September 17th (Morning)

So my new sprinting efforts finally caught up with me this morning… I got out of bed, and my legs were sore. Something I haven’t felt in a LONG time. The first hill I started climbing out of Juniper and I knew I was going to pay for my fun! Sure enough, I tried sprinting down the first straight and flat section of trail and soon realized that would be enough of that for today! The rest of the ride was still pretty good, but a longer time and slower speeds than normal for sure. However, I still made every climb even though my legs felt heavy. In fact, for the second time this year on the new trails (both times this week), I made my ride to work with NO STOPS again! I made all the climbs, and technical sections again. It was great to do that on a day where I was feeling somewhat less like this morning.

I did notice that my heart rate is consistently staying in the 75-80% range on my rides now, and I haven’t seen it climb more than 92% or so in a long time. Even on the long, hard climbs. That’s pretty cool to think that I may finally be getting my heart into shape! Now if I can curb the amount of greasy and fatty foods I tend to enjoy, I should be well on my way to avoiding any early heart problems that I’ve been told I will probably face in my middle-age years.

Speaking of foods, I can’t figure out my weight loss (or lack thereof). A couple of months ago I went the whole month without loosing any weight (or maybe a pound or two at the most), then I suddenly dropped 7 or 8 pounds the next month. Now I’ve been sitting at 223 or 222 EVERY morning this month and I just can’t seem to drop any more. What is going on? I guess I need to seriously start looking into what I eat and how much if I want to drop more. When I started, I wanted to get to 220. Then when the weight started dropping as fast as it did, I changed my goal to 200. I guess I got more work to do!

Anyways, it is Friday! I love Fridays, as it means I am closer to those two full days I can spend with my family. We’re hoping to take in a free art festival for kids tomorrow morning where they can make puppets, paint, etc. Hopefully the weather cooperates!