Just About Standing...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am still standing. After one of the most horrible days on Monday, where I cried and cried through the whole day, I went to bed and slept. I actually slept well, which surprised me somewhat, but there you go. Tuesday started with a few sniffles and then I put on my Big Girl Pants and went forth to work. I had a few rough moments, but breathed through them.

I don't understand people who live on their own without a pet. Why would you do that to yourself? I know some people work erratic hours or travel away a lot of the time, but to come home to a cold, dark house without a little face happy to see you at the door...that must be loneliness of the stone cold soul variety. 

I am sitting with my grief. I did have a look at the RSPCA site at cats...but all the ones I saw were black and too close in temperament to Solitaire. If I get another cat so soon, they will end up being constantly compared to her and that will be forever a poor second. The vets have organised her cremation, I would like her ashes home for a couple of weeks before I think about getting another companion. 

It seems in my vulnerable moments I suffer from The Stupid. 

I signed up for doing a half marathon in November with the runners at work. I seriously doubt my sanity sometimes. Dave is concerned. Given I haven't run a step since October, he's right to be concerned. I'm scratching my head here. I honestly don't know where my head was at. 

But I signed up, I've got 42 weeks to train. Now all I need to do is put in the miles. 

We went for a 10 mile bike ride on Friday. I enjoyed the return journey more than the first leg. It'd been a few months since I'd been out on my Shiny Bike and my confidence had dipped and so had my Road Craft; but I did it. Coming back, we went off road. My word, I love going off road. It was muddy and bumpy and I had this mad grin for the whole time. 

I misjudged the weather and didn't wear thick enough layers. I knew I'd be okay while I was going...and I was. It was just when we got home, the cold seeped out of my thighs for hours after. Even after a very hot shower. The next day, I dragged Dave off to buy the proper gear. Happily, my new cycling leggings also have padding on the backside. My butt is still sore. We're going to have to experiment with saddle angles to improve my posture as I ride and I may even try one of Dave's saddles to see if that helps. 

Exercising regularly again has been good for me. I still have a lot of ground to catch up on, but one thing is for sure, it is good for me to go back to my lazy ways. I twanged something in my neck on Friday. Normally that would mean a £40.00 visit to see my osteopath. I've pretty much shaken it today and it bloody hurt Friday evening; I had to sleep very carefully. A couple of years ago, I was popping Ibuprofen like a junkie because my lower back hurt so much when I sat down for any length of time. I do have the occasional twinge and my posture still has a lot of room for improvement, but I haven't needed to resort to the drugs for my back for a long time. 

I'm still surprised that I now have a bike of my own and that I would even think of running...it's a far cry from my old attitude of "I'm horizontal and comfy, leave me alone." I wish my fitness would improve more quickly. For all my hard work, I'm still not very fit at all. If I had been doing it for the outcome, I'd have packed up ages ago. Too much like bloody hard work, if you ask me. I'm doing it because it makes me feel good. Simple as that really. My only goal is to do the workouts. Somehow or another I'm going to have to squeeze in the running. One thing I have noticed is that by mixing things up, it makes it more fun and it pushes improvements in sideways...when I do a bike ride, my lifting improves. By increasing my weights, my cardio improves. So, it's all good. 

Shiny Steed

A couple of weeks ago, we went out on the bikes. It was less than a successful trip. My confidence was at an all time low, I kept freaking out about the traffic. I was ready to say 'Do you know what, I've given this a good go and I'm done.' I kept on thinking about the unhappy experience and I was really down on myself. 

Then, last weekend Dave wanted to check out a new bike shop. So in we go and I try one on for size. It was great, but it pushed the limits of my budget. I still wasn't ready to commit to buying a bike. If I came off the bike and never went on it again, it would be a helluva lot of money to waste.

In the meantime, my exercise regime is going very well indeed. I splashed out on a food processor with a blender attachment and that's been really good fun. I've been making smoothies to take into work as breakfast/snack and they've been really tasty. I have also been whizzing up veggies in the evenings. No, not juicing. I don't have a juicer and I don't have the space in my kitchen for one. 

Raspberry and Mango Smoothie

I found this great website called Nerd Fitness. It's a bit frenetic and geeky, but I love it. I've picked up some great tips from them and I just like the idea of a fitness website that doesn't advocate going to the gym and/or spending lots of money. It's a website for people who are trying to get fit while they try and have a life. 

One of the things they keep going on about is to keep trying, to dare to fail. The only way I was going to improve and learn the road craft is by going out and doing the time in the saddle. Being hard on myself wasn't a good time and I wasn't going to learn anything that way.

The more I kept thinking about it, the more I realised that part of the issue I was having was the fact that it's not my bike. It's Dave's bike. Bless him, he set things up as best he could for me, but at the end of the day: it's a mountain bike, for a bloke of his dimensions. But, the more time I spent on a bike that wasn't quite right for me, the less I would enjoy it. It could become a chicken and egg situation. On Friday, we set out to go bike shopping.

I fully expected to go back to go and get the Forme we'd looked at the week before. Dave was fairly determined to put me on a Specialized Vita. If you've bothered to click the links, you'll notice we were looking at hybrid bikes - good on the road and can cope with a rough farm track without too much stress. 

Dave decided we'd first check out a little bike shop in a quiet Norwich suburb called Streetlife Cycles. As you can tell, he is a great believer in making informed decisions. He'd already called in and thought he'd found the one for me. In we went. The guy serving us pulled out the bike for me to sit on. We went through the usual spiel I've been perfecting for the last few months: yes, I know I should be on tippy-toes, my confidence is not what it should be yet; yes, I really need to have something with good shocks for my back, even if I only ever go out on the road. I sat on the Specialized Vita for a few minutes trying to see how I felt about it, when the guy announced "You don't look comfortable on there. That's not the bike for you. I think I've got the perfect bike right here."

With that he gets me off the bike, wheels this other one out and before I know it, he's adjusted the seat and I'm on it. 

When I heard his announcement I thought 'great stuff - hard sell'. 

I could not have been more mistaken. I didn't want to get off the bike at all. I couldn't tell you what it was, what the differences between the height, width or set made. All I can tell you is - it was love at first sight.

I trust that feeling implicitly. Instant comfort and confidence, once you've experienced them, you know you're onto a good thing.

And the price? It was £150 cheaper than the Vita. It's a Specialized Globe Work 01. It's a basic, functional piece of equipment that just screams BIKE and does what it says on the tin. I love it so much.

We picked it up yesterday morning and I rode it from the shop, along a cycle path called Marriott's Way from Norwich to Drayton and then on a few quiet roads and a rough farm track to Dave's house at Horsford. I learnt some very important things.

1.  I don't like going first. Dave likes to ride behind me so he can keep the cars from getting too close. It also means he can advise on gears and my biking form. However, I over-anticipate issues and have panic-attacks when I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. If I follow his lead, I learn from his example. And yes, I still need to work on my gears. I tend to be in much lower gears than I should, simply because I like to feel the resistance as I pedal. I know, I'll get over it.

2.  I really like going off-road. We were nearly home and crossed a road and had to go on a rough farm track. Dave shot off in front and picked his way along and I followed. It was great. I loved it! I did as he suggested and kept my fingers near my brakes, hovered over the saddle and let the bike find it's way along. When we finally got to the end of the track, I was buzzing! I would have happily done it again. Give that was the second time Dave had done the track that day, you can understand why he was less than enthusiastic at my suggestion.

Last night, there was talk of us going out this morning for a quick blast round the country roads...that lasted until I realised how much my butt hurt. As well as my confidence, it seems I also have to build up the muscles in my butt!

Isn't she pretty? All black and silver with a splash of red (spacer from Dave)

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Adventures on a Bicycle

See! Photographic evidence

Have I mentioned I don't cycle? The last time I sat on a bike was about 20 years ago. I biked a bit when I was growing up, but on quiet roads and not very far. I had a bike for a bit when I first moved to Hunstanton, I remember being freaked out by the traffic and being told off for cycling on the path.

My husband bought me a bike. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a white Raleigh; sit up and beg bike with a shopping basket that was supposed to take me to and from work, just down the road. I think I managed a few journeys and then drove. I'm pretty sure my Mother-in-Law ended up with the bike. I didn't miss it. Again, my road craft wasn't good enough and I lacked confidence.

Dave bikes. He has quite a few bikes. I warned him in advance. You're not getting me on the back of a bike. I said. It's not going to happen. 

I'm not entirely sure what happened. I still don't remember the thinking that lead to me borrowing a bike to wobble about the road outside of his house. Nor do I remember how he managed to get me all kitted up and got me to do a 2 mile trip. I personally suspect hypnosis. Or magic. I'm pretty sure I am not in my right mind.

I told him I was unfit.

I told him I have no gear.

I told him I am terrified on the open road.

And still, yesterday we went out again.

Personally, I think he's a masochist. Listening to me complain and apologise for the 5 miles to the pub and the 5 miles back home again and having to go at a snail's pace, must have been hell. Especially, knowing that he could have done the same journey in 25 minutes, instead of the *cough* hours it took us me. Well, it serves him right. No good deed goes unpunished.

He let me ride his Stiffee!

You pervs! This is Dave's Stiffee!

Tee hee!

It's a mountain bike made in Vancouver that really is the dogs bollocks (pardon my French). Apparently, it's like me being lent Red Rum to go on a hack. Actually, after my performance yesterday, that's not far from the truth.

I had fun. Even with the whinging and aching and swearing and the going very slowly and stopping often.

It was a lovely day, sunny and warm (but not too warm or windy). He'd chosen a route in the middle of nowhere. There were fields and birds and a wallaby (yes, there really was a wallaby). I realised yesterday how much I miss the outdoors now I don't smoke. There's this whole thing going on outside, which I've not been taking much notice.

It's great. It's changed my mind about the whole exercise malarky. Now I've got something I really want to do, I want to get fitter sooner rather than later so we can do more of that! I liked it. I really did.

What surprised me was that the Stiffee didn't hurt my back at all. The first bike I borrowed was a Pashley Princess. This bike, I'm told is one to cycle round the village with a loaf of bread or a bunch of daffs in the basket, saying "Morning Vicar." It was not the most comfortable and even with a new, wider and padded saddle, it didn't do my back much good.

The Stiffee had it's own discomforts, my knees come up quite high, which means I have to work a bit and the grips were hard on my hands. But it was still brilliant to ride. It's not the bike's fault I'm rubbish.

We are looking around for my own bike, which I'm gently excited about. Knowing myself as I do, I'd like to get a lot more proficient before I part with cold-hard cash. My resources to fund whims are diminishing. If I continue to have fun biking then it will be worth the money and then some.