Transformation begins

I have been more lost than ever on the decision of whether or not I am doing a tour this summer. SO I've stopped thinking about it and decided to just focus on getting strong. So I went out got my personal trainer (Steve) and every other day I work my ass off at the gym, or work my ass on. =)

We decided to take a picture of ourselves at week one so we could see the progress that we're making. Of course Steve is already a beast, but I am truly a mix of a playdough body with toothpicks for limbs. Have a look for yourself.

It's pretty pathetic that this is the best physical shape I've ever been in. But I have been working out hard every other and hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures in a few months of me with that ghetto bootay!

My squat goal is: 135 lbs!

Thanks for reading =)

Every day, do at least one thing that scares you.

I completed my goal of doing 5 dead hang up pull ups yesterday. My body has reallly been surprising itself with its capabilities lately.

Today is SQUAT DAY. I hateee squat day but I really want a round booty :) I haven't really been riding because it was stressing me out to use Steve' s trek, so I might just do lifting over the winter and save up for the Surley. If I were to go on a trip, I realized that I would want to have my own bike. 1) because I'm stupid and it will probably break and/or get stolen and 2) it would just be more special if everything that I used for the trip was my own.

That's all for today, will update about my squats :)
Thanks for reading
Dani

Torn

I'm having a really hard time with this planning thing. It's so weird...every night, I change my mind. And say, ah forget it! Do a tour another time and just make some money this summer. It's hard because I have very little support from family to do this and I don't blame them. I am going on to my fifth year of college and the chance of actually graduating even then is looking slim. I don't want to be a financial burden forever but I also don't want to continue doing things that I don't want to do. I've been taking summer classes probably every summer since I started going to college. I am exhausted and starting to lose my motivation. The education classes that I'm taking are rarely relevant to what I think I'll actually be doing in the classroom and it's starting to make me think that I am wasting my time.

So I have a few options:

Wait to hear from Yellowstone and see if I got a job there (and if I do, it's probably cleaning toilets or wiping up vomit) but make enough money all summer to pay for rent when I get back.

Go on the bike tour, make no money, but at the same time make a huge accomplishment that I will forever be proud of.

or

Go back to Long Island. Get a job and be incredibly bored and lonely while my friends and boyfriend are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Now, doesn't that sound appealing?!

The later is probably the least favourable one for me but seems to be the option I always take. It's so easy to just go home and be a blob but I don't want to do that anymore. I want to do something special and extraordinary.

I could possibly be thinking about this way too much. In the meantime, I am continuing training because even if I end up not doing the tour, at least I will have some beefy, strong legs to show for it.

"You block your dream when you allow fear to grow bigger than your faith."

Start Climb :) :(

Just got back from a 10 mile bike ride, first time I think I've ever done that. (By the way, I am waiting to share this journal with anyone until I start getting serious, so if you're reading this entry months later, don't ask why I never told you about my plan!)

I didn't plan on going on that long of a bike ride but Steve said "it's not that hilly and only 6 miles round trip." The trip in general was actually quite relaxing, little to no cars, lots of deer, (dead skunks, that's always fun) ...until I got to a hill that was sprayed in white paint that said,

START
CLIMB
:)
:(

I just laughed knowing that it most definitely meant huge hill coming up and I was right! I made it up the first huge hill and saw that there was another massive one in the distance. Now, I felt driven and confident today, but not that confident! I figured I'd leave that for another day, perhaps a day that I wasn't doing squats the night before.

The only complaint that I have is that my hands and ass have to get used to the pressure. My sitbones are beyond sore and I have this strange lump on my right hand! It's freaky looking and painful and I really hope it goes away!

All in all, I'm happy with my ride and I can't wait to do longer ones.

Thanks for reading,
Dani

First workout = jello legs

I spent all day thinking about when I could cram a workout into my school schedule. It doesn't help that I also have at least a two hour climbing sesssion everyday. So, I had about a twenty minute block after my night class. I really wanted to get a leg workout but didn't feel like sitting on those damn stationary bikes. They're just too boring! So...I did squats. Man, do I hate squats.

But I want to look liker her ------------------>

I started doing 5x5 again, just with 45 pounds and they were actually pretty easy but they killed my legs afterwards. They felt like jello! Here how my workout went:

Climb - 1 1/2 hours

5x5 - 45 lbs

10 pull ups

10 push ups

It all felt really good, especially since it was the first time I did 10 real push ups in a row AND I got a lot of stares from all the dudes in the gym. That's always en ego booster :) But then about 2 minutes after the workout, I started to feel sick as usual. This might become a problem if I want to start training hard for a tour (especially one that requires me to bike over 50 miles a day) Anything strenuous makes me feel nauseous, anxious and tired. It used to prevent me from working out but now I just ignore it and just HOPE TO GOD that someday it will just go away so that I can start training seriously.

Am I in way over my head?

So this summer I have this crazy idea of taking a long bike tour from Key West, Florida to Bar Harbor, Maine. I feel like I am not making use out of my body or my time and really wanted to take on a new challenge. I think this is the perfect timing for me because Steve will be gone for six months starting in May and I will have no distractions. It will be hard to be alone and not see my family, but I really think doing things like this is good for your soul. I need to test my limits and I need to do it on my own without anyone else. Steve is letting me take his trek and I am really excited about that. If I actually go through with this, I would love it if I could start some kind of fundraiser to send some funds to the LI2DAY Breast Cancer Walk. I can't think of any better way to spend my summer. Am I scared? Yeah, I'm terrified but that is exactly what I want to overcome. If I can bike 2,252 miles by myself, than I think I could handle all the tiny obstacles that arise in my everyday life.

So today I started my "training" although I think right before winter comes is probably the worst time to start wanting to bike long distances. It was my first time on a real touring bike and I felt pretty vulnerable since I'm used to riding my bike with a gel seat that practically feels like a cushion. Steve's brook saddle makes my butt feel...awful. I guess that's why they always called me "boney butt" when I was a kid!

So today I biked for about 20 minutes and will hopefully keep that up for this week and then increase it every week.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully this well get more exciting as I continue. ;)

Dani