Day 67: the longest road

Before heading out on my customary night-time bike ride, I decided to shuffle up ye old iPod and make a new mix entitled "Work out." What was on it? 30 or so tracks of Morgan Page and David Guetta remixes. I'm okay with it.

I knew I wanted to continue the trend of biking at least three times around the Ring, but I also wanted to add an element of challenge to the course. I want to build myself up to doing more and trying harder, because I know that when I am biking, the best part of the ride is the pain. Not that I enjoy it or look forward to it by any means. But if my muscles aren't hurting, they aren't being used enough to make a difference in their strength and endurance.

When I first started biking, I used to think that going to the left was easier than going to the right on Ring Road. My opinion has since changed. Although going to the left is one long hill and definitely wearing, going to the right might be more difficult in terms of terrain, yet I enjoy it more. There is a short hill near the police station, then another one in between Chestnut and Maple Ridge and one final boost uphill to the top of campus. And it's all downhill from there!

Tonight, I mixed things up by going down to the Dell and doing a lap in between every circle around the ring. I want my body to get used to going up hills more frequently. I want to build that strength so I can tackle all of the hills I have so hated for the past two months. I want to be able to conquer the hill in Martha's Vineyard that mocks me with the memory of its incredibly steep incline. I want to go there again and say Bring it on, hill! and then school that bitch.

I really really enjoyed my new workout mix. And there weren't as many bugs out tonight. It was still very humid, though. The air was heavy. I was sweaty. But it felt good. So good.

I keep getting this strange numbness in my legs, though. Tonight was worse than usual. I definitely need to remember to stretch before and after biking. I think it might have something to do with the way I am shifting my weight or perhaps might be related to my [poor] posture. Whatever the cause of it, it is a strange sensation. At first, it feels like it's falling asleep. Then the foot feels a slight numbness and then there is a grinding pain in the hip. It alternates hips regularly. I don't get it.

And, to continue the trend of me being an emotional rollercoaster, I am happy to report that the jeans I bought at the beginning of the summer are legitimately too big for me now. As in...my underwear hangs out the top of them and I have sag-ass. This is awesome. What is not awesome is that they are like the only capris I own.

PS: This is my favorite song right now. Pass it on. Morgan Page - The Longest Road