Everything I see says "Patience". I'm trying! I know nothing happens overnight. I know I've come a very long way. I know anything worthwhile, worth having, takes blood, sweat, and tears. I don't want it to be easy. I know it needs to be difficult.
I slept in a little this morning. Was up before 7, had some coffee, a banana and 20 oz of water. Drove to the HS track, they were having a yard sale in the parking lot and at 8:15 there were quite a few people out. Most were wearing sweats. It was around 52F, I had on my short running shorts, sports bra and tank. At first I felt a little silly with so little clothing, but was I happy that's what I wore by the end. It was cool, but thankfully so. I decided to set my bar low at 4 laps, one mile. I thought I would try for a full lap with no walking, but that wasn't going to happen. So I just ran half and walked half.
My chest was much tighter than it has been. I noticed while riding the bike last night I had a tight place between my shoulder blades about the size of a woman's fist. I still can't seem to relax enough so my breathing is easy. This morning it was real work to inhale as deeply as possible. It felt like there was a barrier stopping me from inhaling all of the way.
In the middle of my 4th, I thought, let's go for 6 laps. Shouldn't be too bad. My 5th and 6th laps were a Real Push for me due to my breathing issues. In the middle of 6, I decided to add another and wound up doing 8 laps for 2 miles. Even though it was half run and half walk I finished in 22 minutes. Did a little cool down and went to get my oil changed.
Came home, rested a bit, ate some breakfast Hubby cooked and took a 15 minute power nap. Didn't really sleep. I've done these relaxation techniques since high school. It may be close to meditation. I get very still, and empty my mind. I consciously go through each muscle group and focus on relaxing them.
Hubby and I worked on making adjustments to my saddle. I'm still not happy with the way it feels, but that too will take some time. I rode on the highway for the first time. Yes, I left my neighborhood. There are a couple of nice hills either way you go when leaving the subdivision. I opted to go left. More houses and a country store. I rode past the country store a ways, turned around, and headed back. There were many people out in their cars. Most were patient and didn't pass until oncoming traffic was clear. I thought about a friend of mine that has had 9 encounters with cars over the years while riding his bike. I hope I don't have any encounters, but I won't let the possibility keep me from getting out on the road.
Once I got back to the neighborhood, I decided to make one lap around. I was winded, but not terribly. More issues with the saddle still than anything. I took a nice cool down walk up to the end of my street and back. My thighs and calves were really tight and my right hip needed to loosen up. (Getting old hurts, but you know you're still alive!)
I jumped in my car to see how far I had ridden. The ride out on the highway and back was 2.3 miles and when I add a lap in kingswood, I rode 3 miles. Now I don't have an official time, but did those 3 miles under 15 (think it was 12 or 13) minutes. Not wonderful, but not too shabby for an ole lady.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna see if I can do several reps with the highway route. Maybe extend it a bit. There's another neighborhood (trailer park with .5 acre lots and wooded) just another mile from where I turned back. If I can get 12 miles in one ride soon maybe I'll try to join a group. Who knows, the possibilities are endless and only limited by me.
Now I need to go shopping and spend some more cash! Wonder the best investment into techno crap would be? I don't think I want to spend big $$ on a GPS thingy. Maybe I'll just get a stop watch, at least then I'll know how long it's taken me even if I don't know how far I've travelled. Should get some kind of bag to hook on the bike to keep my inhaler, etc handy. I feel like my mammaw, putting all my necessities in my bra. ;-)
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