Is someone getting the best of you?

Or are you getting the best of you?

As the description of this blog says, I decided to do this out on my ride today. We'll see how it goes.

I've been in an amazing exerciseless rut for about a year now. For several years of my life at the end of my twenties, I was a full on triathlete and runner. I raced in dozens of tris, several half marathons, a marathon (Boulder Backroads Marathon), and countless shorter distance trail races. Since I came back out to California on January 1, 2003, I have slowly declined my exercise amount to a level that is unacceptable to me.

I know that most people would think I'm insane. I'm 5'9" and weigh between 138 and 142 pounds depending on the day, and I can still run a 10k with zero training. It'll hurt, and I'll be a winded sack of shit, but I can get through it.

This morning I got up and hopped on my road bike for the first time in about two months, and two months ago was also probably the first time in two months. I guess I like to keep things nice and even. Anyway, as I was riding out Cohassett Rd., sucking wind and suffering from the mounting heat of the oncoming Chico August day, it hit me. I thought to myself, DUDE, you're out of shape, chewing air like a fat bastard who's been eating fried chicken and biscuits and watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the past ten years.

I hit the beautiful downhill that is the left hand turn at Keefer Road, and I started thinking about ways to get stoked again about riding, swimming, racing, and just leading a healthier lifestyle again. It's not that I do anything that is anti-healthy, I just tend to sit in front of my computer way too much (hey, I have to make a living, and it so happens that I run a design business). Claire and I are outside a lot, but we've spent more time lately on gardening, laying hardwood floors, and playing with dogs and horses than we have on running around on trails like maniacs.

I don't intend for this blog to be a training log perhaps as much as a way to look back on what I've done to connect my hands, feet and soul with the earth a little each day. I might run, ride, swim, flyfish, dig in the dirt in my garden, ride horses, or take my wife and dogs to the mountains. If I happen to bring a camera with me, I'll post photos over on Flickr. In all liklihood, I'll be the only person who reads this thing. I'm ok with that.

So without further adieu, I post my first record, mostly for myself, about what I did today outside.

Activity: Road Bike
Area: North Chico
Weather: 90 degrees, hawt! Sunny and clear, headwind on half the ride.
Distance: 18.7 miles
Avg spd.: 15.1 mph
How I felt: like shitski
Thing to remember: Stopped on Elite Dr. and bummed some water from a construction crew's orange cooler. When I first showed up, Foo Fighters 'Best of You' was on the radio; as I rode off, 'Fly By Night' by Rush came on.