Yes I know it should be Tour de France but that is not where I am biking. Today was Day 1 of my newest challenge. In honor of the Tour de France, MapMyRide.com has offered participants the chance to race against the professionals and challenge themselves to biking a percentage of the Tour de France miles. My challenge - 544 miles in 23 days. That comes out to just about 24 miles a day. Totally doable physically. Mentally - that may be the challenge - to make myself get up every morning knowing that I need to bike out to St. Joe's in Lino Lakes and back (or another route with a similiar distance).
As much as I love biking, I have yet to string together more than 3 days in a row. I tend to mix up my workouts to keep things fresh. Thinking about 23 days in a row seems like a long time! But I guess looking back at my 500 day workout challenge - this challenge will fly by. And so today I headed out for day 1 and hopefully a nice 40 mile ride.
First up, I rode to the health club to swipe my card because my ride is my workout and why not get credit for it - even if it technically isn't at the club. 3.5 miles down just doing that! And then I was off. The detour to the club shook up my route which led to some exploring and new scenery - which I enjoy. And a wonderful bonus that by the time I got to the dog park, I had an extra 7 miles already done. From there I chose to repeat my ride from last week (43 miles) - over to Centerville, around the lake twice and then over to Lino Lakes and St. Joe's (my turn for home point).
My route is not an easy one to follow as I mix paved trails and open road and don't seem to follow a straight line - probably because there isn't one that gets me from point A to point B. But to me that is half the fun - finding my way to where I want to go and relying on God to get me there safely. And once again that is what He did. No crashes, no flats, no injuries - home safe and sound. I give God the credit - He gave me the ambition to head out on my ride and He kept me safe. He also listened to my prayers and praises during my ride. I am thankful for a father and grandmother who are/were prayer warriors. They taught me that you don't need to be down on your knees, hands folded, head bowed and eyes closed for God to hear you. He is always listening - so don't be afraid to talk to Him. What a wonderful piece of advice that has made such a difference in my life. I can use my ME time during my workouts and talk to God. Once again today, prayers were said for those in my life that I felt need help, praises were said for my ride - my physical ability and the beautiful scenery. God even gets to hear about my geeky exercise moments. I guess you can call me one of God's geeks.
Todays geeky moment - right around mile 25, I was pedalling and glanced down at my legs. I have Popeye quads - at least that is what I call them. Thick legs - used to be all fat and now I have gained some nice muscle but they are still chunky. I guess I will never have swimsuit model legs - and I don't think I am meant too. But these chunky legs were pushing and pulling for all they were worth and moving me forward at an incredible pace - at least in my mind. I am continually amazed at how my body can push and keep pushing and not be exhausted. I am also amazed at how often I am able to laugh at myself during my workouts. Things that I can now do or attempt to do that I never would have thought I would do - usually are not done with the most grace or professional form but I do it nontheless.
At times I think that some people hear about my geeky moments and think "what's the big deal?" But I hope that some people hear about them and are inspired to try something on their own - thinking "If Shari can do it, I can too." The farther I continue on my journey the more I realize it isn't just for me. God has used me in so many ways along my journey - and I love when people tell me about how they have been inspired by my actions. I would love for everyone to experience a journey like mine - a chance to change physically, strengthen mentally and grow spiritually. And so I will continue on my journey - and this chapter of my journey is titled "Tour de Lino Lakes." Today it started with 51 miles. Hopefully by chapters end, I will have pedalled my 544 miles, mentally met my challenge of biking every day and discovered something else new about myself along the way.
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