An Active Weekend

This weekend was absolutely wonderful. First, I got some major quality time with my boo, and second, I spent so much time being active.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, which after the winter we had (including a mid-April blizzard), was much appreciated. It was so warm and sunny that it was impossible to not be outside.

On Saturday, I woke up around 8:00 and decided to hit the gym while Jesus was still asleep.

Today was bench day. I started off with a warm-up: 10 reps at 45 pounds followed by 10 reps at 55 pounds. I then started building up: two sets of 5 reps at 65 pounds, two sets of 5 reps at 75 pounds, and three sets of 3 reps at 80 pounds. Pre-injury (and in my lifting heyday), 85 pounds was the maximum amount of weight I could lift without a spot. So, I am pretty darn proud of myself that I was able to lift what I did today. (Had I had a spot, I could've done more weight and more reps, but I wanted to be somewhat conservative.)

Muscle memory must be real. These pecs remembered what to do.

After that workout, I moved on to close-grip bench. While the movement is similar, the grip is way closer (duh) to the middle of the bar, which means that the triceps are really worked; therefore, the amount able to be lifted is much less. But, I lifted pretty much what I did before my lengthy break: five sets of 10 reps at 55 pounds.

Today, my muscles are feeling like they did something yesterday.

After my trek to LA Fitness, I headed down to Harriet Island Regional Park, a beautiful area that borders the Mississippi River about two minutes from our house. It's also my new favorite place to run/walk.

I love the Wabasha Bridge, and the blossoming trees were so beautiful.

Everything is finally green!

In my pre-injury days, I loved running; half marathons were my favorite. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get back into it too much yet. I want to change that, however, so I decided to try Couch to 5K. (While I can run/walk on my own for 30 minutes -- shoot, I used to run for a couple hours at a time -- I thought it might be helpful to have the verbal cues of when to run and when to walk.)

So yesterday, I did the second day of the first week of C25K, and it went super well. I ended up going about two miles.

Shortly after I got home (and inhaled a turkey sandwich), Jesus wanted to head out for some more outdoor fun. We prepped our bikes and hit the trails -- again, down by the river.

I can't even say it without thinking of this sketch.

It was great; we rode across the bluff overlooking the river, and then we headed down a crazy-huge hill by our house. (I was riding the brakes nearly the entire time -- and also dreading the climb back up.) Then we paused a few times in the park to check out the water, the scenery, etc. We even rode down to Raspberry Island, a spot of land smack-dab in the middle of the Mississippi.

Don't worry: my helmet was buckled when we were actually riding.

Then we decided to ride further and headed into Lilydale. When we were a couple miles into that jaunt, I noticed a sound coming from my tire. I thought that maybe something was just stuck in it, so I stopped, bent down, and attempted to remove whatever it was.

Well, nothing was stuck.

Instead, my tire was leaking air.

Ugh.

We stopped, pulled out the extra tube, patches, and bike tools -- and attempted to change this darn tire. Thankfully, cyclists are the nicest people on the planet, and every single person offered to help. After far-too-long, we had the tire replaced (and our kind helper was well on his way), and we were pumping it up.

Unsuccessfully.

We could not get the tire to hold air.

And then it started to rain.

Finally, we basically said screw this, and I started walking my bike home (and likely ruining my clips on the two-mile journey) while Jesus rode up ahead (taking a "short cut" that involved three massive massive hills) to get the car.

Then, my phone died.

So, I was by myself. In the woods. While it was raining. With no phone.

Have I mentioned that I've been obsessed with Criminal Minds and My Favorite Murder? Yeah. Not a good combination.

Eventually, at the bottom of the afore-mentioned hugest hill ever, Jesus (in the car) and I met.

I tried filling up the tire with my foot pump today, and I still couldn't get it to hold air. We took it to the bike shop, and while the tech initially thought I was just super dumb since the shop pump was working, realized that once he put so much air in, it all leaked right back out. Something was wrong with the valve stem, and they are replacing the tube as we speak.

While we didn't get to attempt a longer ride today, I instead went to Pilates and did a kick-butt class this morning. It was a class with one of my favorite instructors, and dang, she made me sweat profusely. All she has to do is verbally cue (or even physically adjust) minor tweaks in my form, and I want to die -- in the best way possible. It was a great stretch, and I know I'm going to be feeling it even more tomorrow.

Getting back in the saddle (quite literally, in fact) has done such wonders for me -- physically, yes, but even more so, emotionally. I am in a much better place than I was even two weeks ago, and I am so thankful for that.

Yay, endorphins!

Peace,