the bike challenge, part 2

What a difference a day makes! I did it! See, 13.18 miles! Matt did it too! It took 46 minutes. We feel great (and sore). I couldn't be any more of a happy camper right now.

Shout out for my fam: My brother lost 12 pounds this week, and my mom lost 9. We're all on a mission!

the bike challenge, part 1

I've been pumped since I saw the season premier of The Biggest Loser this past Tuesday. I was astounded that the first challenge on the show was for the contestants to ride 26.2 miles on their stationary bikes. I kept thinking to myself how easy this sounded, and if they could do it, so could we.

We went to the gym today, I was antsy, ready to start this challenge with my husband. We did a 5 minute cardio warm up, some stretching, and then came time for the great bike race. I've been going to the gym, religiously, for well over a month now. I'd like to think of myself as somewhat fit. Well, more fit than The Biggest Loser contestants at the first day on the ranch anyway. I usually do either Zumba classes, the elliptical, or the treadmill. I've found these exercises work best for me, I like them, and they burn the most calories. Using the bike today was something I wasn't used to. I made sure everything on the bike was a good level for me, iPod on with awesome work out jams, and then we counted down - 3. 2. 1 - GO! And we went off with a bang! Our rpm ranged anywhere from 111-120 (that's fast). Matt and his crazy strong legs, of course he was ahead of me but at this point at mile 1, I was okay with that. At about mile 2 my feet started hurting (again, have I mentioned this bike thing wasn't something I normally do?). So then my rpm pace slowed down to about 90. I kept going, but then started calculating how long it would take me to do 26.2 miles on this bike. On the show, some fast contestants were finishing at about an hour. At the rate I was going, it would take me two entire hours to finish 24 miles. So mentally, I started giving into my worries. I kept at it though. At mile 3, I told Matt I wished we would have used the taller bikes, instead of the bikes that have the back chair you can lean into. At mile 4 I started thinking about what all we had to do today, and that we couldn't possibly do 26.2 miles today. So I resigned to only doing 10 miles today. However, I didn't even make it to 10 miles. I only made it to 5, and got off the bike.

I was going to switch to the taller bike I wanted, and try to keep going on that. But, the one I selected was broke. That was the last straw for me today at the gym. The broken bike had sent me to a place emotionally that I didn't want to be. By the time I got to my locker I already had tears streaming down my face. By the time we got to the car, I was in full boo-hoo mode. I cried all the way home. I felt like a failure. I felt like I gave up without a fight. I kept thinking over and over, if they can do it, why can't I? My wonderful husband helped me to reason out a few things. First, they're in a room of people who are trying to do the same thing. And, each person on the team had to cover 13.1 miles, not BOTH covering 26.2 miles (thinking to myself, duh Jessica!). So, maybe I bit off a little more than I could chew at the moment. Next time we try this challenge, I'm going to use the taller bike, and I'm going to do 13.1 miles. Next time, I WILL finish. I'm looking forward to the bike challenge, part 2.

with the good in life, comes the bad

I haven't wrote for a while because my husband's grandpa passed away. I wasn't sure if I should even talk about this in my blog post. It's just a difficult time for everyone, and we all deal with the grief differently. Thankfully the majority of our family has a firm hope for the future and in what God promises, which definitely helps ease the pain. In the past, as an emotional eater, I would have turned to food to get me through and provide me comfort for challenging situations. There wasn't anything that a giant chocolate bar couldn't fix. But believe it or not, I've found that exercising is helping me cope with some of the stress that I have. Exercise is like medicine for the mind. It improves your mental health and emotional strength. You focus on something else for a couple hours, all the while helping your body too.

So we've entered 2010, and a lot of people are making new years resolutions- the most common one, to get in shape. I went to the gym last night and it was swamped. I knew this before I even entered the gym, with the massive amount of cars parked outside, a lot of them illegally in the firezone. As I waited for my Zumba class to begin, I watched a sea of bopping heads: power walking, jogging, running, cycling, and climbing. I wondered how many of them were dealing with the loss of a loved one too, or something else that would cause them suffering. I'll never really know, but I am glad that we all were there.