Rhythm Is Gonna Get Ya

Yeah, so when last we met I was bemoaning my crappy run of injuries and small illnesses over the summer. Then I invoked radio silence. Because the stupid little hits kept on coming well into the fall and early winter. Root canal (with complications), strep throat, return after 10 years of tension headaches. Seriously. This bout of crap happened as I took on management of a very interesting but less than ideally designed project at work. So I’ve been super busy. Add water, stir and what you get is

full

on

slug

fest

Just adding those extra spaces was almost too much effort for this slug.

Let’s take a quick look at where I ended the year since those are the posts going around right now. After getting into a great rhythm the previous summer walking and hiking, I took a long hard look at my eating. I love to cook but had gotten lazy. I was wasting calories on total crap. So I focused on being more deliberate in my eating. That doesn’t mean diet in my vocabulary. But it does tend to run healthier.

Add the walking and the eating together and I had a bit more pep. I was in such a great rhythm when I happened to mention to my podiatrist that I wish I could cycle because I love the sport. My bad feet had caused me massive issues when I tried the spinning craze when it hit in the early 90s. Not so my now beloved doctor said. A tweak to my orthotics and good fitting once I got my bike handling skills back would be all I need. Huzzah!

But, it was late fall. Winter was looming and I don’t do cold. Didn’t really make sense to splurge on a bike I probably wouldn’t really use for months. And it would be a good test before spending that much money on a toy (a pretty, pretty toy) to see if I still wanted it months later. So I tested myself. Got some decent winter gear and stayed in the walking and hiking rhythm all dang winter. Sure, it was just about the mildest winter DC has ever seen. So what. This slug stayed with it. And was rewarded with a slick Cannondale Synapse. My first bike since middle school.

My skills were crazy rusty with a few decades off. But I enjoyed it. Days grew longer and I could even ride pre or post work, not just weekends. Took some skills classes offered by my fantastic county government and the fine folks at REI.

Then hit the brick wall of summer.

At this point, my cooking is non-existent. I’m back to being lazy about eating. I’ve barely touched the bike in months. The days are short so riding pre or post work aren’t options. Comfort and skill-wise, I feel like I’m back where I was the first day I bought the bike. The 10 pounds I’d dropped are back. And I could stand to drop more than that.

I was pondering this over the weekend. New Year’s does that. I trained as a marine biologist (hence the choice of nudibranch as my representative slug up top) and have always been fascinated by patterns in nature. My key was getting back the rhythm that worked for me. I wasn’t sure that included returning to this blog. But then fizzhogg posted his little ditty about back sliding and called me out about posting more. His post prompted many site visits and a few new followers today. I was totally tickled and I realized how much I enjoyed reading and commenting on similar blogs. They are part of the rhythm.

So here I am. New friends, welcome. Old friends, welcome back and forgive me if over the next little while we retrace some steps.