Sore

WEATHER THERE: sunny, -4C (-7C with windchill), 8 km/hr cross/headwinds
WEATHER BACK: cloudy, 2C, 22 km/hr cross/tailwinds

As my daughter might say: I'm sooooooore!

I don't really have any hobbies, sadly. Ever since grad school, and especially since becoming a single parent in grad school, I haven't had the time or money to really be able to do much of anything fun. I go out to movies whenever I can, and I read whenever I can, but for the most part I have ceased to be a remotely interesting person. That kind of sucks. So I decided to change that - I decided to join a recreational dodgeball league! It was either that or softball, and since I don't really know how to play any team sports and never have in my life, I figured the learning curve would be more manageable for dodgeball. Also, it seemed like a lot more fun!

My first game of the season was last night. Turns out - I suck! But there is a lot of room for improvement, and by the end of our one-hour match I made a couple good catches and got a few people out. It might take a while, but I'll get better with more and more practice. Nothing but better from here, I say!

The downside is that even before the end of the game I was sore. I threw out my left hip because of the weird way I throw the ball with my right hand, and by the time I got home from the game last night I was limping and feeling pretty stiff. It only got worse overnight, as my right shoulder started to seize up as well. This did not bode well, especially since I had planned for today to be my first day back to biking since that short spate of nice weather we had in mid-March. Despite waking up with aches and stiffness all over, I determined I'd stick to the plan, and I biked my daughter to daycare with the trailer before biking to work this morning.

Ultimately, I'm sure the exercise actually helped with my soreness and stiffness, but man did my commute-time suffer from my stiff-and-out-of-shape-ness! It took me a solid 30 minutes from daycare to work, and although there weren't a lot of bike commuters out this morning, I did get blown past by a cyclist on campus who put my palty 16 km/hr to shame. And I was working for that! Blargh! Ahh well. The more I bike, the easier it'll get. And the more I play dodgeball, the better I'll get at that - and less sore, too. The point is that I'm becoming interesting again - I officially have a hobby! Hell, maybe even two if you count biking! Despite the soooooore, this is turning out to be a mighty fine personal development . . .

Why, Yes, That IS Sweat Pooling in my Underwear

WEATHER THERE: clear, -7C (-11C with windchill), 9 km/hr cross/tailwinds

WEATHER BACK: clear, 3C, 6 km/hr cross/headwinds

Ahh, it's good to be back indeed! It's relatively mild out, so all I have to wear is a hoodie over a thermal turtleneck, some thin running gloves, and a scarf covering my ears. The days are already getting noticeably longer, inspiring sweet hope in my heart that the long, dark days of winter are over.

The downside to the mildness is that the epic dumping of snow we had earlier in the month is getting mushy. Not slushy, which squishes away as cars go over it and quickly melts into nothing. No, it's mushy - the kind of "brown sugar" (a far too kind euphenism, in my humble opinion) that cars sink through to the ice sheets underneath, and that packs into even the knobbiest of tire treads and turns everything heavy and slick. My tires turn into heavy fluffy caterpillars when I bike through that stuff, and it's often difficult to maintain control because as I sink through the snow it tends to push me this way and that. Cars fare no better, really - just last night, I saw a City of Edmonton 1/2-ton truck spinning its tires and sliding around on the road right in front of my house. That big truck was stuck - in the middle of the road, where it's the easiest to get around - for several minutes before it finally got out and made haste to a busier, clearer road. I haven't tried moving my car out of the parking spot in front of my house since Saturday, and I suspect that when I try to go to a movie tonight with a friend I won't be able to get my car out at all. This should be interesting.

The good news - I guess - of this mushy terrain is that it's one hell of a workout to try to bike through, especially for someone who hasn't exercised in three months. These first two days of getting back on the bike have been killer! My muscles ache, I pant until I can taste iron in my mouth, sweat runs in rivulets down my back (hence the title of this post), and by about 8:00 pm I'm ready for bed - though, by the time I actually try to go to bet at 10:30 I'm wide awake! At least I can take comfort in knowing that if I keep this up, I'll be back to my bike-riding fitness heyday in no time. Goooo cardio!!

And Then . . . And Then . . . And Then . . .

This blog mocks me. Healthy Biker is a cursed moniker that has rendered me neither healthy nor a biker. Now, I am The Car-Dependent Invalid.

Okay, okay, perhaps that's overstating the point. Nevertheless, it seems like every time I vow to get back on the bike something happens to interfere with those plans. For instance:

Despite still suffering remnants of a mysterious illness that no x-ray, ultrasound, or blood test has yet found a name for, I vowed to get back to bike-commuting after the Christmas holidays. I was out of town for two weeks and - as per tradition - put on about 10 lbs of holiday cheer. As such, I felt pretty motivated to get back to eating like a human being and exercising regularly in January. This is something I haven't done for a while, actually, because of the aforementioned Mystery Illness. So, for my first day back to work on January 10th, I was all ready to hop on the bike and go.

AND THEN . . .

Photo by John Lucas, edmontonjournal.com

Snowmaggedon. Snowpocalypse. Whatever you call it, it was quite the snowrdeal. 30 cm of snow fell the weekend of January 8-10. I didn't leave my house at all except to shovel for three days. When I did try to take the bike out on Tuesday to see if I could get through the accumulation, I couldn't get farther than two blocks without getting off my bike THREE TIMES to walk it through impassable snow drifts. FINE! I'll have to delay bike-commuting for another week or so while I let the city clear this up a bit. So maybe I can get back on the bike on January 17th.

AND THEN . . .

Ed Kaiser for The Edmonton Journal

More snow!!

This past weekend we saw another 20 cm or snow. For you metrically-challenged out there, the 50 cm accumulation that we've seen over the past two weeks means we've had about 20 inches of snow. That means I've been spending most of my free time either shovelling, staying indoors and going stir-crazy with my daughter, or enlisting the help of neighbours to help me push my car out of wherever it's stuck. The roof of my house is collecting ice dams that are causing major ceiling leaks. I can't bike because even the main roads are so icy, snowy, and laden with snowbanks that there is no safe way to get to work. There might not be for quite some time. My car just spent 30 hours of the past weekend stuck in deep snow because I fish-tailed into a part of the road that hadn't been cleared, and that's how long it took for me to wait for a tow truck to arrive. All this had led me to the same question I ask myself every winter, but now more than ever:

My ceiling leak - the first one.

WHY THE F%&* DO I LIVE HERE?????

As soon as I'm actually able to ride again, I will post more. Until then, I'll wait impatiently for the city to clear the roads and people to clear their sidewalks so that maybe, just maybe, I'll actually get a chance to ride this winter.

Illness - Day 38

Seriously, Body, WTF?

It's been over a month since I was first afflicted with my strange illness. It was pretty rough for the first few days, causing a generally-non-medicating person to down the maximum dosage of my prescription painkillers every day. After the first few days it's been fairly mild, and I have to say that it's been quite a while since discomfort has kept me up at night. Still . . . after two courses of antibiotics, X-rays, ultrasounds, blood tests and urine samples, I am no closer to an answer as to what this actually is/was. And worst of all, it's not completely gone. Just last night and even this morning I've had a few pangs of pain. So what gives?

I'm about to head out of town for the holidays, so I haven't visited the doctor again since finishing my latest two-week course of antibiotics a few days ago. I'll do that when I get back, at which point he may suggest that the next step is IV antibiotics as an outpatient in a hospital. For how little this illness is currently affecting me, the investigation and treatment sure seems to be taking up a lot of my time! Good thing I don't have to pay out of pocket for all this - thank you universal healthcare!! xoxo (That's right, I'm making out with universal health care, deal with it.)

The last time I saw the doctor he told me to avoid bike-commuting for the time being. Despite for the most part cautiously heeding his warning, I did go for a 8-km round trip ride to the bank about a week ago just to try out my new studded tires. It was AWESOME! I fishtailed a couple times, but for the most part I felt more steady on my bike than I have in my car on these snowy roads. I was dismayed at how out of shape I was, though. MAN, riding in the snow sure takes it out of you! Especially when you haven't exercised in a while.

When I get back from the holidays I'm getting back on the damn bike. Clearly, not biking hasn't made my illness go away, so I might as well take a stab at whether biking will help me out. Research has demonstrated that exercising through illnesses such as colds can boost our immune system and that being sick doesn't impact our exercise performance. So, who knows? Maybe getting back in the saddle is just what the doctor ordered . . . except he didn't . . . but I'm gonna do it anyway!

Today is my last day at work before the holidays, and then I'm off until the 5th. So long, suckers!! That is to say, have a fabulous holiday season and a wonderful new year, and I look forward to joining the ranks of my fellow winter bike-commuters again in January!

Keep it real, my friends. And have a safe, warm, and happy holiday.

Illness - Day 23

As much as my lovely pain-y goodness has decreased substantially since the first few days of illness, these damn symptoms will not go away. I went back to the doctor to complain that the treatment so far isn't completely working, though things have improved. He ordered some more blood and urine tests and x-rays as well as an abdominal ultrasound. The tests came back suggesting some kind of kidney infection, so he prescribed a two-week course of antibiotics to kill that off. I've started on those, but my symptoms are still not completely gone. Hopefully by the time I'm done with the antibiotics it'll all be over. Still, my ultrasound appointment isn't for another 9 days, so there's also a part of me that's hoping there's more to this story that we haven't figured out yet given that my symptoms are atypical for a kidney infection.

I was halfway out of the doctor's office when I turned around suddenly. "I'm a bike-commuter, and since I'm feeling a lot better do you think that it's okay for me to get back on my bike yet?" I asked hopefully. The doctor thought about this for a moment, then said "Well, you are ill, even if you don't always feel that way. Also, I'm worried that the seating position on a bicycle might exacerbate some of what's going on there. This is a pretty virulent strain of bacteria that you have." Damnit! No bike-commuting yet.

I did find one little trick to get in a bit of exercise, though. I've just discovered that I can park my car at a public park about a 3.25 km (~30 min) walk from the university for free. So I park there, walk the rest of the way to work, and then walk back to my car at the end of the day. It adds almost a full half-hour to my commute each way, but at least I get an hour of exercise and a solid 6.5 km walk in each day. That's a whole lot better than nothing at all! And walking is so low-impact I can't imagine it being deleterious to my health! Don't I feel clever . . .

Pleurisy - Day 8

In my last post I noted that I've been tentatively diagnosed with pleurisy, an infection of the outer lining of the lung. I was put on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory painkillers to help with this, and I was also given a one-week trial pack of acid blockers by one doctor who was convinced it was not a lung issue, but rather a stomach issue. I've been taking all of these drugs consistently, even though I'm fully convinced it's not a stomach issue (I mean, really, stabbing pain directly under my left breast and in my upper dorsal rib cage that is worsened by breathing but unaffected by food/water intake is a stomach issue?? But I digress . . .).

By the middle of last week I was starting to feel a bit better. I was well enough to get my daughter back from her father, who was taking care of her during the worst of my illness. I shoveled my walkway on Thursday, and in anticipation of eventually getting back on my bike I took it into Revolution Cycle for winter tire installation and a tune-up. I went back to work on Friday.

My shoveling handiwork, and it's already snowed again - winter has arrived!

Perhaps all this optimistic activity was a bad idea, because overnight on Friday I was awakened with severe pains again. I was unable to fall back asleep because the pain was quite intense, so I spent the rest of Saturday exhausted and fighting dull chest aches punctuated by a couple waves of moan-worthy pains. Uh oh. It's back. Shitballs - and I thought I was getting better!

My daughter in her snow suit, pink toddler-sized balaclava, two layers of mitts, and snow boots. She's super-impressed.

Despite having finished my course of antibiotics and starting to feel worse again, my parental guilt pushed me to suggest a short outing to the park with my daughter today. After all, yesterday had been a "pajama day" that nearly drove me crazy because all I wanted was to nap but all I got was a toddler demanding my constant attention and energy. I thought life might be better if I wrestled her into her snow suit and took her to the park to burn off some of that energy. Besides, it might be a good test to see how my lung would hold up in the cold air.

Yep, still painful. And wrestling her into her epic snow outfit was really not worth it. She didn't even want to get out of the stroller, I basically had to tip her out to force her to play a bit. So, I just did a lazy two-block round-trip walk to the park and pushed my daughter around on the swings, being out of the house for a grand total of 45 minutes, and this caused some sharp chest pains. This was nothing compared to a 30-40 minute bike commute each way to work. Sigh! I want to be well enough to hit the road again! Hell, I want to be well enough to have the energy to do something other than sit on my ass and watch TV.

The new studded tires, just waiting to be tried out.

Man, I can't wait to try out those kick-ass studded tires . . . but it looks like I'm going to have to wait a little whole longer yet.

Pleurisy

Gather round, children, and let me tell you a little story. A terrible, terrible story.

I spent some time Saturday afternoon doing some grocery shopping and getting ready for a Bad Taste Party - you know, a party where people dress up in ridiculously offensive costumes and have a great time. While I was shopping I started developing a bit of a headache and my joints started feeling a bit sore - that achey body feeling that sneaks up when I'm either getting sick or that lingers while I'm getting over an illness. By the time I got home, I was starting to notice some discomfort in the left side of my chest. No biggie - I got ready for the party, packing an overnight bag in case I needed to stay over at my friend's house (yay, not having to come home at a decent time to relieve a babysitter means that I can actually drink at parties!).

At the party I was amazed to find that not only was my Bad Taste costume matched by someone who had come up with the exact same idea, but I was floored to discover that two party-goers managed to out-Bad-Taste me! I was thoroughly impressed, and thoroughly grateful that cameras were not allowed at this party. I spent the night joking and talking and partaking in libations, but all the while the pain in my chest grew and grew. By the end of the night I couldn't stand and chat in the kitchen with the other guests - I leaned heavily on the granite-topped island and rubbed at the pain that was spreading around my ribs into my back. I grew paler and paler as the pain increased.

"You don't look well," my friend told me after we said goodbye to the last party guests and headed upstairs for bed. She made up a hot water bottle for me, which I hugged greedily against my sore body, and offered me an over-the-counter acetaminophen painkiller with codeine in it. I downed the maximum dosage and gingerly tucked myself into her comfortable guest bed, pressing the hot water bottle against the ever-increasing pains. Despite being exhausted, and despite the codeine pills, the pain made it difficult to fall asleep, and when I did finally slip into slumberville I awoke three hours later with stabbing pains in my chest, back, and shoulder. I took more painkillers, but it took another two hours before they kicked in well enough for me to catch another measly couple hours of sleep. This wasn't good.

In the morning, my friend convinced me to see a doctor, and that I promptly did. The pain level was still increasing, and my breathing became restricted and shallow as every normal inhalation resulted in stabbing, crippling pain. Over the next two days I would see a total of four different doctors, get lab and x-ray tests done, and be given several possible diagnoses ranging from acid reflux to kidney stones. By the end of this nightmare, I was finally diagnosed tentatively with pleurisy - an infection of the protective lining around my lungs. It can cause excruciating pain, especially on inhalation, and it may have been precipitated by the sinus infection I was rocking two weeks ago.

I've been on antibiotics and prescription painkillers since Sunday - the day that a momentary lapse in self-medicating caused a couple hours' worth of pain I can only describe as similar to a strong labour contraction that never let up. It was crippling, I could barely breathe, and when I started to cry from the pain the involuntary gasps for air that my body took in between sobs left me feeling like I was being stabbed between the ribs each time. This caused more painful strangled sobs, which led to more awful gasps of air that led to worse pain, and so on and so on. Luckily, I did eventually arrest this terrible cycle, and within a couple of hours the painkillers kicked in. Nevertheless, I arranged for my daughter to remain with her father in Calgary while I recovered, and I continued to stay in my friend's care in case an emergency trip to the hospital was necessary.

I've missed two days of work now, and I will likely be back to work on Friday. I'm still in pain, but it's become manageable with medication and rest. The big question now is when I'll be able to get back on the bike. After all, the whole problem is my lungs and - well - the whole act of breathing. As the temperature drops to wintry freezing levels and I spend more and more days sitting on my ass "resting", I know that getting back on the bike again will be a slightly punishing experience on my lungs. So, when will I be able to do that again? From the vantage point of this moment, sitting at my computer and feeling the rumbling of my inflamed lung tissue rubbing against itself with each breath, having to press firmly against my chest to stem the pain that still comes in waves, I'm thinking it's not going to be this week.

We'll see what the future holds. As I continue to recover and regain my capacity to breathe properly again, I will let you know when I'll be able to get in the saddle again. Until then, I'm afraid this blog is likely going dark.

So long, my friends. I will see you on the other side!

Recovery Period

WEATHER THERE: sunny, 3C, 8 km/hr tail/crosswinds

WEATHER BACK: sunny, 14C, 8 km/hr head/crosswinds

Last Friday:

"Are you ready to get your ass kicked?" my friend asked me as she helped me collect two pairs of hand weights, a floor mat, and a step with two risers.

"I was born ready," I responded. We set ourselves up in one corner of the gymnasium, surrounded by 33 like-minded people trying to get fit over the lunch break. We only had forty minutes, so every moment would have to count. I felt ready, I felt prepared.

I was not.

In fact, nothing could have prepared me for this. It was gruelling - the only moment that we stopped from doing squats was to switch it up into lunges. We did all this while doing presses, rows, and curls with the hand weights. The instructor further demanded that we then lift one leg, and do it all on one leg and then the other, to really drive home the punishment - oh, and I guess also to engage our cores. My eyes stung with sweat. My friend and I would stare at each other with horror and disbelief - and even a touch of anger - clouding our faces as we sat out repetitions fifteen through twenty. My entire body was jelly by the end - and my poor, large, inefficient thighs got the worst of it.

I figured joining a resistance class once a week over lunch would be an excellent work-out addition to bike-commuting three days a week. Three days a week I'd get in some cardio, and one day a week I'd do some weights training. Sounds well-rounded, doesn't it? It didn't occur to me that the resistance class would be like a bootcamp. I also didn't realize it would be a whole lot of lower-body resistance work, which can be problematic for me with my bad knees. And not just that - it can interfere with my bike-commuting, as I found out this week.

Luckily that class was on a Friday, and I had a whole long weekend to recover from the horrors of those damn squats and lunges. I managed to bike home Friday afternoon, but the healing of the thigh injuries hadn't fully begun at that point. By the time I woke up Saturday, I couldn't walk without locking my knees to prevent putting any weight on my thighs. Sunday, it was even worse. I stretched and massaged my thighs daily, but to no avail - walking, going up and down stairs, bending down to change my daughter's diaper, even the act of sitting down were all made virtually impossible by the pain I was in. On the holiday Monday I started being able to unlock my knees, but just barely. Tuesday, I decided to skip out on bike-commuting for the day because I was still hardly able to walk, and I know that cycling uses a whole lot more thigh power than walking does.

Finally, today - five days after the original trauma - I got back on my bike. It was okay - I felt a bit out of shape, a bit rusty, and I made sure to cycle one gear lower than I usually do because my regular gear scheme was too much for my still-aching thighs. I made sure to do a bit of extra stretching once I got to work. Oh, my poor body! What have I done to you?

I keep reminding myself that the good news is that all this pain means that I'm building a lot of muscle in those thighs, and that will give me added power in my cycling efforts. Maybe hills will become less daunting now. Maybe I'll start walking around with proper cycling thighs - massive, muscular, intimidating. Hmm . . . yeah, maybe that last part is less desirable . . . but still, there IS an upside! I'll just keep my eye on that upside while I wimper and massage cooling gel into my aching thighs tonight.

Slog

WEATHER THERE: sunny, 5C, 15 km/hr tail/crosswinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 15C, 26 km/hr headwinds gusting to 40 km/hr

I'm tired. My motivation is low. It's windy and chilly outside today, and all I want to do is curl up with a hot chocolate and a book while wearing pajamas, and in this way spend the entire day to myself. My mind keeps bouncing between my different priorities - working on my dissertation (reading, writing, analyzing, thinking, creating, organizing, editing), trying to deal with the behavioural problems that are starting to show up in my daughter, and somehow finding whatever remains of my productivity to meet deadlines at work. It's a slog.

And riding home into strong wind, swearing under my breath the whole time, is not a great way to end the day after all that. Oh well - it IS only thirty minutes of my day, I can handle it. And besides, after coming home to a hot dinner, a nice tea, and a hug from my daughter, everything seems a whole lot brighter. And, I have to say, it DOES help knowing that I don't have to go in to work tomorrow! Oh part-time job, I love you!

Too Much Information

From http://thegloss.com/beauty/the-winner-of-the-worst-bikini-wax-story-contest-is/

I won't go into the details about how wondering to myself, "hey, I wonder if I should try getting a bikini wax before my trip to Mexico?" somehow turned into accidentally receiving an excruciating Brazilian wax. Nor will I go into the indignity I experienced as I paid a whopping $65 for the honour of said procedure, then waddled awkwardly back to my car like I'd just done a five-day stint at a working ranch. I won't even describe how terrible it feels to wear pants right now.

However, I will offer this word of caution for you, my fine friends: if you are thinking of undergoing some personal landscaping down yonder and you are a bike-commuter, ensure that you have alternate modes of transportation for a couple of days, because:

WAXING and CYCLING do not mix.

Just sayin' . . .

A Weird Week

After making homemade hot cocoa with dinner, and spending the evening in cozy pajamas under a fleece blanket while reading, I would have thought that sleep would come easy to me on Monday night. Alas, I had a bit of trouble falling asleep and didn't drift into slumber until sometime after 11:00 pm. By 1:00 am, I was awakened by cranky whining sounds emanating from my daughter's room across the hall. These little sounds came in fits and bursts, and when I would call out to her to see what was the matter, she would stop. Or she would ask for milk, which I would deny her because of her pesky habit of taking the lids off her sippy cups and spilling milk all over her crib. Or she would make some other kind of request that would similarly be shut down. This continued on an off for a couple hours, and between each bout of sadness I remained awake and listening for the next one.

"Moooommmmmy," I heard her wail. "Moooommmy, I'm all wet!" My gritty-with-exhaustion eyes turned groggily to my clock - it was 3:30 am, and I'd barely slept all night. I just wanted to ignore her and try to fall back asleep. "Moooommmmmy, there's pee in there!" Ughhh. I forced myself out of bed to confront the pee-soaked scene.

My daughter keeps doing this - pulling her pajamas off, pulling her diaper off, and peeing in her bed, then spending the rest of the night grieving the loss of her beloved (pee-soaked) blankie which I am forced to throw into the laundry. Because of this fiasco, I didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the night. Tuesday was a write-off. Even when I tried to drop my daughter off at daycare in the morning, I was called back 20 minutes later to pick her up because she was so exhausted and cranky that the daycare couldn't handle her. We spent the day at home, and I went through the day in a zombie fog from lack of sleep. And yet, strangely, I wasn't able to nap at any point.

The whole rest of my week was thrown off by this. Tuesday, typically a work day, was spent at home, so I didn't bike. Wednesday I met a friend for lunch then went into work for the afternoon where I sat barely functioning in front of my computer trying to look like I was being productive when I couldn't possibly have been. I didn't bike that day either. Thursday I took my daughter and myself for travel vaccines then stayed home for the rest of the day while we recovered (she had a slight fever). Once again, I didn't bike. And now it's Friday, and it's only my second full day at work all week, and I'm still feeling groggy and sleep-deprived (though certainly improved from Tuesday!). Using my sore vaccinated arm as an excuse, I didn't bike today either.

Wow. What a crappy week! I only biked once. I've been functioning at the cognitive level of the undead since Tuesday. And now things are starting to pick up - I have projects to complete at work, and a dissertation deadline looming in the next week - and this whole week has basically felt like a write-off. Sigh!

I know these kinds of weeks happen . . . to other people . . . Oh, okay, FINE! They happen to me too. And it's okay. Still, it's hard to feel good when I'm feeling this tired and unproductive. Huh. No wonder I hated my mat leave so much!

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!

Week 41 - Day Three: Cadence

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: n/a - got a ride home from my new man - any excuse to see me, I guess ;)
WEATHER: overcast, 9C, 15km/hr headwinds there
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt
NOTES:

I recently read a blog comment that suggested the ideal cadence is 80-100 rpm. I'm not really sure what that looks like, but it sounds like it's a whole lot faster than the cadence I've been keeping so far in my bike-commuting efforts. So, this morning, in an effort to ease the soreness that's been seeping into my thighs lately, reduce my worries about having overly-muscular thighs, and get closer to an ideal rpm, I tried biking in a lower gear and at a higher cadence today.

I found my ride to be simultaneously easier (i.e., my thighs didn't ache and burn with the effort) while it felt like a better workout (with my legs pumping faster, my heart rate felt sustained at a higher level for longer). Unfortunately, what suffered was my time - I took 25 minutes to get to work when I've been beating that by 2-3 minutes most days. It's not a big difference, certainly not enough of one to make me want to revert back to a higher gear again, but I have to admit it did bug me a little bit. Combine that with generally feeling tired and hungry these days (I'm gonna chalk that - along with my insatiable desire for sweets - up to PMS), and saddle sores that just seem to be getting worse and worse, and you've got yourself a bit of a cranky bike commuter.

I'm going to switch Mike's saddle onto Eastwood tonight and see if that makes a difference. Here's hoping! There's really only so much abuse one nether-region can take . . .

Week 40 - Day Four: Saddle Sore

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 22 min.
TIME BACK: n/a
WEATHER: clear, 14C, 4 km/hr tailwinds there;
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:

Eastwood, you need to behave yourself!

It's been almost two weeks that I've been riding Eastwood now because Mike is out of commission with a broken spoke that I have yet to replace. So far, I've been finding the ride remarkably comfortable (thank you, wide thick-treaded tires and shock absorbers!), and I've been surprised at how comparable the ease and speed of riding has been between my heavy mountain bike and my light, agile hybrid. It's made me wonder if I should just stick with the mountain bike permanently, especially because the shock absorbers and wide tires would likely make for a more comfortable, safer winter ride.

But there's a downside. I'm not sure why, but there's something about Eastwood that's giving me a saddle sore. Right where my left leg meets my crotch (nice placement, Eastwood), I have developed what is either a cut or a friction burn or something that freakin' hurts. Today, for the sake of experimentation, I wore a different kind of underwear to see if it might be the underwear band that's causing the problem, but so far I've found that not to be the case. It's something to do with how I sit on Eastwood's saddle, and how my riding position on this bike never stays where it should so I end up sliding too far forward on the seat. I've tried adjusting the seat so it tilts back a little bit, but then I just feel like I'm being slightly violated by the seat without it actually causing any difference in my sliding-forward tendency.

All I know is that this ain't working. I need to do something to fix it, but I have no idea what the problem might be. And I'm off to Calgary for the weekend starting tomorrow right after work, so I don't think I'm going to have the time to troubleshoot it in the next few days. And that really sucks, because this sore is making my daily rides very uncomfortable. Maybe I should try replacing Eastwood's saddle with Mike's, since Mike's saddle has never given me any problems in nine months of consistent riding. I hope that might help, because that would be a pretty easy solution.

Oh, Eastwood, you should know better than to mess with a woman's lady-bits . . .

Week 40 - Day Three: Dating Again

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: partly cloudy, 12C, 17 km/hr head/crosswinds gusting to 30 km/hr there; partly cloudy, 20C, 20 km/hr cross/tailwinds gusting to 35 km/hr back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:

I've been a dating machine. At least that's what one of my colleagues has called me. A couple of weeks ago, I ended up going on three dates in one week! I've gone on multiple dates with one of those fellows, and now within the past couple days we've decided to give exclusivity a shot. Goodbye first dates, hello fledgling relationship!

Dating as a single parent and a bike-commuter is kind of tricky. After work I bike home and arrive a half-hour later dressed in the most ridiculous "athletic" wear, often drenched in sweat. Then I rush to get my daughter from daycare and spend the next hour cooking, serving, eating, and cleaning up after dinner. Then I bathe my daughter, play with her a bit, read her some stories, and put her to bed. Now the real work begins: transforming myself from a sweat-encrusted, tired, single mom bike-commuter into a stunning, well-maintained, clean, and made-up fantasy woman. Well, okay, maybe that's a stretch . . . regardless, it takes some time and effort, damn it!

I typically rush myself through as thorough a shower as I can muster in the time I have, then I quickly try to fix up my hair and makeup a bit. And then I'm finally ready to go, and it's 8:00 pm, and between being up at 6:00 am and working all day and playing with my daughter and biking 16 km, I'm yawning already. Shit!

The good news about exclusively dating one person and getting to trust him is that I can invite him over to my place after my daughter's in bed. This saves me babysitting money and the guilt I feel whenever I spend time away from my daughter, and allows me to head straight to bed right after our date ends and he leaves. I like how this works out. Sure, it might be a lot to ask of him to always come to me, but luckily so far he's found it's worth it.

So, yeah, I'm tired at 8:00 pm, and the day after a date I find I'm that much slower and more tired during my commute, and sometimes the effort it takes to get date-ready at the end of a long day wears me right out. But you know what? So far, I'm finding it's worth it.

Week 39 - Day Three: Debbie Downer

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 11C, 20 km/hr headwinds there; a few clouds, 15C, 17 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:

"I've dug a hole so deep I'm gonna drown in my mistakes/
Can't even sell my soul 'cause it ain't worth shit today"

I've got this Billy Talent song in my head. Because I read meaning into just about everything, I've concluded that the reason this refrain is stuck on repeat in my head is that I still feel guilty about a mistake I made at work yesterday. It was a very simple and honest mistake that my colleagues have told me anyone could have made. Then again, it has the potential for serious repercussions, and anyone didn't make this mistake - I did. This led me to review the number of issues I've had over the year: the complaints made against me (which were rare, and said more about our service being severely understaffed than about me personally or professionally), and the time I was in danger of being sued. Last night I almost broke into tears as I lay in bed at night, reviewing all the things I wish I'd done differently during my internship year. But, luckily, the feeling passed.

I try to remind myself that my internship year is meant to be a learning experience, and the only way to learn a lesson really well is to make mistakes along the way and deal with their consequences. Still, I'm feeling bummed. I'm feeling a bit insecure about myself as a professional right now. I'm wishing things came easier - that I didn't have to learn the hard way, that I had more support here, that working full-time and trying to get in better shape and single-handedly raising a daughter weren't so damn exhausting. I wish I could eat cupcakes all day and all night and still lose weight. Maybe I should just try to find one of those magical wish-granting Genies to help me out right now. That'd be pretty cool.

Between yesterday's post and today's, I'm realizing that I'm feeling pretty tired, still a little sick, and just generally kind of bad. Of course, people have down days once in a while and I'm prepared to have mine. Still, even knowing that it's normal and that it'll pass doesn't really make it go away. Ahh, well, at least on days like these I can sympathize that much more with what my clients are going through. We all have our crosses to bear.

Week 39 - Day Two: Sick Again

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 22 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 12C, 6 km/hr headwinds there; partly cloudy, 17C, 6 km/hr cross/tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:

I spent the long weekend visiting family and friends in Regina. Between the long hours of visiting and spending time with nieces and nephews and the traveling with a toddler, I ended up stressed and sleepless and, ultimately, sick. Bleh.

Being sick the last couple of days has made the week kind of intolerable. Today, I turned to my colleague and said, "It's two days in and it's already a looooong week." Sigh! I'm looking forward to trying to catch up on some rest this weekend, and hopefully getting over this stuffed sinus.

Oh, the tiredness! The sinus clogginess! Man, I could use a vacation . . . or is this just the feeling of burning out? Guhhh. I need rest.

Week 38 - Day Three: Mechanical Failure

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: n/a
WEATHER: a few clouds, 17C, no wind there; cloudy, 17C, 20 km/hr winds later in the day.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:

One thing I noticed this morning was the dense moisture in the air after a hot summery day yesterday culminated in a thunderstorm last night. The lightning and rain moved on, but this morning it left in its wake the oppressive humidity that felt like a very mild version of Toronto summers. It brought me back to those days, running to catch a bus, slogging through a day of work, doing my grocery shopping in air that was sometimes so thick with moisture it felt like I couldn't breathe. Water would cling to my skin and make me feel sweaty even moments after drying off after a shower. There was something about that heat that I truly loved - the perpetual feeling of a warm hug, for instance - and there were other parts that weren't so charming - like always being sticky with sweat and moisture so I could never really feel clean.

Another thing I noticed this morning was the clankity-clank emanating from my back tire. I've heard this on and off for a few days, but I checked my spokes a little while ago and nothing was broken, and there seemed to be no other reason for that noise. Today it got especially loud and persistent, so I pulled over (hence the long ride into work this morning) and tried to figure out what was the matter. One of the spokes was broken and bent, clanking against the frame of the bike with every rotation of the wheel. I tried to unscrew it from the tire, but I couldn't get it to budge, so I did my best to tuck the bent spoke into place so it wouldn't clankity-clank the whole way there, and I figured I'd just have to fix it later.

After work, I ended up getting a ride home from a friend with my broken bike shoved inelegantly into her trunk. I figured it was probably bad news that I'd already ridden most of the way to work with a broken spoke, so for the structural integrity of the rim I should avoid riding on it again until it's fixed. So I got to be lazy! Which isn't so bad, especially considering that it was spitting rain here and there at the time we headed home. Still, it got me thinking: I'm going to have to make a decision about the fate of this bike. Should I fix the spoke, along with the broken teeth on the freewheel and get a new chain (all things I've needed to do for some time)? Or, should I ride Eastwood for now as I shop for a new bike, given that I was planning on getting a new and better bike at the end of the summer?

Hmm . . . decisions, decisions . . .

Week 38 - Day One: Blisters

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: clear, 15C, 11 km/hr tailwinds there; a few clouds, 26C, 9 km/hr crosswinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, tank top, zip-up hoodie (hoodie in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:

Oh, Mondays. Back to work, the daily grind, waking up to the sound of the alarm and never really getting as much sleep as I really need. It helps to wake up and know that I'll have a nice bike ride into work, especially with the weather as nice as it's been lately: by the time I mounted up this morning, the temperature was already in the mid-teens and there was hardly any hint of wind. It helps to feel the sun on my skin and get my body working first thing in the morning. It helps me to shake off the residual laziness of the weekend.

Actually, I wasn't lazy this weekend - not at all. I ended up doing at least a couple hours of yard work each day, trying to work around my daughter as she played on her new slide in the backyard ("Mommy, watch, mommy, watch, watch, mooooommmy - SLIDE!"). I was weeding and planting and digging and hauling, mowing and watering and playing with my daughter in the sprinkler - at least until she realized she was wet and cold and started crying. It was nice to stay active over the weekend while at the same time being able to rest my thighs - those large and ever-growing muscles in my legs that get so tired by the end of a biking week. It means that I was able to continue burning calories over the weekend, then get back on my bike this morning without my legs protesting. It was pretty nice.

The downside to all that gardening is the blisters. I have blisters on each thumb that are perfectly aligned so that they have full contact with the grips on my handlebars and end up stinging for the whole ride. Awesome. I tried repositioning my hand in different ways, but nothing allowed me a comfortable amount of control without the damn blisters getting in the way. Ahh, well, I've fallen off the bike and had to get back on to complete the ride, even when an entire side of my body was bruised - I'm sure I can handle a little blister or two.

Week 37 - Day Five: Too Tired

I didn't bike today. I know, I know - I FAIL!!

Actually, what happened was a little something we in the biz call insomnia. I woke up at 4:00 am today and couldn't fall back asleep. By the time my alarm went off at 6:30, my eyes were grainy with exhaustion and I could barely drag myself out of bed, even though I hadn't been sleeping. My muscles felt sore and tired as I went about my morning routine, and I decided that I'd take a break from riding today because I'm just too damn tired to get through it.

I am planning on doing some exercise over the weekend, at least. It's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous outside, so I'm planning to walk my daughter over to a French bakery (an approximately 7 km round trip journey) for a delightful lunch tomorrow, and I might bike her into the river valley on Sunday for a nice picnic. That would be another lovely time! So maybe it's okay that I have one lazy day this week - maybe that's kind of necessary. Especially after a night like that!

Here's hoping I'll be able to make up for lost sleep tonight. Ahh, I can't wait to get home!!