft 7 4' 40 +0' 09 12.8 -0.5 0 ft 8 5' 04 +0' 33 11.8 -1.5 0 ft 9 5' 02 +0' 31 11.9 -1.4 0 ft 10 4' 06 -0' 24 14.6 +1.3 +4 ft 11 3' 24 -1' 06 17.6 +4.3 0 ft 12 3' 25 -1' 05 17.6 +4.2 -6 ft 13 3' 37 -0' 53 16.5 +3.2 +3 ft 14 3' 15 -1' 15 18.4 +5.1 +4 ft 15 3' 25 -1' 05 17.5 +4.2 -10 ft 16 3' 27 -1' 03 17.4 +4.1 +3 ft 17 4' 02 -0' 28 14.9 +1.6 +13 ft 18 3' 54 -0' 36 15.3 +2.0 -6 ft 19 3' 51 -0' 39 15.6 +2.3 0 ft 20 3' 18 -1' 12 18.2 +4.9 -3 ft 21 3' 33 -0' 57 16.8 +3.5 0 ft 22 3' 24 -1' 06 17.6 +4.3 0 ft 23 7' 12 +2' 41 8.3 -5.0 -6 ft 24 3' 17 -1' 13 18.2 +4.9 +3 ft 25 6' 16 +1' 45 9.6 -3.7 -3 ft 26 5' 28 +0' 57 11.0 -2.3 +10 ft 27 4' 35 +0' 04 13.1 -0.2 0 ft 28 4' 56 +0' 25 12.1 -1.2 -3 ft 29 7' 53 +3' 22 7.6 -5.7 +13 ft 30 4' 51 +0' 20 12.3 -1.0 0 ft 31 4' 11 -0' 19 14.3 +1.0 -10 ft end 10' 29 +5' 58 5.7 -7.6 0 ft Versus average of 13.3 mph

Posted from bimactive.com