Week 45 - Day One: Discomfort

Last week I only bike-commuted for two days. I drove to work on Wednesday because I had a co-workers' birthday party to attend right after and wouldn't have had time to get home and change out of my cycling clothes, wash up, and re-do my makeup then get to the party on the opposite end of town on time. Then Thursday and Friday I had off (happy birthday, Canada!!).

Thursday morning I piled myself, my daughter, and a bunch of our stuff into the car and took off for the greener pastures of Calgary. Well, there's nothing "greener" about Calgary per se, but the draw was that my baby-daddy (my daughter's dad) lives there, and we had arranged that this would be his first weekend to take care of her all by himself. So I drove her to Calgary and dropped her off with her Dadda, then took off to the genuinely greener pastures of beautiful Canmore, AB. Nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, and only an hour's drive from Calgary, it was the perfect place for me to take some time away from parenting and have a real weekend off - even from the ups and downs of single-parenthood.

The weekend was relaxing, refreshing, and everything I could have hoped it would be. Of course, eating too much and not drinking enough water came with the territory. As a result of this, in combination with using the hotel's waterslide, pool, and jacuzzi, I managed to develop a brutal urinary tract infection by Saturday night. I spent Sunday morning in a Medicentre waiting room getting my diagnosis and a prescription for antibiotics, and managed to make the 3-hour drive back to Edmonton Sunday afternoon without incident.

However, when I woke up this morning I questioned whether bike-commuting would be a good idea. I've only managed to take three antiobiotic pills so far, so I still have some symptoms of the bladder infection - particularly the remarkably painful it-burns-when-I-pee syndrome - and given the way my body weight is distributed on Mike the Bike's saddle, I figured it might be wise to wait another day for the medication to work its magic before I get back on the bike.

So, I drove. Which isn't so bad because it's pouring rain outside today. The plan is to get back in the saddle tomorrow - a solid week since the last time I bike-commuted. Man, this is already shaping up to be a less-than-epic weight loss kind of month!