Dec 27, 2011

Manda's Century: It's Official

Remember how I was biking and blogging and then I stopped blogging about biking on my?

Yeah. About that. I had an adrenal crash and haven't been able to really get out biking since Thanksgiving (that's November 27th, for you non-Americans).

I did see my doctor and he set me up with some new supplements and a better medication regiment for now. I have been working on eating better - both for eating sake and to support my adrenals. And because I have this huge belly now where about 10lbs of my weight it sitting. Awesome.

December has been a bum month - I was back out there the day after Christmas for a short 4.4 mile ride. It felt good, but, I can feel I am still not 100%.

But, whatever!

My bike buddy and I signed up for the MS City to Shore Century ride which will take place on September 29th. That's right, we are assembling a team, we are taking donations and it's going to be great.


Logo Thoughts
No, I don't understand the logo thing there. First, they cross out MS, which makes sense because we are trying to defeat it. Then the slogan is "don't just ride, bike MS" . . but. .we already crossed out MS in the last area - now it's ok to have not crossed out.

Confusing.

I also find the find the site a little hard to navigate. Ahh well. It's a good cause.


Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Dec 4, 2011

Manda's Century: Intervals

There was no biking this week - it was a choice. I was really struggling with breathing and I figured a week off from biking would be good. I also was falling asleep around 8pm every night. Normally signs I need to take a break.

So I decided to start intervals.

Wednesday
I popped out into my backyard on Wednesday and debating turning on RunKeeper to track. I ended up not tracking, but, I think I will in the future.

I had a buddy with me which made it a little less weird and a little more fun. We decided on doing 4 sets of 20/10. Which ended up being more like 20/20. That's 20 seconds of a dead sprint followed by 20 seconds of rest. After about the second cycle I think I was about to fall over.

The pain in my chest was pretty amazing. It is a good spot back in the day. It feels like someone is cutting along your sternum with a hot knife while an elephant is sitting on you.

I did the four cycles and felt pumped.

Then I wanted to die for the next three days. I mean, my obliques hurt. My obliques!

Saturday
I woke up feeling less stiff. I would normally go biking, but, I was taking the week off.

I went back out and did another four cycles - the back of my legs hurt a lot by the second cycle. I still feel pressure on my chest.

I did keep more honest track of my time and my cycle was about 20/20 or 20/15. However, it went better than the first time which filled me with hope. I also felt a little bad at how short it took. Hmm. I got over it when I was back on my couch.

Lessons Learned
Not sure about the whole High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) but I think I have some time to figure out how it works and what it does to the body. I know I am nowhere near actually following the program so I have plenty of room to improve.

I am slightly concerned about my fatigue and then worried about losing whatever shape I have while trying to overcome the fatigue.

I am more concerned about the chest pain/weight/breathing stuff. I'm trying not to dwell on it as my year clear date approaches.


Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Nov 27, 2011

Manda's Century: Now Turkey Fueled

First, let's just have a moment to check out my little life helper - Charlie.

What are you doing? Why doesn't it involve me?
Ok, he's no help.

I have been dealing with some stress, so, it was a nice reminder to pay attention to my body and cortisol levels. Low levels are no fun. Adrenal Fatigue is no fun.

I can report that the pain/twitching in my feet is almost completely gone. I seem to be able to move, stretch or step in certain ways that cause pain or spasms, but, I think the vitamin regime has made a difference. I try to stretch my feet, but, I'm out of other things to do with them. I also changed to my running sneakers which are a size larger maybe than my Sketcher sneakers I normally ride with. I think maybe my feet could have been smooshed.

Monday
First ride of the week was an experiment in interval training. I wanted to do 6 cycles of riding as fast as I could for 60 seconds, then resting for 75 per this informative info-graphic I found called the Complete Guide to Interval Training.

Zoom-ish
It took me a little while to find the perfect stretch of ground and I couldn't really get a stopwatch thing to work on my phone with ease in the dark. I ended up speeding around and having to stop to go around a turn or when I came to a car-filled intersection. I ended up doing about 6 cycles of going as fast as I could for about 20-30 seconds and then resting while I rode back to the same spot to start over again.

However, I do like the interval thing. I felt pretty good, pretty jazzed and it only took, well, about 20 minutes.

I think I found a good spot to ride. I also toyed with the idea of running, but, my feet-pain issues have been holding me back from trying - even if I can run in a field and not on the street.

Thursday
I crawled out of bed on Thursday - because I could just sleep all day. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal if it was a normal day off, but, it was Thanksgiving and I had to be at the Estate House (that's what I call my parent's house) at around 10:30am or so.

I like to arrive early to help. .and get my pre-eating on without competition.

Turkey ride!
This ride ended at about the time I felt my eye lids close. Yep, low cortisol means that right in the middle of whatever you are doing your eyes close. And sometimes you dry heave. Both are signs for me to head back home. However, it was a lovely day to be out with all the other pre-feasting walkers/runners. I even spyed a family getting pumped for a football game in the park.

Saturday
I got together with my bike buddy for a Saturday ride around our area - not the bike trail we normally do. I wasn't feeling too strong when we planned this and I didn't want to be too far from home.

I will say, I was going to lock Charlie out of my bedroom because he had been meowing and loving on me at all hours of the night and not letting me sleep. I, actually, told him about this and he didn't even come into my room between 10pm Friday and 7am Saturday. I slept like the dead and felt much better about life.

Building up
My bike-buddy and I had our first crash-ish. There was some type of fun-run 5k going on our local trail with the runners turning around at some random point on the trail. I was riding in front and stopped short without warning when I saw a mother-daughter about to cross right in front of me as they turned to head back with the other runners. My bike-buddy crashed into the back of me (I have a bruise where her handle went) and she strained her ankle when trying to yank her feel from her clips.

We rode a bit, checked ourselves and reviewed how it wasn't the best situation  then took to the rode. It was a beautiful day and I was happy we almost did 10 miles.

Keep in mind, I ate about two Thanksgiving meals between actual Thanksgiving and all the food I carted to my friend's house where we played Mystery Case Files: Escape From Ravenhearst for 8 hours straight until we beat it.

Winning!!
This is a tradition we have and this is the 8th installment of the Mystery Case Files series. Love it. Only 364 days until the next one.

Sunday
When I bike-buddy and I finished up on Saturday, we both got a text from my bike-buddy's cousin and my friend from high school about going for a ride. We decided we could all go out on Sunday. I had my thoughts about a back-to-back ride, but. . .what the hey-who! Honey badger don't care.

Getting there

We brought another friend along, Melissa, who hadn't been out for a while which was fun! Of course, at about the 11th mile, I started having trouble breathing and I felt my eyes getting heavy. The fatigue was winning. I told everyone I needed to turn around and everyone came back with me. Even Melissa thought it was a good idea.

It was still a great ride and one the final warmish days.

Two out of three bikers have horseface!
Lessons Learned
From my little accident on Saturday, I know I have to work on being more vocal and probably better on reaction time for things.

I need to glue my helmet mirror on - it's tapped on now - because I keep having to adjust every time I drop my helmet or it falls. It's annoying

Charlie is a great napping companion.

He likes a cuddle

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Nov 20, 2011

Manda's Century: Back and Forth

It's been a week - let me explain.

First, on Monday I went to look at some cats. You know, see this lady about a cat and about 3 hours later. . .
Love me
This is Charlie, the new guy in my life. Yes, I took that first step toward becoming the crazy cat lady. Charlie is about 8 months, he has Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) but is doing just fine. FeLV in cats isn't like leukemia in people. I found this fact sheet from Cornell University which was also helpful.

Second, on Wednesday, it was the year anniversary of Dr. Burke passing away. He was the man who saved my life. He was probably one of the most caring, gentle and intelligent people I have ever met. He was really a true gentleman - just happened to never, ever be on time. His death was very sudden and sad and the world is a little less without him.

Dr. Burke
Third, I took Friday off so I could drive my friend Karen to get a treatment for her Lyme and/or other related illnesses. She is dependent on other people to drive her for treatments and, seriously, I'm going to pick someone's life over going to work any day.

So, biking has suffered a bit.


This minor ride was horrible. Horrible. I started dry heaving - poor sleep, poor eating and missing some meds really added up this week. I turned around to head home thinking I was wussing out and dry heaved some more on the way back. Monday will be better.

Lessons Learned
Look, sometimes life gets in the way. I know it is super important to eat right and, you know, take my medications, but one of those two things has been a little difficult lately.

I am going to try to ride in the corporate parking lot this week to ramp up my miles. If not, I am going to have to get more accustom to riding the streets at night. Maybe it would be worth hitting the path - which is safer for riding, but, against the law.

Weird.

The local government would prefer me to ride in the dark with the cars than in the dark on a public trail. I understand they don't want "dem kids" drinking and whatnot on the path, but, also limits any other activity.

Blah!


Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Nov 13, 2011

Manda's Century: The Ghost and the Darkness

This week was more about discovery than actually booking miles. In spite the general aches and pains (ghosts) and the difficulties I am having getting out with daylight savings time (darkness), I have pleanty of spunk left for my Cheesey Smile and Thumbs Up™.
80% of pictures of me look like this

While I love winter, and darkness - the cozy way I feel in my apartment when it is dark outside or the slightly naughty feeling I get when I'm running errands in the dark - it's not really helping me with biking.

I engaged in my first night ride. Most people were telling me to be careful and carry a light. Well, I found quickly the two real problems with riding at night:

  • Even with a headlamp, it's hard to see road debris and potholes.
  • Car headlights are absolutely blinding.
I was either in total dark (no real street lights) or unable to see because a car was coming and until they were past me, I couldn't see. 

I, of course, am well-lit. I have the Cateye EL-135 and TL-LD130R Bicycle Headlight and Tail Light Combination as well as a Fiber Flare that looks really cool. And my headlamp (link to a one close to what I have).

Anyhow, this first night ride was pretty stressful. I kept having to pull over or have my brain burned out of my skull by passing cars. 

I didn't die
I didn't get out again that week because it was too dark. However, my bike buddy had a great idea about doing laps in the well-lit, mostly abandon corporate parking lot not that far from me. I can image being pulled over by security and told to get off the private property. But, it's worth a shot. I can't go on the public path at night, I can't ride on the street without being killed - what's a girl to do?

The weekend ride was better. My bike buddy and I did the "Rocky Ride" which is what I call the ride from Conshohocken to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the world-famous Rocky statue is. 

Of course, I had to turn off RunKeeper, so I got two reads for one day. And probably about a mile off because I forgot to re-record. But, it was a beautiful day, lovely ride and I guess they close down part of the road so we had less cars to deal with. How lovely! There was one point, for a couple miles, that there wasn't another soul on the road - just me, my awesome bike buddy, the pavement and sky (and a lot of wind!)

Ride - Part 1
Ride - Part 2
So, I did about 25 miles. Which is about 10-15 miles less than my normal long-ride.

Let's not forget, you got to get your picture taken with Rocky. I saw a newly engaged couple, Asian business men and a family from Germany all take their pictures with Rocky (and run up the Rocky stairs). It's just something you have to do. 

If a little guy from Philly can do it. . .
Thoughts
Of course, the whole night-time riding things needs to be worked out.

I also have been having a lot of foot problems. Just feels like all the bones in my feet are broken. Also my fingers. And my wrists. Maybe this is from riding, but, I don't think I am a serious enough rider to have any complaints. We'll see if it just goes away on its own. I think the fact that my feet hurt might be neurological since my toes twitch and generally seem to be spazing out. 

My first fix was to just take more minerals and vitamins to make sure it's not due to malnutrition. It seemed to help. I take the following supplements:
I can't do much about re-evaluting my $10-a-day food habit - minus eating on Wednesdays and Sundays to give me an extra $20 a week to cover other expenses. 

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.


Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Nov 5, 2011

Manda's Century: Fear and Adjustments

I got to say, I'm feeling a little more wary of upping my short-ride. I had some hip pain, finger pain and rib pain reminiscent of my Bartonella infection. My general tiredness was more profound and I know it's my body saying, "Hey. Take it easy on me. I've been though some stuff."

With that said, this week I decided to aim for just under 10 miles rather than sticking to my 10+ short rides. I still have to get out of bed and be a productive (yet snarky) person.

My Halloween run was chilly! My winter gear works great but I need a face mask because my face was really, really cold!


My first ride in November proved was far less chilly - I also scared a whole Asian family who was taking up the whole path. And two little puppies who got scared. And possibly a son and Dad combo having a heart-to-heart. . .Man, I'm a jerk.


I did surprise myself with the long ride, I hadn't thought I would be perky for much more than 20 miles. Of course, the last ride, I did not use one of my energy gels around the 10 mile mark - I happen to like the Cliff brand gel shots mostly anything coffee flavored, not fruit flavored.


I slightly question my mileage because RunKeeper said my bike-buddy and I did about 65 miles due to my GPS being off. But, at home, I easily edited out the map because you could see the red lines right before our start area. It was an easy edit.

I love RunKeeper, but, sometimes it is a pain to edit. I suppose I can blame a "slow computer" but I also blame RunKeeper for tracking your route based on a million zillion little dots. If your GPS screwed up, you go in to manual edit your route and suddenly, 5 hours later, you want to kill someone. Plus, the map is slow. They need a better, sleeker interface. At least, I think.

Lessons Learned
I was running some of my fears and thoughts about my biking journey on the long-ride with my bike buddy and got some really good advice. She wisely pointed out, it's harder to book miles in the winter. The cold can be brutal. She was so right. Not that it's that cold. It's like when we did 20 miles in at high-noon in 104 degree heat and it felt like we did 500 miles - the cold does impact you.

I live in this world where the only thing limiting me is myself. That what I do anyone could do in a heartbeat with a hangover at anytime.

She was very right and I felt better.

Personal Thoughts
I holding back a little on my training for another important reason; with a bought of pretty painful rib-hip-finger pain, chronically twitching eye and newly (they use to twitch a lot, then they stopped) twitching toes, I found myself worrying about relapse.

I caught myself asking, "Is that all I get? One year?"

Just as a reminder, it was in December 2010 I got my all-clear.

If all I got was one year, it would have been a Hell of a year. I would have biked about 700 miles. I would have gotten out and dated. I would have mourned the death of the doctor who saved my life. I would have started this blog. I would have made an awesome bike-buddy (and totally awesome off-the-bike) friend. I would have organized my bathroom. I would have found out I have food sensitives. I would have been able to love and support two little ratties until the end. I would have learned how easy and delicious making popcorn on the stove top is. I would have been a flawed by good friend to those I care about.

Logic states I probably am just working on figuring out my own limits with my Adrenal Fatigue and system recovery. It also states I have gone through this five times before - I'm like a pro.

You know - you can do a lot in a year. If this was the year I got, I would be pretty happy with it.

Of course, if I got more than a year - that would be awesome because I got a lot of stuff I got to do! Like do a Century Ride.

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Mandas Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.


Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Oct 30, 2011

Manda's Century: Night Rides and Snow

I did pretty good this week - I was able to almost do two 10 mile rides for my short rides.

Night Ride
It is getting dark out earlier. Good thing I have lights! I realize I am not suppose to be out on public grounds after dark - what with the zombies, werewolves, teenagers and vampires - but I need to book my miles and rushing home from work to make it out on the road by 5:30pm can be a challenge.

I haven't resorted to seeing how many pieces of clothes I can take off in the car to prepare to get my winter gear on without looking suspicious.

Anyhow, this is my ride:

Glowin'
I think part of me would be sort of proud to be that weird biker-chick who gets pulled over by the police for being on public grounds after sunset. Until I see the fine.

Stealth mode activated!

I got it together and got myself out again for another 9 mile ride. I was ok with it. I thought I had gone farther. No matter, I will take a good 9 mile ride!

Zoom!
Snowy Weekend
Well, Saturday is my normal long-ride day. It snowed here. Not enough for me to feel a compulsion to buy French toast ingredients, but, it's strange to have any amount of snow here in October. A frost, sure, a snow? Not so much.

I'm not wrong, by the way, snowfall statistics in the record books show 3 dates with measurable snow in October:
  • October 30, 1925 (2.1").
  • October 19, 1940 (1.4"). 
  • October 19, 1972 (1.2").
My car was stopped when I took this
Since it was a mix of snow, sleet and rain, I took this weekend off.

Toasted almond coffee and stove popped popcorn
Lessons Learned
First, I am horrible at judging my own size. Here is the extent of my stupid: I have been going into stores, pulling out stuff I like, estimating my size, buying it and trying it on at home. Why? Because I have issues spending money and unless it's free, I will talk myself out of buying anything - regardless of need.

Thanks, sickness, for teaching me financial super-anxiety. Since I had to pay for about 40% of my medical (maybe about $100,000) out of pocket, I made it a game with myself to see how little I could live on - $10 a day for food or $100 a year in clothes.

But, I digress.

I slipped int Dick's Sporting Goods and grabbed some winter gear figuring I'm a medium. Thanks, super-fit population, I am a large. Not like "Oh, I'll be modest and get a size up so the cloth won't touch me." I mean. . "Wow, did I grab an extra-small when I meant to grab a medium? I can actually see my rib bones and adorable fat rolls tearing holes in this fabric. . ."

Ok, I'm a large to extra large.

Another important lesson was that booking 15-20 miles total for my short rides does take a toll on me. I was much more tired and felt a little more run-down than normal. I stayed pretty good with my booster-meds (check out my Adrenal Fatigue page) but it's something that seems pretty consistent.

I am going to first see if I can work through this by trying to book 15-20 miles total for my short ride for a couple weeks in a row. If I keep slipping backwards, I will have to do something else. I already have some ideas:
  • Interval training.
  • More hills, less distance.
  • More shorter rides - 4-5 times a week.
Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Mandas Century Ride page. It lists (in conveinent bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Yes, I know this has nothing to do with dating. Shove it. I own this blog.

Credits
Stat for October snows from menafn.com. 

Oct 23, 2011

Manda's Century: Winter Chills


We're about at the end of October. I remember a year ago I was heading into a massive relapse. Ahh, October 2010. You were easier than October 2009 when I was on IV therapy again.

Anyhow, this week has been a short of weak week - I got a 10 mile ride in on Tuesday but missed Thursday. I had to do laundry. I wasn't wearing underwear, that's how long it had been since I last did laundry.

For my long ride, I got in a 21 mile ride and got some much needed time with my bike-buddy. She had been MIA since she hurt her ankle around the time we did the Buck's County Covered Bridged Ride.

Movin'
Yes, I wanted to do 40, but it was important to make sure my bike-buddy wasn't going to overdo it or hurt herself. It was a nice ride with all the leaves changing color and less weirdos out on the path. We even got two "Happy Halloween!" calls because of our altered helmets.

I know I should be buckling down harder for this century ride. A hardcore athlete might have said, "Hey, bike-buddy, I am doing 40, suck it! Gotta keep it movi'!"

Ew. Can you imagine? Brutal.

Pass Lessons Applied
I do have to admit, one of the lessons being sick taught me, especially when I started to get better, how much I wished I could be sick again. Part of me actually wished I would relapse because I was more accustom to dealing with being sick, medications and the fear of dying than being "normal." To me, it was more scary dealing with the freedom of choice - when I was sick, didn't matter what I wanted to do or if someone invited me to do something or if I had dreams. . .the answer was always simple - I had to deal with the illness first. It made all the decisions for me. The idea of having a choice was totally alien to me.

Part of this century ride is the journey, is the training. It is easier for me to be working toward something than accomplishing it or, as sickness taught me, breaking down and having to forget about it. Perhaps I will find myself "self sabotaging" my own training in order to stay in training. What happens when you hit you goals and accomplish a dream, normal people? I never was able to set a goal for myself or a dream and accomplish it in my life.

Next Step
So, Monday-Tuesday I want to hit my 10 mile mark again. The long rides are good, but, I need to make sure I am not losing focus of my hilly short rides. Life, like biking, isn't all smooth, flat land so I need some practice with hills and cars and giant pot holes.

I also did notice I gained about 4lbs and I have a bit of a belly. I am hoping to get that back in line though I don't eat that badly. Always something.

I also need to actual invest in some winter biking gear. When you are riding a bike in the chill, it gets a lot colder. Probably should get a coat or something. I see all the summer stuff is on sale, but, maybe I can find some cheap, good winter gear. Nothing over $10 would be nice. . .

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Yes, I know this has nothing to do with dating. Shove it. I own this blog.


Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Oct 16, 2011

Manda's Century: 40%

After a nice ride last weekend at the Central Bucks Bicycle Club (CBBC) 31st Annual Covered Bridges Bike Ride, I knew it was time to up my game.

I had a bad week - as far as riding - only booking about 3 miles until the weekend. Since I was pretty well rested, I figured it was time to hit the 40 mile mark. I figured, I would lose some pace doing it but had a route mapped out in my head.

I failed biker math. Totally. I did circle after circle toward the end, waiting for my Droid to tell me I hit the magical 40 mile marker and it never happened. I finally gave up checking and trying to add up the mileage  and going back and forth on the same legs of the path and stopped at my car. My final stats:


I managed to cut off about 11 seconds on my pace even though my mileage was (ahem) 10 miles more.

To celebrate, I did update my Facebook page to read:

Had a 40% survival rate. . .now 40% to my Century Ride. Or. .39.13%

Feels good. I'm looking forward to doing an honest 40 miles next weekend and also doing at least 10 miles for my short ride.

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.


Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Oct 10, 2011

Manda's Century:Columbus Day Post

Hello! For the first time in my 31 years - I have off on Columbus Day. Nope, didn't prepare anything. I'm just going to toot my own horn about my bike riding adventures!
Yes, I have tiger ears on my helmet

Yesterday, I had an awesome day at the Central Bucks Bicycle Club (CBBC) 31st Annual Covered Bridges Bike Ride. I did about 30 miles with my bike buddy. The only bummer was I couldn't eat anything after the ride. AH!

Well, I had some string cheese and applesauce. I couldn't eat the sloppy-joes because I can't have vinegar (which is in BBQ sauce) and I couldn't eat the veggie burgers because they were laced with beans and soy.

However, it was a beautiful day and I feel more confident in my endurance riding. I feel like I could totally pump up my routine and do 40 miles next. Almost half way to a Century.

Of course, I couldn't have rocked the ride without my bike buddy. She was a real trooper since she hurt her foot a little dancing at her friend's wedding and then couldn't sleep past 3am. Poor girl. She was right by my side, though, and of course getting all types of compliments on her little devil horns.
As she told me, we are totally going to be doing the MS bike ride next year. Holla! I am going to start training now.

But, seriously, did you see how awesome my tiger ears are?

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Jul 24, 2011

Manda's Century: Breakthrough

This is my blog and I'm goin' do what I wanna do, punk!

A while ago, I wrote about being generally worn out and destroyed in my Date Weekend Destroyed post and how thing were not going my way. A couple days later, I not only shattered glass all over my kitchen and got told to take a hike by my boyfriend and found I had a pretty nice laceration on my eye - awesome.

However, on July 21st I had a breakthrough that I never really saw coming. I went out for a bike ride with my bike buddy and this was the result.

Holy pistachios!

That's right, I biked 21 miles. 21 miles. Four years ago, I was given six months to live. I had massive heart damage and brain infection, my organs and systems were shutting down. On July 21st, I biked 21 miles. How amazing is that?
Never a wrong time to show some love!

Beside me, the whole time, I had my awesome bike-buddy. I made sure to let her know how much she means to me in a simple post.

But, seriously; in this dating world, it is so important to have something to focus on and work on with or without a mate. You need to have something that is yours. Sure, I might just have figured out the importance of diet and drinking water and breaks when riding and I'll never be a Lance Armstrong, but I did make a little bet with myself - that one day I would do a century ride (that's 100 miles in one ride).

I never told anyone about the century ride. I am so use to disappointment and breakdowns it's not worth sharing these things. But, after this ride, I think I might be able to do it. I want to do it. I can do it. It will take work, but, one day, I am going to ride 100 miles and it will be awesome.

And I am doing it for me.

And the late-great Dr. Burke who saved my life - I am part of his legacy and I will do this.

Mad Maddy, bookin' the miles!
There is never a wrong time to set you sights on something bigger than you. Go forward knowing you are so much more than the sum of your parts. Even if it takes longer than you think, hold on when times get tough because a breakthrough can be around any corner.

Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.


Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

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