Bummer, Upper & Happy Father's Day!

I was a bit down before I stepped on the scale this morning.  I just got home from the mornings Jump Board Pilates class and discovered it would be the last class that sweet Laura would be teaching.  She’s decided to do some changing around in her life and won’t be teaching the early morning pilates classes.  Bummer!  I’m going to miss her sweet encouraging presence on my early Friday mornings.  But I wish her well; especially today and tomorrow during the Ragnar where she’ll be running 17 miles as part of a team.  Good Luck Girl!  She’s just amazing!

Photo: "Basketted Purple Bike"; Watercolor on 5" x 7" Paper
A Painting by me that was recently sold to a fellow cyclist.

But I felt quite a bit better when I got on the scale and found I was down 2 to 3 lbs. compared to last week.  Yep, the scale was tittering between two numbers.  Flashing back and forth with those red lights and trying to decide but I was happy to see the change!  YES!! Now THAT's an Upper!  I'm going in the right direction!  I’m now between 5 to 6 more pounds to lose till my goal weight.  It would be REAL nice if I could be down those 5 to 6 by the time I go back to Iowa for RAGBRAI bike ride (July 22-28); but we shall see or shall I say—time will tell.

I did however improve my stats in working out this last week...

114 miles cycling

5.1 miles running

35 minutes on the elliptical

And  

1 Jump Board Pilates class

I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of you Father's out there.  Go enjoy the day and go do something fun! Be it some fishing, cycling, or some other manly pursuits!  Have FUN!

A Quick Friday Check In....

With a great deal going on with a bike art show (the GalleryRoll) going on tonight, I thought I would just do a quick check in here.  After surviving another Jump Board Pilates class this morning.  That Laura is one sweet talking sadistic chick but she’s whipping me into shape.  Thanks girl!  I got on the scale this morning and happily discovered I’m down another pound.  Yahoo!  Now I’ve got 6 lbs. to go until my goal weight.  I’m getting closer and that certainly feels good.

STATS this week…

119 miles cycling

2 miles running

12 minutes on elliptical

&

one 55 minute Pilates class!

And check this out....

Yep!  I'm wearing "PINK".  Did I ever tell you that I have "pink" issues?  I don't consider myself a pink girlie girl.  But the sandals were on sale and they are comfortable and they go with the outfit that I'm wearing tonight.  So for the night, I think I can manage to put my "pink" issues aside for at least a few hours.

"Official" Climb Start? & Checking In...

This week on the Emigration Canyon climb a funny story occurred to a new riding friend.  I had caught up with her about ½ through the canyon after making sure all of the riders of into the canyon, and she told me this story…

 About 2 miles into climbing the canyon this guy pulls up along side her on a bike and asked her where the climb starts.  She says that it depends on where you start from but she tells him she’s been climbing since she left Sugarhouse Park where the BCC ride started.  No, he says where does the “official” climb begin?  She said he was saying it with a totally straight face when I asked if he was pulling her leg. She said he was totally serious and he didn’t seem happy with her answers.  We kind of laughed about it as we climbed the rest of the canyon.

"Petals on Petals"; Watercolor on 10" x 10" Paper that I painted this last week. 
You can see more of my bike artwork click here.

 At the top of the canyon, she pointed out which guy it was.  I guess he was running a bit late to join us to start from Sugarhouse and he was visiting from back east; at least that was what I overheard as he talked to another club member at the top where the riders regroup before going down.

It was about ½ mile down as we were heading out of the canyon that I pulled up next to her and while coasting along I said,” Excuse me but where does the “official” downhill start?  Are we there yet?”  We were laughing most of the way down the canyon.

It was later after the ride as a group of us were talking with this guy us, that I found out he was visiting for a library convention for the week.  The first day he arrived with his nice bike in tow, he had climbed Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons.  Those 2 canyons, one of which has been compared similar to a section Tour de France’s climbing, are serious climbs.  AND he did both in of those in one day!?!!  After a day like that of climbing, Emigration Canyon probably seems like a hiccup.  No wonder he was wondering when the “official” climb was starting!

But now the joke between my friend and myself is… where’s the official climb start.  She says that some mornings that just getting out of bed!

Checking in…

Good news, I am down another pound!  Yahoo!  I FEEELLLL GOOOD!  I now have 7 lbs. to go till my goal weight, and I’m feeling pretty good as I'm sure you've gathered.  I did do a great deal of activities for the week and here are my stats for the week…

105 miles cycling

5.10 miles running

36 minutes on the elliptical

And 1 class of Jump board Pilates!

 Yep, I’m back to the pilates and boy am I feeling it in the abs this afternoon!  Thank you Laura!  The fabulous pilates teacher that teaches the Jump Board Pilates Class early on Friday mornings.  The pilates place had a summer special and I thought it might help to get a more full body workout to help me along.  So I bought a group special of 10 and that should take me into July just before I leave for RAGBRAI.

Cinco de Mayo, Merchandise & Checking in

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  
Yep, that’s tomorrow.  I had a co-worker wish it to me as she was leaving the office.  She asked if I had any plans and I said,” Yeah!  Hopefully not slaughtering the Spanish language!”  I’m still struggling with the speaking part of Spanish.  I keep on trying to break that habit of using the French vowels.  Last Saturday afternoon, shortly after running with the bulls (see prior blog entry) I took an hour and half and just practiced speaking.  I got these two different CD with books from the library and went over the first few lessons repeating over and over and over again the words out loud till I actually kind of sounded like the voice speaking the language correctly.  This last Monday, the teacher did comment that I did sound better; like I was starting to catch on.  So this Cinco de Mayo, I may be working on practicing via CD’s on my laptop some more.

Example of "Allgood Amish Triangle" T-shirt
available at Zazzle.

Example of "Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tyedyed"
T-shirt available through Zazzle.

I got into RAGBRAI, this I found out on the first of May.  Between that and getting ready for a bike art booth of my artwork for Little Red Riding Hood, I’ve managed to get more things/ideas lined up for doing a little merchandising of my own art work.  I’ve set up t-shirts, key chains, and a messenger bag on the Zazzle website; at my store called AllgoodArt.  There's a couple of the t-shirts available above but click here to visit and see more.  Only had my store up a couple of days and I've already sold one shirt.  Cool!   I even sent out some emails to friends and people that have purchased my art and suggested some of these items would make a great Mother's Day gifts. 

Example of a Two-Tone Tote Bag I ordered some of.

I’ve also gone on to various other sites and designed/ordered various items such as; totes, bumper stickers, and magnets.  I’m hoping that by doing all of this I’ll be able to recoup some of the fees and other costs involved in RAGBRAI.  But worse, come to worse, I figure I can always see about peddling some of these items during RAGBRAI.  Why not a double opportunity of selling bike artwork to bicyclists?  It sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Checking In…

The Good News is…I was at the same weight this morning as last Friday morning.  I guess I’m okay with that; I would much rather have it the same than showing that it’s gone up.  I think I did pretty well and I logged in some good workout stats during the week- such as; 7.5 miles running, 87 miles cycling, and 13 minutes on the elliptical machine. 

More good news is…I’ve noticed that the usual Friday morning donuts; didn’t look as appealing as they usually do.  This morning, I cut the apple fritter in half and took it with coffee back to my desk.  I nursed the apple fritter along for a couple of hours and was tempted to throw the last bit away.  Sugar is losing its appeal which is always a good thing.  Now if I can just work on those late night munchies I think I would have it made.

May Day's, Running Bulls, & Month End...

Happy May Day!  Awww… the first of May and hopefully, those April rain showers will simmer down.  May flowers bring them on! 

This last Saturday I opted to go for a run outside than a bike ride.  While I was running along over to my favorite park, I turned a corner and I was in the midst of 100 other runners.  I felt really bad because all of them were passing me like I was standing still.  I was going an easy pace because I was planning on going at least 5 to 6 miles.  They were ladies pushing strollers that were going faster.  I almost felt like I was in the middle of the running of the bulls and I was waiting to get pulverized into mincemeat. 

I ended up going up on to the sidewalk just to feel a little more at ease.  A local running store was holding a free training run.  About a block away from my favorite park there was a water stop with a van advertising the shop.  Shortly, after the water stop they had the run turning around in the street and I was glad I was on the sidewalk.  I continued on and did a lap around the park where a bunch of Army ROTC kids were stretching out before they started running laps around the park.  I did the one lap and it was like I had the whole wide sidewalk to myself; plenty room to breathe.  As I headed back home from the park, the running shop was clearing away the water station and I was going along nicely at my own pace on a quiet street.  Awwwww… that was nice.  I managed 5.5 miles for the day.  It felt good.

Later Saturday, I was having a late lunch/early dinner and had thought I had broken my tooth.  I freaked a bit and couldn’t remember my dentist name, couldn’t find the number and was just freaking out.  That’s strange for me.  Then I calmed down and got to looking and thought it might have been a crown I had swallowed.  Waited and went to the dentist on Monday afternoon to discover that it was a broken filling and I would now need a crown.  Darn; another expensive crown that doesn’t go on top of my head!

Month in review…

1.)    Saving Money?  I’m at my goal pace plus an extra 4% more.  I haven’t sold any more paintings and I’ve been trying to build up a stock of paintings, cards, and etc. for the booth I’ll have in the Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride. 

2.)    Uncluttering my life?  Well, almost a quarter of my bedroom is stacked with donations that I need to take to the Good Will.  I need to see about taking a trip on some Saturday afternoon to drop it off.  But I still want to go through some more of my summer clothes before I do.

3.)    Reaching my goal weight?  As of last Friday morning, I was within 8 lbs. of my goal weight.  I’m feeling pretty happy with that.

4.)    Cutting down on eating out?  Nope! Sorry!  I’m SOL here!  I’m really failing at this one of late.  I’m beginning to wonder if I should throw this goal out and start from scratch!  Of course, it would help if I got my act together and cooked at home.  But I just haven't been in the mood to do that of late.

5.)    Do 1 Century Bike Ride?  Yep, got this off the list!  I found out this morning I did win the lottery for RAGBRAI.  So I’ll need to start upping my average mileage to prepare for 472 miles in one week.  In other words, I may have to plan to ride my bike every where by the beginning of July.  

Stats for the Month of April…

368 miles Cycling

19 miles Running

30 minutes on the elliptical

And

I’m now up to 21 books read for the year!

A Check In with Progress!

My temperamental scale was quite a bit more agreeable this morning when I got on but it could have been concerned for it's life being shortened too.  I was very pleasantly pleased to find out I was down 4 lbs.  Yahoo!  It's always nice to see progress.  10 more to go for my goal weight.  Yahoo!  Sorry, I may be going a bit overboard on the "yahoo's" but all my efforts are finally paying off and that's always nice to have happen.  Maybe I'll treat the scale to a new battery; maybe...

This last week, I've really started paying attention to food portions and have purposely been putting my food on smaller plates to make them appear larger than they really are.  A bit of a mind game with myself but it seems to work.  I will admit that I've been visiting the fast food places STILL.  It's not good of me but I will say that I've been avoiding ordering combo meals and ordering from the sides menu.  I've been ordering items such as the side salads and wraps.  But I will say I have fallen in love with McDonald's Real Berry Blends!  OMG!  I love the taste and they seem to be so filling.  I haven't checked the calorie or health contents on-line and I'm a bit afraid to because I'm not quite ready to give them up.  I treat it as a yummy whole lunch meal replacement.

My exercise had a little more variety this week.  I managed to get in some running and time on the elliptical machine too; not just the bike. 

My stats this week..

4.6 miles running

15 minutes on the elliptical

96 miles on the bicycle  

I'm planning on riding my first and only century on the bike tomorrow.  I just hope it's not too windy on this ride.  It's a relatively flat century (as flat as you can get in Utah) from Centerville, UT up to the Willard Bay Recreational area.  I did this same century about 5 years ago in my record time of 5 hours and 35 minutes.  But tomorrow, I'm not planning on doing it THAT fast.  I'm hoping to do it a little slower and come in under 7.5 hours.  I'll report on how it goes next week.  Till then keep your fingers crossed!