Countdown!

One month from today I will be in Florence, OR and it will be the first day of the first leg of my Transamerica bicycle ride. I have been thinking about this ride for months now.  My training has not been as consistent as I would like, but that is not unexpected.  I am busy and have many competing demands on my time.  I do my best to prioritize based on my goals, but it doesn't always work.  Perhaps you can relate?  

My ride in the Adirondacks last weekend (75 miles, 5000+ feet of climbing) was one of my key measurements of my readiness.  I felt strong and the climbing totally doable.  Yay!  

My training has been composed of three very important elements:  1) Time on the bike - there is simply no way to substitute for that. However, I tried to be smart with it - not empty miles.  I had a goal for every ride, whether on the trainer or on the road; 2) Strength training - I am 56 -years old and it is hard to maintain muscle mass and strength.  I have to work hard to keep my muscles strong, there is no alternative!  Fortunately, in my quest to begin a strength training program, I found CrossFit and an amazing community.  That has made what I thought would be the hardest part of my training so much easier and fun!  3) Flexibility - hours and hours on a bike requires flexibility, especially in the low back. It also places strain on many areas, e.g. shoulders and neck.  There is absolutely nothing better to prepare for this than yoga and I have practiced regularly with my riding in mind.  Some of you - those who are students in my classes - have gone along with me as I have worked to find sequences and poses that help me with the flexibility and mobility I need for this adventure.  

I will be doing my best to post as I deal with the logistics of getting to this epic ride and then the ride itself.  I would love to hear from you.  Comments of encouragement are especially welcome as I know there will be times of pain and loneliness.  I am very excited and very scared about this, no question.  Thanks in advance for any and all support.  Onward!  

JUST ABOUT A PERFECT SATURDAY

Today I was able to spend the morning doing many of the things I love most:  I taught an express yoga class at the studio first thing.  Yes, 7 am on a Saturday. Despite - or perhaps because of - the hour, four fabulous women worked on balance and core strength using yoga poses and principles.  That was followed by a personal training session at 100 Main private fitness facility with a client who pushed herself beyond what she thought she could do in ways that were exciting to see.  After my client left, I got my own sweat on and did my scheduled workout, with a focus on gymnastics skills, especially handstand push ups.  Then feeling great, I went home and picked up my dog, Sasha.  I came here, to the lake where I spent a great hour or so on my paddle board.  Sometimes standing and sometimes reclining, as in the picture here.  I am relaxed and ready to do some work.  I am so lucky to share your journeys and to do what I love so very much! 

Bike Tour Begins, Day 1 Sturgeon Bay, WI

This week I am on a much needed vacation in Door County, WI. The last couple of months have been stressful. Buying the yoga studio, launching a personal training business fulfill a passion for me, but there is no question that it has also brought some stress! My primary business has been busy and one of my key employees gave just 2 weeks of notice right before I was to leave on this vacation. That sucked and I was angry. That meant I had to cancel the non-bike ride portion of the trip. Margaret and I were going to visit friends in Madison before heading north for the ride. We couldn't do that because this woman chose that time and that method of quitting.  

That gave me many opportunities to practice what I preach! I have spent a lot of time focusing on my breathing in the last week.  I have tried to focus on my goals and the processes I have in place to reach them. In short, I have tried not to give in to the crazy.  I have to say - mixed results! 

But here we are in Sturgeon Bay, WI. A beautiful location for a bike ride and we are meeting about 10 women with whom we did a previous Woman Tours ride in Ireland. That ride was 4 years ago - I know because it has been showing up every day in my Facebook feed.  That was Margaret's and my first bike tour and we were really nervous about it.  I had pushed Margaret to do it by choosing Ireland as the location.  A bike is a beautiful way to see Ireland. A bike is actually a beautiful way to see the world. The pace is perfect in my opinion to both see enough to feel like you get a sense of the place, but also slow enough that you can get a sense of the place and the people.  Plus, the freedom of a bike is just about perfect in my view.  

I have been a Spinning® instructor for many years and in the past that was the primary way I trained for cycling year round.  That has changed as I stopped teaching Spinning® in order to really focus on yoga and my personal goals rather than having the focus on teaching Spinning®. I started doing CrossFit about 18 months ago. I wanted to build strength. I fell in love with the sport of CrossFit and the community that lives in those gyms.  This year I put an old bike on a trainer and used an application called TrainerRoad for my cycling-specific training. The combination of both (and losing some weight in the process) has caused me to make huge gains in my cycling power.  I also bought a new bike, made custom for me by Georgena Terry and it feels like an extension of me in a way no other bike ever has.  

I have also brought a focus back to my yoga practice. I have "done" yoga for decades. But for most of that time, my "practice" was based on whatever classes were available in a slot that worked in my schedule.  There is nothing wrong with that - at all.  However, I realized that I needed to make a change in that approach about the time I turned 50.  I started to have injuries more often and they took longer to heal - if they ever really did.  I had aches and pains that could not be fixed by any doctor.  I realized that yoga was how I could address those physical issues. Not only through the physical practice, but the mind side as well.  Physical changes are a fact of life, but they do not have to be limiting facts of life. 

Over simplified, the physical (asana) portion of yoga began in order to allow bodies to be able to sit in meditation for many hours. I realized that today we need yoga not so much to allow us to sit for long periods - most of us do that every day for long periods (though not in meditation!) - we need yoga to be able to move.  We have different physical needs than yogis did historically in India, and I think that means we need to apply the lessons of their teachings to our current world and our current needs and use the practice of yoga to keep us strong and able to move through all stages of our life.  The idea of Move to Live was born and my practice is centered around that idea And so is the business that I am working to build. Move to Live Yoga and Fitness Studios.  

Riding my bike this week will apply many of the practices that I have developed for myself and that I want to share with others.  I am a 56 year old woman who spends most of her time in a high-stress office job. But I use yoga and strength training in combination to live the life I want to.  I can't wait to get out there on the road! Thanks for coming on this journey with me.