Self-Confident Friday

The past couple of days have been very busy! I attended the Yankton Area Mental Wellness Conference at Mount Marty on Wednesday and Thursday, and my husband was out of town for work. Because it was just me and the littles (Cohan is working with Grandpa), I had to skip my ride yesterday morning. I was right back at it this morning-although I was a bit slow to get going because I didn't set my stuff out before I went to bed last night!
A big difference from my prior two rides to today-heat! Both Tuesday and Wednesday were nice and cool-I wore sweatpants and a hoodie-today was 80 degrees when I set out to hit the trail at 5:40! This prompted a quick change of clothes before I headed out the door. Thankfully, once the breeze hit my face, I didn't think about the temperature for the rest of the ride.
One of the lovely parts of my early ride that I had forgotten about was waiting for me when I got to the park this morning:

I don't think I would have minded the sprinklers except for the fact that I had my phone and I would prefer not to get it wet-my old bike had a zippered bag on the front so it was a bit more protected than it is in my basket.
When I started my ride this morning, I was tired and it was 80 degrees so I gave myself permission to only ride on the lower part of the bridge (I did the same thing on Wednesday). I think I once said this in an earlier post, but I am going to say it again-always give yourself permission to shorten the END of your workout but not the beginning. If I cut or shorten the beginning of my ride, I can't go back in time and change my mind, but, if I tell myself I can shorten the END of my ride, I give myself time to change my mind. I was SURE I was going to cut the end of my ride short this morning until I crossed the bottom of the bridge. I convinced myself that I still had plenty in my tank and I could push myself to get up that long hill to get to the top. Actually, I did one better-I stopped half way up that slope to snap a picture that I wanted to take Tuesday and Wednesday. Both days I told myself that if I stopped I wouldn't be able to make it all the way up the slope. Today, I told myself that I could do it, and I did. This shot was totally worth the extra burn in my legs that it took for me to get going again:

 

I love the contrast of the dead tree silhouettes with the leafy living ones. I'm glad I finally stopped and got the shot. 

I have also been working on eating better and snacking less. I took some tomatoes and pea pods as snacks to the conference so I wouldn't eat as much junk. I did better on Wednesday than on Thursday but one day of better eating is better than no days. I'm just really trying to make myself more aware of what I am eating and how much. Small changes can gradually lead to big results!

Some other pics from my morning ride:

Camden had his first outdoor swim practice this morning so I took it as an opportunity to get another work out in. His practice was only supposed to be 45 minutes long and that seemed like a silly amount of time to drive home and come back. I took my water bottle and walked roughly 2 1/4 miles. Add that to my approximately 5 mile bike ride and I'd say my day is off to a very nice start!

No Rain On My Parade

After being woken up by rain this morning I thought for sure my ride was going to have to be put off, but when my alarm sounded at 5:30 I couldn't hear any rain. I had to drag myself out of bed this morning because I was tired from such a wonderful night with my husband celebrating our anniversary. We usually put off doing anything until the weekend after our anniversary but this year we decided there was nothing wrong with going out on a Tuesday night. I am really happy with our decision because it felt even more special than it has in the past. I will admit I ate too much but it is hard not to indulge when celebrating. We both had steak with salad and a baked potato and then we went to the Dairy Dock to share an ice cream sundae. We ended our time out with a walk across the Meridian Bridge which is slightly over half a mile one way. It was nice to get some exercise as well as go on a little romantic walk with my husband. It also helped lessen any guilt I may have had from the ice cream (or the movie popcorn and fountain pop we picked up on the way home).
This morning's ride was very peaceful. I could see the rain clouds and lightning off in the east which meant I wouldn't get to see a pretty sunrise, but the lightning was a pretty cool sight. My ride seemed pretty smooth and the only part of me that was sore from yesterday was my bum-it needs to get used to the lovely bike seat again. I am still completely amazed by the changes in the landscape in comparison to last year with all the flooding. The changes are quite astounding-I need to take some pictures so that I can post comparisons.
Now for some good news/bad news:

• Good News-I weighed less at the doctor than I did at home on Monday-I think that is the first time that has EVER happened! LOL
• Good News-I do not have a double ear infection like I suspected.
• Bad News-I am having some massive TMJ pain on the left side-the joint was incredibly tender and sore when she was checking it yesterday-not much I can do other than take an anti-inflammatory
• More Bad News-She has no idea why my hearing is muffled on the right side (I thought for sure I had an ear infection because of it). I am hoping this goes away soon as it is extremely irritating and I would rather stay away from doctors for a while-I have seen enough of them in the past few months!