Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Blessed Belly Butterflies

Life has been a little too good lately (the kind of too good that makes me wonder if something horrible is lurking around the corner). I've got all of my paperwork sent in to KU to get me all squared away for my practicum, which makes me positively giddy with anticipation. Where will I go? What will I end up doing? It's like Christmas with the added bonus of no awkward familial obligations.

Utah had a very unseasonably warm day yesterday, and because I'm the lucky kid that gets to go into work on Saturday, I could take off early and go on a bike ride. Bike rides= love. Well, for the most part. We watched all the stages of the Tour of California and it made me want to go pro. Not because I'd get to ride all the time or that I'd get paid the big bucks to wear spandex on a daily basis, but because they clear the ENTIRE ROAD for the races. No cars (except support vehicles) to worry about hitting you, so gone are the visions of slipping on some gravel and a nonobservant vehicle running over your road rashed body. It's like holistic prozac. Of course, there were plenty of wrecks that caused several broken bones and concussions, but I think I could deal with that if I knew I wouldn't have a car running over me. I wish police officers would spend some time road cycling so they'd have sympathy for us and start enforcing the three feet law on all occasions instead of just the ones involving someone getting hit by a car. This is a fantastic list of things you can do when you're driving to make sure people like me don't die.

Oh, and Mr./Ms. UPS person? You kind of defeat the purpose of having a bike lane when you park in it. Jerk.

So I saw this video and it inspired me to get into weight lifting seriously. With Bobby in athletic training classes, I decided to take advantage of his knowledge and have him design a training plan for me. For the first couple of weeks, in addition to bike riding, I'm doing some light resistance training. So light, in fact, I'm using just me and the occasional resistance band. Push-ups, sit ups, squat jumps. I understood the need to build a base, like I do with cycling, but I thought the first couple of weeks were going to be dull and minimally beneficial. I was so wrong! Squat jumps are the DEVIL. I only did three sets of ten reps, and my bum is so sore. Three sets of fifteen reps push ups (regular, not modified) is kicking my trash on a daily basis. Bob and Jillian would be so proud.

The relief society presidency from our new ward came to visit me yesterday, and our snow boards were at the top of the stairs, our bikes at the bottom, our trainer in our living room, and pictures of us surfing and the like around the apartment. They said they were tired just looking at everything. I sleep SO MUCH BETTER when I'm physically active though. Which is fantastic, because that's usually when my anxiety gets bad.

Speaking of which, I slept very well last night, but I also had a nightmare that happened the night before, and I think it's trying to tell me something. I had a dream that three individuals were trying to kill me. Those three individiuals?

The Jonas Brothers.

And off to work!

4 comments:

Me said...

Not to bash UT--but UT is HORRIBLE at the whole "share the road" thing. I admit though, that it is one thing in KS that has annoyed me. Yesterday I almost hit some dude on his bike who was riding in the left turn lane on 11th street--cause the sun was positioned just so I could not see the dude--and he kept riding forward even though there was no traffic, so I moved forward to turn left. But seriously--all I could see was sun glare--luckily he wised up and stopped--and then I was finally able to see him!!! AAAAGGGHHH!!! I hit the brakes. I know he was only following appropriate biking rules--but I had my hand up trying to block the sun the whole time--so I totally wanted to holler at him "look at my body language here--totally can't see you!!!" Especially cause I watched a kid get hit and thrown 25 feet across an intersection years ago cause of the same problem--sun glare (plus--he was crossing the road really late on the light--and riding across instead of walking). Totally threw me into PTSD!! So, I totally try to be careful and not cause such an accident--but I still wanted to tell him, "don't get too cocky there!!!"

Anyway--glad you got to go for a ride!

Mary P.

Beth said...

Um, that video is CRAZY AWESOME! I think bad share the road ettiquette crosses all state lines.

TPlayer said...

I was in Sacramento for the Prologue for the Tour of California. Did you see my pics? I need to write a new post soon. I'm glad someone else knows what I'm talking about when I talk about being there. It was crazy fun!

Matt said...

Hello, Keighty-

I feel funny trying to contact you through your blog, but oh well. I'm a reporter for the Provo Daily Herald and I'm writing a story about TAMN. I was hoping to talk with a few of her fans. Please contact me at matthewjreichman@gmail.com if you're up for it, and we'll arrange something. Thanks, I look forward to it!

-Matt