Wait...yup, I did. I just had an idea. And some art work.

I've come to terms with the fact that exercise will help you maintain weight. But to lose weight, diet is more important. Ugh. That sucks because I have a sweet tooth. Today at a meeting the host brought out a bag of mini-snickers. I had two. They were only 30 calories each, but that's just junk food. Then, one of the principals made chocolate chip cookies last night and brought one for each of us. I ate that too.

I get from the gym today and was starving. I over ate an unusually unhealthy dinner and was still hungry. So, I made some air-popped popcorn and then had a few pieces of a melon. It's one thing to resist eating certain foods (which I'm actually pretty good at), but something else entirely when you're STARVING! Quickened metabolism and high volumes of cardiovascular exercise leave me ravenous. Remember the Jurassic Park where the T-Rex eats anything that moves???? Yeah, like that.Eating is tough. Oh well. I did spend an hour lifting weights (worked on my back and shoulders and as always core) and then spent an hour on the treadmill. I couldn't (or wouldn't allow myself) run much, so I just added time to compensate for the lower intensity.

Anyhow, my weight is dropping very slowly. VERY slowly. But, it's dropping and I'm feeling great, so it's all good. However, again, my body fat is really coming off. I can see it everywhere. If I sneak up on it, I sometimes even have the shadows of a 6 pack! I still have a pinchable layer of insulating blubber to get through, but last year at this time I had a full keg!

It's true that obstacles provided unexpected opportunities (the point, to me, of Lance Armstrong's book It's Not About the Bike). Since I'm injured and can't run, I've been riding my bike a lot more. I'm having a great time doing it...I realized that I was really burned out on it. Now, I'm thinking that I would like to participate in El Tour de Tucson in November. The potential problem is that I've already signed up for a half marathon that is on December 11th.

I'm researching and posting on message boards, checking out triathlon training plans and so on trying to figure out a schedule. The thing is, I don't want to participate in either just to finish. If I'm going to do something I want it to be at a high level (for me) or I will lose interest.

Basically the question is: How do you maintain two long workouts (one riding and one running) in a week, or do you even need to? Or, do you alternate weeks, one long ride, next week long run? Ultimately, there's only one way to find out that I know of...to try.

Either way, there's a family gathering about 80 miles from my home this Saturday and I'm going to ride my bicycle to it. It'll be my longest ride since April and I'm curious to see how it goes. I'm lighter and in better overall shape, just not sure I have the legs for that amount of time anymore. I'll just take my time and enjoy the ride.

I've added a map of where I'll be traveling, for your viewing pleasure. :D

Now you have to admit, even when you like your in-laws (like I do), this is a good distance for keeping the peace. I know that I can wear on people.

So, if you've made it this far, you deserve a reward. I decided to draw a little something using microsoft paint. It's my called losing weight. :D Hope you like it! I'm going to blame the crudeness of it on using a mouse to draw in Paint...but the truth is, it'd look like that on paper too. It's all for fun!