Three More Days

 Three more days!!!!  Is everyone starving themselves???   I'm sure everyone wants to know what the prizes are going to be.  Well, like they do when your watching American Idol, I'm going to wait till the last minute.  Speaking of the last minute, the challenge will end at noon on Friday.  I was looking through some before and after pictures to post and I found that just by looking at pictures of people who have lost weight, it helped motivate me to want to have the same success these people have had. 

Do you realize what these people probably went through to lose their weight??  It's not an easy task!  Take the lady above.....I'm sure she had her struggles, I'm sure she faltered in her diet at times, but look at her!!  She looks amazing.  On top of that, can you imagine how much better she feels? 

And this guy.... The guy is standing in one leg of his old pants.  I doubt any of these people regret what they went through to lose the pounds.  Sure it's not easy and quite often it's not even fun, but the end results are what make it all worth it.  To wear the clothes you really want to wear, to lose the back or knee pain, to have enough energy to play with your kids or run those stairs.  It can be life changing, but first you have to change where your life is going.  Even after the challenge is over, stick with your goals.  Even if you stumble along with way, get your butt back up and start again.  Don't be disappointed if you have a bad day, we all have those days.  It's getting back in the game that counts.  I couldn't tell you how many times I've started and failed a diet.  It's almost depressing, but by God, sooner or later I'm going to get to where I want to be.  I don't want it to be a diet either........I want it to be a lifestyle change.  When my family goes out to eat, I want to order the healthy smaller meal, not because I'm on a diet, but because it's the healthy thing to do. 

Anyway, I hope you all will think about this as the challenge winds down.  There's been a total of 350 lbs lost so far between everyone. That is just friggin awesome!!   Keep it up.  If it was easy everyone would do it.  Dig deep, focus on the end results, and use that focus to keep driving you towards your goals. 

Spring Break

Wow, it's been a while since I posted something.  Only four more days left in the challenge!!  That's crazy!! I can't believe it's already been 3 months.  I hope everyone involved will keep up their motivation once the challenge is finished. The IronHorse is still 2 months away so I've still got time to get down to 160lbs. 

I spent the last 5 days in the valley.  It just seemed to expensive to go very far for spring break so we opted to stay close and got a cool hotel with a cool pool and really didn't do much but relax......Sort of...   We stayed on the North side of Phoenix so every morning I left the hotel at 6am and headed on over to South Mountain.  It was such an awesome way to start each day.  I rode the 7 mile climb to the top which took about 40 minutes then flew back down in about 20 minutes.  On Sunday, they had what they call Silent Sunday.  No cars allowed in the park.  I was amazed at how many people were running up this mountain.  At least with a bike, you get to coast a little :).  Then to think of running down hill!!!  My knees would say "absolutely not!!".   It was really cool though to see all these people out there.  There was even a young kid (had to be about 11-12years old) riding his little scooter down as his dad ran down next to him.  Then of course there were the long boarders.  These guys are insane.  If you've never seen long boarding, it is very impressive.  These guys are nuts.  One small rock and your toast.  Here's a cool video.

On Friday, we decided to go hike North Mountain.  Wow, this is one steep mountain.  It's paved all the way to the top, but it is STEEP!!!  I have no idea how far it is to the top, but going up was much easier than going down.  My wimpy legs were shaking so bad on the way down that I just knew I was going to do a face plant while trying to maintain my wimpy walk/jog/run.  Both of my older boys along with my wife ran down.  Me, being the old feeble man that I am, did all I could to keep things at a walking pace (Remember, I already rode South Mountain:) )  That's my excuse anyway.  Here's the view from 1/2 way up. 

 This is about 1/2 way up looking east.  This is my 11 year old who had the energy to run over to another little peak just to have his picture taken.

On Saturday, we decided to do the Zoo thing. The Zoo, on a Saturday, during Spring Break................tons of people!!  Besides the millions of people though, it was a good time.  Keevan (our 2 yo) had a blast.  Of course as a parent, once you've been to the zoo, it's really not much different the next go around.  I did learn something though.  I never knew tigers climbed trees.  This tiger was at the very top of the tree.  It was amazing at how agile he was coming down.  So, if you're ever in Africa, being chased by a tiger........don't climb a tree.:)

Can you see him??

Down he comes....

 Isn't that cool!!??

It was a good relaxing few days.  Now back to the grind.  Hope you all have a good Monday.

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days.

Kathleen

Well it's been a hectic few days.  There just isn't enough time in a day to get everything done.  It's either that or I really need to find a way to be more efficient. 

Wrinkles won the massage giveaway.  Wrinkles, if you will email me your address, I'll get the certificate sent out to you asap.  Send email to mail@alphaoxymed.com. 

On a more somber note, I went to Kathleens memorial service on Sunday.  I, like most people am not a fan of these kind of things, but I've got to say, I was very moved by the whole experience.  When I first got there, I pull up to the mortuary and there were motorcycles everywhere.  I'm pretty sure that I was one of the few people who didn't have leather on.  You could tell the bikers weren't to fond of being at a mortuary either, but in a way for many, you could sense this was a familiar scene.  On the back of most of their jackets were patches that said "in memory of".  Some had as many as 10 memorial patches. 

I suppose if you saw one of these guys in WalMart you may think they are some kind of bad ass.  Maybe they are, but like most people, under the layer of toughness is someone who would probably do anything in the world for a friend.  This is the feeling I got when I walked through the doors of the mortuary.  The first thing I saw walking in was a video playing various pictures of Kathleen.  Her smile is the one thing that I will always remember.  As many people during the service testified to, Kathleen was someone you instantly felt comfortable with.   She was a woman with beautiful character.  The longer I sat there the more I thought about her and how many lives she touched.  I'm sure that without even trying, Kathleen had no idea the impact she had on people.  She lived a life of complete integrity and never fell short of giving a loving hand whenever it was needed.  Of course people say all kinds of things when someone passes away, but not in this case.  With Kathleen, what you saw was what you got.  A person with an enormous heart and the ability to touch every life she came into contact with. 

Something else I wanted to share about the memorial service.  Kathleens niece got up and spoke.  She made everyone laugh with her stereotypical ideas of bikers:) .   She mentioned how impressed she was that her aunt had picked the "nice" bikers to ride with.  Everyone got a kick out of that.  What I thought was really cool was when the minister asked everyone to say the Lords prayer.  Ok, first your thinking, how many of these bikers are going to know the Lord's prayer???..........Well from the sound of it, every single one of them.  It gave me goosebumps to hear how loud these bikers in unison, said the Lords Prayer.  It was AWESOME!!! 

Losing Kathleen is one of those things where you just ask,,why??  Am I selfish to be scared to death of leaving this world??  I mentioned in an earlier post that I really felt like Kath was looking down on me as I was riding my bike.  As I look into the sky I feel an real sense of peace.  While we're all left down here going through our daily grind, she's up there smiling down on each of us.  We're all selfishly wanting her back, yet we all know she's in a better place than we are.  Anyway, Kathleen I learned as much from your life as I did in your passing.  I can only hope to be as good of a person as you were.  To live a life where you put others cares and needs before your own.  I will think of you daily and probably in my own goofy way, I'll talk to you while riding my bike.  Thanks Kathleen for teaching me more than you every knew you would.  You are so very missed.  -Peace.

No Such Luck

I'm beginning to think that I stink at this losing weight thing.  I didn't even come close to the 162lbs I was hoping for today.  I'm still at 168.  I've been eating good all week, but I don't think I've been exercising enough.  I rode on Monday and Tuesday but had to take Wednesday and Thursday off as my back was really bugging me.  It's all good though.  I just got back from and hour ride and hope to get a good long ride in sometime this weekend.  As promised though, since I didn't make my 162 I'm going to give away another Spa Estique Massage.  First thought I'm going to say that Spuds is not eligible to win this.  Why you may ask......well just because I said so.  All he does all day long is sit at his computer waiting for me to post how little weight I've lost.  Then he sends me text showing himself pigging out on some fancy food he just made and he gains no weight.  So spuds..........if you want a massage, pay for it yourself:)
Ok, the next massage gift certificate will go to the 3rd person who sends me an email with "Challenge " in the subject line.  Send it to email@alphaoxymed.com.  You can only send one email :)

I've got to get back to work.  Hope you all have a super day and a great weekend.  Eat good and think Skinny!!!

Oh ya, I'll leave you with the video below.  I heard this song the other day and thought the gal had an amazingly beautiful voice.  I'm sure everyone has already heard it but as usual I'm a little behind the times.  Enjoy.  Not sure about the video, but the song is cool.

No Clue What to Title This

I've got a million things going on in my head today, so bear with the rambling.  I don't think I'm going to reach my goal of 162 lbs by tomorrow.  I feel like I'm back in high school wrestling again trying to make weight.  Only I don't have to time to run around in a vinyl suit and sweat it off.  I'm down to 167 and I'm hoping to go for a ride today, but I still don't think I'm going to lose 5lbs by tomorrow.  So, be ready for another give away tomorrow. 

Frenchie, thanks for the email.  It's stories like yours that make The Challenge worth it.  I hope you enjoy the massage.  Losing weight is not an easy task.  I don't know why God didn't make a chocolate chip cookie as healthy as an apple.:)  

And Time, just so you know,  you are awesome.  I appreciate all you do.  You're a good person with a huge heart.  Congrats on bachelors!!!!!

Feisty...............quit being such a pansy and quit the diet pepsi.  Start drinking black coffee or something:)

There's been a lot going on at work.  We have been super busy and now I've got to start focusing on our Re-Accreditation.  This is something that we have to do every three years in order to be compliant with Medicare.  It's very time consuming, but in the end I think it makes us a better company.   The difficult part is, I like to spend time with the patients, but I find that I'm stuck in the office more and more.   My office staff is absolutely awesome but with accreditation, I've got to learn the required standards before I can educate the staff.  It's never ending.   I've got so many things I want to do, yet I find that I have so little time to accomplish it.  My goal this year was to get a newsletter out to all our patients.  I want them to know what's going on with us as well as what's going on with Medicare.   I've yet to even start the newsletter.  Another goal of mine was to feature different patients here on the blog.  We've got some pretty cool patients and I think it would be a fun read to share some of their stories with you (with permission of course).   This too is something I haven't managed to get to.   Hopefully I will be able to make more time soon. 

On my ride the other day, I was listening to the song "Praise You in This Storm" by Casting Crowns.  Then I was thinking about the motorcycle accident this past weekend.  How difficult it must be to look to God for comfort in times of such crisis.   We're great at asking Him for help, but is our faith there when were down and out?? 

Harley Angels

I'm not sure what to say about it here, but over the weekend many of us lost a really good person and a wonderful friend in a motorcycle accident.  Over the past few years she had been through so much.   She had dealt with so many challenges, both physical and emotional.  She seemed to meet every challenge head on and found real happiness  over the last year or so.  I loved talking to her when I saw her and all she talked about was her little grandson and where her next Harley ride was going to be.

 Yesterday, as I was riding down towards Whiteriver, I couldn't stop thinking about her.  I pulled over and looked skyward and just knew she was looking down over me.  I couldn't get her little grandson off my mind.  He deserves to have his grandma.  When bad things happen, is it worse for the person for whom it is happening, or is it worse for the loved ones left dealing with the pain??  These are the thoughts that go through my tiny little brain.  "K", you will be so so very missed.  I'm not even sure how I'm going to deal with it when I walk into your office for the first time.  While you're up there riding your sweet Harley, take some time to smile down on us.  I miss you!!! We all miss you!!!!

Another Good Ride

Had another good ride today. Newell, Jay, and I rode down to the fish hatchery and did a few hill repeats. If you're not familiar with hill repeats, what you do is find a fairly steep hill, then pedal your butt up it, go back down, then do it all over again. The goal is to go as hard as you can all the way to the top.  Somewhere in the middle of the climb your legs should feel like they are on fire.  Usually you are also on the verge of puking with every effort.  Today I never hit the puking stage, but my legs felt like they were going to explode.  We did five repeats, then had to pedal back up the Whiteriver Hill after we

were finished. My legs are wasted.  I'm sure tomorrow they'll really be feeling it. 

I weighed in at 168lbs today.  I've eaten really well so far so I'm hoping to reach my goal of 162 by Friday.  Only 15 days left in the challenge.  Hope you all are still doing well. 

If your up for trying a bike ride but don't feel comfortable with all the traffic (too many rednecks in our town), I would highly recommend the hatchery road.  It was paved a few years ago and is still in really good shape.  I believe it's about 7 miles to the hatchery so if you park at the beginning of the road, you can get in a 14 mile ride.  It is rare that you will ever see a car and quite often see plenty of wild life.  It's a beautiful ride that very people know about. 

Chubby Blob

Do you know how to make yourself feel more chubby??  Put on a pair of cycling shorts. Do you know how to feel even chubbier while wearing cycling shorts??  Lean over to grab the handlebars. Cycling shorts compress everything you don't want compressed and then leave everything else hanging over the side.

  I felt like a major blob on my bike today.  For all you challengers, here's one to motivate you......I'm back to 172!!!!! Can you friggin believe it???  I'm pissed now!! I'm tired of the 170's.   I'll be 162 by Friday.  If I'm not 162 by Friday, I'll give another Spa Estique massage away.  So for all you slackers, pay attention come Friday. 

Updated Numbers

Wow.  I've updated the numbers and Frenchie is ahead by only .29 percent!!!   Frenchie is at 12.42% and Big Momma is at 12.13 %.   It was also good to finally hear from the Sexercise team.  Oh and Frenchie, I received your email and will get your gift certificate out to you asap.  I have to spend most of my morning in Whiteriver, but if I get back in time, I'll get in the mail tomorrow (Monday).  Only 19 more days to the finale of the challenge.  Cmon people, lets put this thing into overdrive.  I want to see some good numbers over the next couple of weeks.  It's  supposed to be a beautiful week so get your butts outside. 

Alive and Well

I'm finally back among the living.  After being down and out for the most of last week with pneumonia, I'm finally on the mend.  I still have a bit of a cough but at least I can actually breathe now.  I thought I was getting better on Friday, so I attempted shooting some baskets with Coby (my 8 year old),  but that was short lived and  I paid for it the rest of the day.

There was a group ride planned for Saturday that I had been hoping to join all week.  This would be my first group ride since getting back on the bike.  The ride was supposed to start at 7:30am so I got up early to be sure I could squeeze in an albuterol treatment before leaving.  I was hoping this would open up my lungs just enough to survive the ride.  I left the house at 7:15 to meet up with the group at the Go karts by 7:30.  It was a bit chilly but not too bad.  I think one of the guys said that his car was reading a temperature of 43 degrees.  Not too bad......not a heat wave, but not too bad.  From my house to the Go Karts is only about 1.5 miles at the most and I was already coughing up a lung.  I was still hell bent on going on the ride.  So we headed up towards Hondah and took a right heading toward Whiteriver.  This truly is the prettiest ride up here, especially early in the morning.  The plan was to ride down to the fish hatchery turn off, then ride out to the fish hatchery, turn around and head back to the main road, and then back up the hill.  I was coughing pretty bad so I went to the turn off and let the group go on to the hatchery while I started back up the hill towards Hondah.  Surprisingly I wasn't feeling too bad.  I took my time up the hill and felt pretty good the whole ride home.  I figured that once I hit the warm air in my house that I'd really start coughing, but I never really got any worse.  I took a dose of Advair, had a warm cup of tea, and was feeling pretty darn good. Here's a few pics of the ride, bear with crappy quality, remember I was trying to pedal at the same time.   

Dave and Will

This a view I better get used to if I don't get in shape soon.

In this picture we have a paramedic, physician assistant, a doctor, and a firefighter. If any of us crashed, we were in good hands.:)

It was so good to get out with the guys again.  This was my first group ride after taking almost 2 1/2 years off the bike.  I'm looking forward to a fun summer of riding.

With regards to the challenge, I received a bunch of new numbers while I was sick and I promise to have updated numbers posted real soon. 

I'm hoping to ride my bike to work in the morning so I best go get all my stuff ready.  I have no idea how I'm going to get all my stuff on the bike, but I'll figure out something.  Hope you all have a super night. 

Wear Your Passion

Ok, I haven't quite gone to bed yet.  I was sitting here surfing the net and was looking over Ronans site. Maya posted the picture above.  Whenever you get a chance, read it, read it again, and then take it to heart.  I love this!!!  What an inspiration! 

I've got Pneumonia, you'll have to tolerate the boring posts for a few days.

Sorry about the lagging and boring posts the last few days.  Just found out today that with all this coughing, I now officially have pneumonia.  To put it mildly,  I feel like crap.  I'm sitting here in bed right now watching reruns of the 2004 Tour De France.  Can you say, "Get a life!!"

I'm just not feeling very motivated to do very much right now.  Yesterday I mentioned how much the Pulmicort cost......well it got even better today when they prescribed Levaquin.  A 5 day supply before my insurance was 200.00!!!   Even with insurance it was 140.00.  That's just crazy.  That's 28 dollars per pill.  Are you kidding me??!!!!!  All I can say is......it better work. 

I'm supposed to go for a 30 mile ride with Newell tomorrow, but at the moment that's not looking too likely.  If I can breathe without sounding like I'm going to drown, I may consider going.  Right now though I sound like I'm gurgling water every time I exhale. 

Well, my reason for posting is to post the latest news in the challenge.  Big Mamma is back in the lead and I truly am so impressed with her numbers.  I hope that at the finish, she will allow me to post all of her numbers.  She has really been an inspiration.  Frenchie is still right on her tail and I'm sure they will go back and forth over the next few weeks.  Speaking of Frenchie, she is the winner of the massage gift certificate (Hey French, send me your mailing address and I'll get the certificate out to you).  The answer was ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate).   Without ATP you have no way of converting food into energy.   Oh and one more thing................Bubbles!!! it's finally good to hear from you.  I figured I'd be hearing from some of you sleepers soon.  Great job!!!!!

I'm praying and hoping that I'll feel better tomorrow.  Hope you all have a good night. 

Drug Prices

As I mentioned in the last post, I've been taking pulmicort for this miserable cough.  I had been using my little boys supply, as it has been sitting around here for a while.  We are almost out so I had a new prescription called in.  So tonight I went over to Walgreens to pick it up.  $179.00!!!!!!  Are you kidding me??? And that is with prescription insurance. 

Now put yourself in the shoes of an older person living on a fixed income.  I'm sure $179.00 doesn't even touch the amount of money many elderly people have to fork out every month  just for their prescription medication. 

Obama care is not the answer.  If you haven't noticed an increase in your insurance premium yet,  you are one of the lucky ones.  Drug companies and lawyers are who need to be dealt with.  Cutting medicare and medicaid is only going to drive up costs.  How about focusing on pathetic lawsuits and rising drug costs.  Don't get me wrong, hospitals and health care workers need to be held accountable for major screw ups, but it today's world, attorneys look for every reason possible to bring a lawsuit against health care professionals.  

We have the best medical care in the world.  I don't think anyone would argue with that.  There has to be a way to make the system work a little better though.  I don't have any answers, but I have no doubts that the drug companies could still be very profitable even after lowering their prices.  It's incredible how much they charge for one pill.  I realize it takes a lot of money to develop an effective medication.  It takes a lot to study the new drug and more to get the approval of the FDA.  But cmon people, are you in the business of helping people or just filling the pockets of your share holders??  I'm guessing the latter.  Oh well, I guess this is something we just have to deal with.  We will never have a perfect world, but it sure doesn't hurt to wish for one once in a while.

More About What We Do

This blog is titled "Life at AOM" and at times I feel like I should be writing more about what's going on with the company or the durable medical equipment industry itself.   How many people really care about what's going on in the world of home medical care?  The politics of medicare would bore most people to death.   I guess my goal with this blog is to let people know that we aren't just some typical boring home medical company.  We're not a company that focuses on our shareholders (we have none), we're not a company that focuses on making millions (though that would be nice, I could go fishing more:) ).  If you were to meet any of my staff, you would know that everyone here, cares about every patient we work with.   I have been fortunate to have a staff that I consider part of my family. We all work very well together.   I believe that at some point, this job makes a difference in the life of every employee we have.  Whether they recognize it or not, the lives we affect also affect our own.   (I just had to text my son's teacher to be sure I used the correct form of "affect") 

With the permission of my staff, I'm going to start sharing more and more about what goes on with AOM.  I've got a great group of people that bust their butts to help others.  I think it would be good if everyone got to know a little more about what we do.   Of course with the good ol HIPPA laws, I have to be careful about what I share about patient care, but I hope to make it interesting. 

I was on call this weekend and believe it or not, for the most part, I enjoy being on call.  I truly enjoy spending time with patients and their families.   If some of you that read this are in the medical field, I hope you can relate.  There are so many different people out there.  So many that have so much going on in their own lives.  And for that brief second, you get to be a part of that.  Hopefully you are a positive part of that experience. 

With that said, this is where I find myself being pulled in several directions.  As much as I enjoy being with the patients, I'm also responsible for running and growing the company.  This is the not so glamorous part of the job.   Between dealing with marketing and medicare compliance and every other little thing involved with running a DME company, it sometimes becomes difficult to stay focused on the things you enjoy like the patient relationships.

Being compliant with Medicare is a fulltime job in itself.  I understand the principle behind accreditation.  It has made us a better company, but some of the requirements are absolute time and paper wasting machines.  I know most of it is just to cover your butt,  which in today's world is important, but so much of me just wishes we could worry about the patient and what it takes to take care of them and that's it.  Life would be so much simpler. 

That of course is my dream world.  Instead, we have to get the order from the physician.  We have to be sure every I is dotted and every T is crossed.  If it isn't we have to send it back to the physician to correct it (this always makes the doctor really happy).   Then we need to make sure there is documentation in the medical record that supports the need for the product the doctor just requested.  Finally we can deliver the product.  Then comes the task of billing for the equipment you just provided.   Once you bill the insurance company,  you get a notice requesting documentation as proof that the patient really does qualify for the equipment.  Finally after about a month of bickering with the insurance company you hopefully get paid for your services.  So do you see why I enjoy spending time with the patients??:)   They are the best part of the job.  They remind me all the time of why I started this company in the first place. 

Ok I'm done babbling for now.  Hope everyone is still focused on losing some weight.  Frenchie has taken over the lead once again.  I didn't weigh in on Friday because I was still pouting about my weight on Wednesday.  Before my bike ride,  I hopped on the scale only to be sadly disappointed that I was up to 168lbs.  I had gained 6 lbs!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  Now I can't get rid of this miserable cough that I've had for the past 3 weeks.  I've tried everything.  First was just Albuterol.  Then it was Albuterol with Advair.  Then Symbicort.  Now I'm trying Albuterol with Pulmicort.  Oh ya, I also had an allergy shot on Friday.   When I was a little kid, my grandma's concoction for this cough was a little bit of whiskey heated  up with honey and lemon juice...............Guess what I'm getting ready to drink with a tea spoon:)  Nothing opens up the bronchials like the smell of whiskey.  I have no idea how people drink this stuff straight.   I can barely handle a spoon full. 

Well that's about it for tonight.  Looking forward to another good week.  Hope you all have a good night.
Nighty night.  I'm gonna leave you with a picture of the coolest little kid in the world:)  The future CEO of the company:).  Maybe he'll go to medical school instead.

First 50 Miles in Two Years.

 My original plan for today was to take the day off, drive down to Phoenix and ride South Mountain a couple of times.  Being that gas is almost $3.45 a gallon and the temperature here was supposed to hit 60 degrees, I'd be stupid to waste the money going to the valley.  So instead, I worked the morning then took the afternoon off to get in a long bike ride. 

From my house to the first Chevron gas station in Whiteriver is 50 miles round trip.  I haven't ridden 50 miles since I took time off the bike 2 years ago.  The weather was gorgeous so I was going to make the most of the sunshine.   The ride started off really well.  I had a head wind going down, but it wasn't too bad.  About 2 miles past Hondah there's a pretty good downhill.  Of course going down this is a blast.  My hope, was that I would save enough energy to get back up.  I didn't take any food, but had made up two waterbottles full of Perpetuem.  Perpetuem is an energy drink made by Hammer Nutrition.  I used to have my "dosage" memorized on how much powder to mix in my bottle but it had been so long, just mixed one scoop in each bottle. 

At 25 miles, my legs were a bit tired but not too bad.  I stopped at the Chevron to buy one bottle of water to replenish the one that I had drank on the way down.  After a few minutes of stretching, I started my trip back up the mountain.   About 5 miles after leaving Chevron, and without much warning, I was starting to feel really hungry and very tired.  At this time it was about 12:30.  All I had to eat was a bowl of oatmeal around 7am in the morning.  I obviously had misjudged how much Perpetuem to mix and I had no food with me.   To a cyclist, this is called Bonking or Hitting the Wall.  Your body has no more calories to use as energy.  You start to feel lackadaisical and really weak.   I had no choice though but to pedal on and I was still about 5 miles away from the climb back up the Whiteriver Hill.  It was going to be slow going for the remaining 20 miles.  It was a gorgeous ride, but I was hurting too bad to really enjoy the views.

At the bottom of the climb, I just told myself I was just going to pace myself all the way to the top.  Ya, easier said than done.   My back was starting to get tired so I attempted to get out of the saddle and stand up to pedal for a while.   As soon I did that, my legs said, "no chance pal, sit your butt back down".  I thought my legs were going to cramp as soon as I stood up.   If you've ever had this happen, it is a miserable and painful experience.  Once your legs cramp, you are only left with trying to survive and finish the trip.  

By the middle of the  climb I was really hungry.  I was craving a granola bar and of all things a Bit O Honey.   My goal was to make it to Hondah and spend the 3 bucks I had left on my sugary sweets.  All I wanted was some energy to make it home.  I made it to Hondah without my legs giving out.  I bought my snacks, visited with some lady outside the store and then got back on the bike to head the remaining 10 miles home. 

The best part about the last 10 miles was that I had a great tailwind.  Pedaling became almost effortless.  I took the back roads by the Smoke Shack in order to avoid the crazy traffic.  My legs were now on auto pilot.  Anytime I had any sort of uphill, they just burned like crazy.  My quads were shot.  I was doing all I could to keep them from cramping.  3 hours and 33 minutes later I made it home.  Two years ago, what took me 3 hours now took me and extra 30 minutes.  I was wiped out, my back was burning with pain, and my legs were shot.  To think that this used to be super easy for me.  I've got so much work to do before my trip to Colorado.  I really need to get to the point where 70 miles is fairly easy because right now, I'd never be able to finish the Ironhorse. 

But.... I guess you gotta start somewhere.  It's about half past 10pm right now and I'm surprised I'm still awake.  My legs are sore, but overall I feel pretty good.  I'm on call this weekend so I'm not sure what kind of riding I'll get in, if any at all.  My lead driver had to leave for a family emergency so I'll be doing double duty at work.  I'll just have to squeeze in some workouts somewhere. 

Well that's it for now.  Nighty Night.

Big Mamma's Bringing Down the House

And Big Mamma has taken the lead.  Big Mamma hit 10.82%!   Between her and Frenchie, they have just been kicking some major butt.   Nobody but me (cuz I'm special) knows anyone's original starting weight, but I've got to say, Big Mamma keep it up.  This is truly impressive.  What's crazy is that I don't know who Big Mamma is.  In fact, I don't know who most of the challengers are.  I guess that was the point of the whole Challenge Name thing huh:)    I hope everyone else is still in for the next 30 days.   Cmon people, step it up.  It's gorgeous outside.  Grab an apple and trot your butts outside. 

Ok back to work now.

Ohhh Ya!!! I'm a tad sore.

Ok so I posted the other night that I had ridden 40 minutes on the trainer and did half of the P90X leg workout.  I knew I'd be sore as my legs were already shaking by the time I was finished.  When I got up yesterday morning I was surprised that I really wasn't all that sore.  As the day went on though,  the soreness was slowly creeping in.  Still wasn't too bad.

Then comes today.  You know that thing that Suzanne Summers (She still looks amazing today) used to advertise call the Thigh Master??  Well today, not only do the inside of my thighs feel like I did a million repetitions with the Thigh Master, the rest of me feels like I've been beaten with the thing.  Man my legs hurt all over.  I want to stretch them in hopes of making them feel better, but right now that is out of the question. 

I tried playing with my dog this morning and I looked like a 90 year old man out there hobbling around.  I'm hoping to do more P90 tonight but at the moment I think my legs will collapse.  The first exercise they have you do is called a balance lunge.  Here's a picture:

At the current moment, this isn't happening.  My knees would say, "no way pal!!"

We'll have to see how it goes.  I'm hoping to go for a lunch time ride today so maybe that will loosen things up.  I sure hope so, because right now I look pretty pathetic. 

I'm planning on weighing in again on Friday, I'm hoping for 160lbs but not so sure I'll make it this week.  I don't think I've strayed very much from  healthy eating (except for a few girl scout cookies) but I just don't feel like I've lost any weight.  Not sure though, we'll see on Friday.

Time to get to work. Hope you all have a great day.