Day 37: a revelation

This morning, I started my day off right with apple juice, homemade blueberry muffins (yes, I cook, too!), grapes & a nectarine.

Once breakfast was over, I was absolutely itching to get outside and get my bike on. I left around 2 p.m. and decided to go the opposite way around Ring Road, to catch a different level of terrain. From the library on, you can't tell when driving, but there is a steady incline and, quite frankly, it's a bitch. I can't wait till the day that I am so in shape that I can bike the Ring one hundred times and not have to exert any effort.

Anyway, I have to say that this was the MOST fantastic bike ride I have ever taken. I looped around and snaked through and went up and down and down to the Dell and did laps back and forth and then decided to be adventurous and do a bit of off roading. At first, I was nervous about the rocky terrain, but my mountain bike handled it like a champ. It felt really strange to ride through the grass and dirt and rocks. At one point, I got lost and had no clue where I was, so I turned back around and went up a different path. There was one really steep & especially rocky hill in my way, so I hopped off and walked it up. As I crested the hill, to my delight, I came face to face with a wild turkey! I stood completely still and just watched it and thought "Wow. I love summer. I love biking. I LOVE LIFE." And I don't even like birds. So it must have been the remnants of a biking high.

After that, I did a few more loops around the Dell. Now, earlier in my travelers, I had run into a few friends who riding around on a golf cart pretending to do work. Our paths crossed again in the Dell, where they proceeded to pretend to run into me. Then I caught up with them again during my next loop, and they took the golf cart right into the wooded path I had earlier traversed. Finally, I ran into them again up near the Woodland Commons. Stalkers. But it made me feel proud that I had been biking for as long as they were out. In total, I biked for nearly two hours today and probably went about 7 miles. I am also planning on going to the gym this evening and doing the rowing machine, elliptical and weights.

Oh! And for lunch (because I think food is important in the scheme of healthy things. My number one summer goal is to lose 20 pounds, and I think it is totally doable. I have already lost 5 since summer started, so just 15 more to go!): half of a grilled cheese with tomato, cucumber & tomato slices, a handful of goldfish.

Life is good. So so good. I am going to be sorely disappointed when I have to go back to dorm living and people start living here again.