BURN, BABY, BURN

13 March 2003

I couldn't believe it when I looked at the odometer. Cindy and I make the same tour of Davis each morning. For weeks we had been doing it in 41 minutes at an average speed of 11.6 mph. One bright shining day I realized I was going faster (it was getting light and so I was better able to see the odometer as we biked). I pushed it that day and was thrilled when we returned and our average speed had been 12.1 mph and we'd done the 8 miles in 39 minutes.

For years I've been watching sporting events and hearing heartbreak when someone fails to break his own record by teeny fractions of a second. I've never quite been able to identify with that until now. Those tenths of seconds are starting to mean a lot to me.

This morning I was aware we were going pretty fast more than usual. It seemed we were hitting 13 and 14 mph most of the time and rarely dropping down below 12 mph. The knowledge of that made me push it more. Biking in the light, where I can watch my speed on the odometer, has become the best incentive for me to work harder. I even clicked over into the highest gear this morning--I rarely change the gear on the left side, but discovered that when I did, I covered more ground in a faster speed (my legs were starting to know that too).

I hadn't been paying attention to our average speed, but the closer we got to our starting point, the more I began to wonder what the average speed had been. I pressed the button on the odometer. 12.5 mph. Wow. I'd never sustained that speed for this long a time. The very knowledge of that gave me renewed enthusiasm and even though we were nearing the end, I put more muscle into it and the speed began to creep up to 13, 14, 15 mph. When we pulled up in front of the house, dripping with sweat, and panting, I checked the odometer and discovered we had averaged 12.9 mph and had covered the distance in 37 minutes.

Now that's a workout!

Speaking of workouts, I can't believe the new thing I'm going to investigate. No decisions yet, but it turns out that there is a Curves franchise, exercise for women, opening in the shopping center where I work. They are offering a special deal for joining and I thought what the heck--I have an appointment to go look the place over during their first week.

Now who in the world would have imagined that I would find myself looking forward to checking out an exercise establishment and thinking that it will be cost that will be the determining factor. This is a me I don't recognize.

I also went to a second WeightWatchers meeting today. Actually it was my first for the week--I didn't stay for the meeting here on Davis on Tuesday, but just went for the weigh in. Instead I went with a friend to a meeting in Sacramento--decided to see how the other half lives. I have to admit this was a really fun meeting. A lot more people, more people "like me" who are in the process of losing a lot of weight. (At least two people there had lost more weight than I have, which I found very encouraging.) The leader was a lot more dynamic and there was a lot more group participation in the discussion. I do like the leader here in Davis. She's very sweet and very sincere, but dynamic she ain't. I'm going to go back to the Sacramento meeting next Friday because apparently the Friday leader is even better.