It's Really Been TWO YEARS??

Wow.  Two years.  The idea that I began a journey to a healthier self began two years ago is somewhat mind-boggling...  And what a journey it's been: ups, downs, a couple of sideways, and numbers that keep making me basically happy with the way things are going.  (The month of December has been a little rough because I kinda sorta haven't been very disciplined and have found a few pounds that previously left me, but I'll be OK.)

Thinking back to December of 2012 - I was 35 pounds heavier, my blood pressure was under medicated control, and my other health numbers looked like they belonged to someone unhealthy, unfit, and headed for disaster of some sort.  Which was all true.  How does a guy my height manage to get up to 226 pounds?  

And while the numbers are all considerably better, I am not yet satisfied or done with the process.  There are still too many things body-wise that need to be made healthier even though they are much better.  There are too many physical condition things that, though greatly improved, can improve further.

I was on the MTB trail with a student a couple months ago; we were riding down one path while his parents were on another.  At one point, since he knew he was kicking my fat@$$, he asked if he should slow down.  I said I was hanging in there, and that it gave me something to work for.  I kind of like chasing other people down.  It gives me a goal.  Our discussion followed up in a few minutes with the idea that I always like to have people ahead of me so I don't get complacent.  There are lots of people in my life like that, whether they be colleagues at school, other riders, other folks on their health quest, and even my wife, who has lost 45 pounds in the last 14 months.  All of them keep me moving toward something better that I can attain.  Call it inspiration if you want to, I guess.  But seeing someone ahead of me makes me give chase sometimes.

Let's do the "bad news first, then the good news" thing now.  The month of December, dear friends, saw a return to too many old habits, and the ease with which I slunk into them kind of scared me.  I managed to find about six pounds, which were added to about three others that crept back in over November.  

Why and how did this happen?  Oh, lots of reasons...  That whole holiday celebration thing for one.  And the whole flippin' month is a holiday, really, isn't it?  A couple road trips to places where I ate out, plenty of alcohol over the last six weeks (those are not "good" calories...), and several meals out here in town with friends and former students.  I tried to keep it at least vegetarian, but will admit to a few meals that included meat.  Not that lean, happy chicken stuff, either.  Nope.  I did keep it to only one giant disgusting burger, but there were a couple breakfast outings with folks that set me back.  

But I will not be discouraged except with my behavior.  It's very easy to see where things went wrong, so it will be easy to set them right as well.

This time the elevation in the scale numbers was noticeable.  Usually I can say I'm still feeling great, and a couple pounds here and there are no big deal.  Oddly enough, though, there was a morning bike ride with a friend right before Christmas in which I ended up doing only one lap at a fairly easy trail.  "Sorry, man, I'm just not feeling it right now."  He went on to do a second lap, and my poorly-fueled body went home.  It's all about the fuel, people.  Treat your body well and it will pay you back.  Same goes for treating it badly!

OK, lets get to the good news half of this!  Can't be all feeling sorry for myself all the time, right?  Have to point out how great things are going, too.  And there have been a few:

I went back to TB's Gym a couple weeks ago.  It had been at least six months, because I certainly hadn't gone since my crash, but I'm pretty sure I hadn't gone at all in 2014 until mid-December!  I used to be quite diligent about going three days per week with the guys, but the last couple years have seen a decline in my desire for strength training as well as a required Monday after-school meeting from 3-4 p.m.  And since Fridays are quite busy in the fall, it has been easy to do the "yeah, it's too hard for me to get there at the right day and time" stuff.  Which is a total cop-out.  Well, maybe not total, but pretty close.

So I decided to experiment with lifting again.  I wasn't sure about how my shoulder would feel, and of course I took it easy since I hadn't been out in a while.  So far, so good is what I can say at this point.  I have been easing back in to things, and have only found a couple of exercises that my broken area absolutely will not tolerate.  As I've said before, there's a group of people that lift together, and it always helps the motivation level to work out with someone else.

I also managed, in spite of missing most of June and July on the road, to exceed my 2013 bike mileage.  The 2015 tally came in at 2266 miles, ridden on the road, trail, beach, snow, etc. on four different bikes.  And due to my inability to just accept something for what it is and think it's all good, I have been thinking about how many more miles I'd have had if I hadn't wrecked my two highest mileage months - I usually get about 400-500 miles in each of them, so there's a thousand miles I missed!  Ah, well, water under the bridge, I believe is how the saying goes.

I received my 24-Hour Challenge entry on New Year's Eve.  Not going to miss that event this year (unless it's for completely awful weather...), and started on the indoor trainer yesterday to begin my preparations.  Coach Troy and Spinervals returns for another winter!!  There will also be plenty of fat bike riding, I hope, because that gets me some fresh air and uses some different riding muscles.  

Let's see, what else was good?  I entered and completed my first official race with Iceman 2014, but you knew that because you read about it.  I turned 50 but have no idea if I am supposed to feel older or younger or whatever than I actually feel right now.  I managed two rides with the Hot group on the Tuesday night shop ride.  That sort of thing.  Overall I'd give 2014 a pretty good rating.

The future at this point?  I have another physical coming up in a few weeks, so we will see how the numbers compare to last year.  I'll be detoxing again soon.  I'm planning on a spring MTB race, the Barry Roubaix, which has historically been on a weekend I always have a school thing; this year I don't, so I will probably enter.

All in all things are good.  I don't have any resolutions for the new year because I really don't believe in them.  My goal is to get back on track right now and continue down the road to good health.  Here's to another great year!