RAGBRAI ~ My Cycling Challenge

So, it is  now early am on Thursday, the 18th of July, that magic “18” number again.  Tonight I am about to start on a new adventure, an adventure I was hoping to report I was starting 18 pounds lighter than my last writing...however, that is NOT reality.  I have to admit that I thought losing my “back breaking accident” weight would be relatively easy once I was able to be even moderately active.  I failed to acknowledge that I had never had a weight problem until I was over 40 years old and that in itself would make my weight loss challenge even harder.  I do want to report I have lost more than 10 pounds,  but less than 15 since my surgery in January, depending on the day.  Mostly, I want to believe that, with my increased physical activity, I am building more of the much desired, heavier muscle tissue and losing the lighter fat cells...but on closer exam, the bagel belly is still there & my inner thighs still touch which, honestly, grosses me out!  So, a big haha to me!  Some days I wish I wasn’t such a damn good cook and a lover of amazing, restaurant foods!  I am not a big sweet eater,  I don’t eat lots of ice cream, chocolates or fast foods...just foods like risottos, braised meats, imported cheeses plus, I am....(because of my insomnia) a late night grazer of pretzels, trail mix and...thanks to my mother, a real butter spreaderer on saltine crackers!!  

 

Anyway, I am now considering this next adventure my very own: Biggest Loser Challenge!

The adventure I am about to embark on is RAGBRAI (ragbrai.com), the longest, largest and oldest “touring” bicycling event in the world (not race or competition) since 1973.  This year we start on Sunday, July 21 in Council Bluffs on the Missouri river and ride across Iowa 468 miles to Fort Madison on the Mississippi River with 8000+ other riders. I have never participated in this event but several of my good friends from Salt Lake City have done it for many years and I am joining their team this year.  I am nervous, a bit scared and feeling challenged at what I am about to attempt.  It will be filled with long, hot, humid 50-80 mile days on a bicycle but with MUCH support.  Not only will I have the support of my team and SAG vehicle, but the support of my amazing friends, family and multitudes of other riders doing the exact same thing.  I think I am ready for this challenge and believe I can accomplish it’s entirety.  We leave for this adventure from Salt Lake today, the 18th...6 months to the day of my spinal reconstruction surgery.

My gratitude is plenty.  I am so thankful my back surgery was performed by one of the best neurosurgeons in the country and that it has healed perfectly, it feels better than ever... I AM TITANIUM!  I am thankful my husband enabled me to have the surgery and has supported my efforts to make this goal a reality.  I am thankful for my family and friends’ words of encouragement during my training, you have no idea how much your support is and will always be important to me.  At THIS moment, I am extremely grateful to my father, when he simply looked at me with that look of “I know you can do this, just be smart”...to my brother Eric, who is my inspiration, he ran, he biked and he walked beside me in 2009 through my first duathlon on my road to recovery from my depression after our mother passed, he helped me put my past to rest and continually sets a physically challenging example to me every day...to my sister-in-law Debi, who has so generously shared and allowed me a taste of “motherhood” of her wonderful children, always without hesitation and has encouraged me to be a better person...to Kevin, my nephew who has been like “my boy” since he was 3 or 4 years old, through the “elephant” phase, through his missionary years, through his TWO tours to Afghanistan, through my weakest years, he always made sure that his “Auntie Reese” was OK....Thank you!!  

Again, my gratitude to ALL of my family and friends is plentiful, you each inspire me daily in so many, many ways and I would like express to every one of you how much you have helped me become a better person today. I want everyone to know that each post I write will highlight different people and show you ALL the many grateful moments that touch my heart (if I tried to include everyone at the same time, in the same post, it would be way too long and wouldn't be as significant as you are to me)...Here I go, wish me luck & I love you...

My first day of training

April 19, 2013

Fortunately for me, my wonderful husband, David, enables me the ability to be a stay-at-home, step-mom, retired wife!  I had the greatest workout & energy today that I haven't felt in years (a little help from some Zimo, compliments of my cousin Blaine)... It was raining here so I started on the stationary bike for 1 hour, level 4, intermittent hills.  Then 1 hour on core building & stretching followed by 4 hours of deep house cleaning and laundry.  Yes, my housework has been sketchy for about 6 months, all starting with my bed confinement & subsequent surgery so, it was due for a good cleaning.  I also prepared a healthy fruit & veggie tray so that my snack temptations can be made with better choices.  But, there will always be a jar of nutella & whole grain newton fruit thins in my pantry to satiate my carb/chocolate cravings.  I am trying to limit my caloric intake to less than 1000 cal/per day to help with the weight loss.  By the way, my mirrors are very motivating...I certainly don't want to keep seeing "overweight" me in them, yuck! I must remember the body of 2005 me!

My gratitude today would be to my spotify playlist.  Music motivates me like nothing else, so a big thank you to Pitbull, Enrique, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Flo Rida, Prince, Billy Idol, Usher, Abba, Cascada, Nickelback, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Kings of Leon, Ne Yo, Daughtry, The Wanted, Michael Jackson, Madonna, and every other artist who makes me "shake that thang" and do my now infamous "dance walking" that I made up during the last few months of running restriction.  I'm sure the folks driving up and down Lancaster Road have had many a good laughs at the crazy lady that boogies while she walks with her head phones blasting, it is a sight...probably a very funny one too! LOL :)   I will now admit... that I dance around and sing out loud while my headphones are in, not only while working out, but also when cleaning the house. I really hope there are no u-tube videos of it.   It feels like I could be on "So you think you can dance";  I really look like the rejected bloopers that never aired, I probably should take a dance class and fix that.  I really am thankful that I can use music to get me pumped up and moving forward to reaching my goals.  I am thankful to also know that I can use my headphones while participating in marathons, you can't use them during Ironmans.  Thankfully, I haven't set one of those as a goal, yet....I need to learn to swim better before I can even think of that.

I am now hoping to have a restful sleep and not be awakened in the middle of the night by nerve pain & RLS from the now more intense exercise or my loud snoring husband!  Let's hope....

The 18th Day

April 18, 2013

I don't know what it is about the 18th day of the month but, for some reason it has mostly been good to me and it happens to be the day I have made some of the most significant decisions of my life.  For example, the 18th of May 2009 was the day I decided to change my life, leave the chaos I had gotten myself into in Salt Lake City and head to North Idaho for some intense soul searching and a new beginning.  The 18th of December is my mother's birthday, she is my true north, my rock, my world and I miss her every day.  The 18th of May, 2012 was the day my husband asked me if I would marry him and live a long, happy life together.  The 18th of January, 2013 was the day of my major spinal fusion surgery and the start of my healing process, I now have 6 screws, 2 rods and 2 disc "cages" in my lower spine. I am proof that humpty dumpty can be put back together again!  And now, the 18th of April, 2013 is the day I decided to try to run/walk a marathon every other month for the next year and finish this journey at the Boston Marathon in honor of the victims of the horrible tragedy that happened there this last week and in honor of those who helped, sacrificed, served, volunteered and rose to heroic levels that shone so brightly in the aftermath. 
 
Part of this journey will be my recovery from surgery and re-training my physical body to be able to run again, to bike again and to be mentally prepared for the pain, discouragements, joys and thrills along the way.  Another part will be my weight loss because sadly, due to my broken back since August of 2011, I gained a bunch of poundage, a shocking 166 lbs was the number the day of my surgery.  I was silently horrified and disgusted at the same time.  It has been 18 weeks (there's that number again!) and I have been through the humiliation of using a walker and a having a seat in my shower, painful physical therapy, and many attempts at exercising that sent my sciatic nerves into a frenzy.  I have also endured withdrawls from many months of pain medicine and the accompanying depression.   Now I am ready to have a new journey, to embrace my health and fitness and show all the disbelievers and encouragers that:  I can do this!   I want to begin my marathons near my home at the Coeur d'Alene Marathon on May 26, 2013, that is my first goal.  I have never done a marathon before and have always wanted to.  I have participated in a olympic distance duathlon in 2009 with my two brothers Eric and Chad, it took me just over 4 hours after only training for 8-9 weeks.  I would like to do it again in August of this year, under 4 hours this time and much more training!

Another part of this journey is going to be a year of grattitude and thanks simply for being alive and for having survived the first 45 years of my journey with some dignity, some sadness, some joy, some love, some pain, some abuse, some partying, some heartbreak, some beauty, some success, some dissapointments, some of many things and a whole lot of humor.  Today I want to start by giving thanks to my mother, Joycely Blackner Day Maynes!  She was and still is amazing to me.  She gave me, 8 siblings, 8 brothers & sisters in law, 30 nieces & nephews a wonderful life full of love and happiness.  She was married to my dad, Richard, 54 years and had so many friends there was standing room only at her funeral.  My mother taught me to be the woman I am today.  She taught me to be tough and to "endure to the end".  She would say things like: "there's no blood, you're ok", "get up & dust yourself off",  "tomorrow's a new day",  "boys are like streetcars, there'll be another one just around the corner", "you can do it", and every day she said "I love you".  In my eyes, there is no greater mom and if you knew her, you would nod your head in agreement.  She was a brilliant light that was taken too early in my opinion, just so happens it was on the18th day of February, 2006.  She taught me to cook, to clean, to sew, to work hard, to enjoy the little things in life, to be happy and to know sacrifice, to garden and preserve the fruits of my labors, and all the forgotten things that no longer get passed down from mother to daughter.  I can only hope that I can be half the woman, lady and wife that she was.   I will be forever & always be grateful and thankful that you were my mother, my rock, my world, I love you to the end of eternity...

I am writing these things simply for me and for anyone who would like to follow my journey, to encourage me, to doubt me, to push me, to help me, and even join me...everyone is invited!