Week of Pain

I think I'm loosing consciousness. Well, not really. But maybe it would be a good thing. I think I am slowly starving to death. The worst part is it's self inflicted.
Monday we started the Lisa/Paul diet. Cross season wasn't kind to me and I gained some weight and then came the holidays, which are never kind to anyone. So I spoke to them and others that had done their diet. All said it was hard, but they had great results. It's only 9 days (which sounded short enough) and you loose a bunch of weight and give a boost to your metabolism. So a win win right?
HA HA HA HA HA
The first two days are cleanse days. Which basically means you don't eat anything solid. You're flushing your system and what not. So you drink some stuff and a ton of water and get a small salad for lunch. Not so bad right.
Day 1 - No issues, everything went smoothly other than I had to pee every 15min from drinking so much water.
Day 2 - I measured wrong and forgot one of my drinks. Ooops. I bonked so hard that I couldn't get myself to recover that night. I was like a zombie, I could barely find energy to speak.
Marc and I went to the grocery store to get stuff we needed for the next few days as we were entering the eating days. We get there I look at the sheet and it says to eat lean protein and 2 green vegetables. Alright, so we pick up some chicken and then I stand staring at the vegetables. This is when it occurs to me I do not like anything green! Yellow, orange, white, all good. But not green. Finally I decide on string beans and carrots. Yeah carrots aren't green, but I needed something.
Day 3 - now I get food and shakes. I had my chicken, string beans and carrots for lunch. It tasted so good, I devoured them. Now on an energy high after getting some food after not having any for a couple days I decide I can go to the gym after work. For some reason too I decided this would be the day I'd run 2 miles instead of just 1 1/2 miles like normal. I don't know why I do these things to myself.
First mile all is good. Soon into the 2nd mile I start going South. My pace is slowing, I can't control my breathing, my stomach feels like it has little razors in it trying to get out (it was the raw carrots I had for lunch). I finish the 2nd mile and walk to cool down and try not to hurl. I can't get the feeling to go away. It was bad.
Day 4 - same as day 3 only no carrots. I decided to give my stomach a rest. Also, no gym. I didn't want a repeat. Day 4 brought on a new sensation however. Strong uncontrollable cravings for sugar! I love sugar, candy in particular. I hadn't had any candy now for days. I got home and saw the box of Gobstoppers sitting there whispering to me, "you know you want some, 1 won't hurt". I gave in. I had 1. I put it in my mouth and just let it sit there. Oh, it was so good. I miss candy so much.
Today - I was so irritated that I couldn't have candy or anything else, that I didn't pack my food appropriately. I paid for that. I didn't have my shake, so instead I ate an apple. I didn't have my veggies, so lunch consisted of a bowl of chicken. I think I'm getting to the breaking point. I'm not sure there will be a day 6. We will see.

This is why we have no screens on our windows.

Beautiful Weekend in January
(what an oxymoron)

This past weekend was jammed packed. Not that most weekends haven't been lately. But usually by this time in the winter it's cold and dreary and no one really goes out or does anything. It seems to be a quiet time until things resume in Spring, or Spring training for some. But lately with it being unseasonable warm, it's been awesome. Saturday Marc and a huge group were planning on riding Elkneck, which I despise. So Amy agreed to ride with me on the road. Well as Friday nights weather did not cooperate, the Elkneck ride became a road ride. So we all headed out in one big pack.
It was still cloudy and wet when we headed out, but crazy warm. There was 15 in all. It wasn't long before everyone was peeling off layers as the sun started peeking through the clouds. Buddy, Marc, and Paul were riding their fixed gears. It was crazy being behind them going down hills as their legs flew around in circles. Or better yet their back wheels hopping as they had to come to a halt. It was quite a sight to see as they all seemed to do this so easily. Give me gears and brakes any day.
We rode the road more mountain bike style. We'd be in a pack and then kinda string out and then come back together. There were peppy sections and I think maybe a sprint or two. Not so sure as I was at that back during those. Whenever I got too far behind though, a hand would be on my back to give me a little help. I had one bad stretch on a false flat and there were numerous hands. I really appreciated all the help. Thanks guys! It was great to be out on such a beautiful day and with a great bunch. I miss group rides. It's been a long time.
Saturday night we did some relaxing/partying before riding again on Sunday. Sunday's group was even bigger. This time we did make it out on the trails. We ended up splitting into two groups, but we came back together a few times throughout the ride. It was pretty cool. I was the lead ass of the ride on Sunday. I felt like ass and Jamie decided to find every climb he could that day. At one point, after already climbing for a while, we stood at a cross section of trail trying to decide where to go. We didn't know exactly where we were, all I knew is we were getting dangerously close to "skip a trail". I said I didn't care which way, as long as we didn't take it. Jamie turns and darts off down this nasty rocky downhill and then we climb and climb some more, we were on "skip a trail". I really need to learn that side of the park so I can stay away from that thing!
Overall it was a great weekend. Got in lots of riding, rode with great people, caught up with some people I hadn't seen in a while and the weather was beautiful. Who could ask for more.