rollin' rollin' rollin'...

I've made no bones about the fact that recovering my muscles and shape from the ravages of Cushing's has not been easy.  The disease took away my strength and somehow I thought that it would just come back the way it left.  I was sorely mistaken.  I work and work and work in the gym to gain back in baby steps the strength that seems to have gone in leaps and bounds.  The Cushing's didn't directly effect my cardio strength, but not being able to work out due to the condition, compounded by the eventual pain in my hip, left me finding a walk around the block rather taxing.  Now I'm struggling to get all that back.

So what is the next logical step in this recovery you ask?  Riding a bike for 35 miles with a couple thousand of my closest friends stopping every 5 miles or so to eat barbecue of course!  Actually, that's a little inaccurate.  Some of those thousands of people rode 15 miles and some rode 65.  But we all ate BBQ and we all rode to benefit LiveStrong cancer charity. 

Keith rode with me on our mountain bikes with road tires and I had my tiara duct taped to my helmet so that everyone knew that a Princess was amongst them.  I didn't realize that Kansas City and the surrounding suburban towns were so hilly!  I thought this place was flat as the proverbial pancake but I was wrong.  The ride was 35 miles of great quad work and I didn't feel bad at all snarfing down a little taste of BBQ every few miles.  By the end I had noodles for legs, and definitely felt like I got a fabulous cardio and strength workout on wheels.

I must admit I did do alot of thinking back a few years when I could ride 50 miles at a shot without feeling worn out.  I need to learn to compare my conditioning today with my conditioning of yesterday and NOT my conditioning of two years ago.  But it's hard to readjust expectations when you don't want to.  I know that it has to be done otherwise how do I feel good about the incremental accomplishments along the way?  How do any of us? 

I guess the answer to that million dollar question is you just do.  You choose to readjust your thinking otherwise you are choosing not to be happy with yourself.  Sounds simple enough.  We'll see if that works.  If I can stick to that glass half full way of thinking rather sinking into the glass half empty.  I can do anything if I put my mind to it.  Any of us can.