Reading & Riding: Day, uh... 8-ish

So my "every day, no excuses" plan failed to take into account travel. I just got back from a trip with my oldest son to visit my mom in Florida. No real opportunity for riding. So I did the next best thing: I turned my 8-year-old loose on all that Florida had to offer, and vowed to keep up with him every step of the way.

We went to the beach, a sea bird and sea turtle rescue center, and a very tall lighthouse. I even suggested we climb to the top, just to get some exercise in.Unfortunately, the spiral staircase around the outer edge of the lighthouse had a steep incline, and a vertigo-inducing open center, so he bailed about a third of the way up. I kinda didn't blame him.

The next day we spent a long hot morning at the biggest flea market I've ever been to, wandering the labyrinthine aisles looking at all sorts of cheap knock-off goods and edible oddities before having a light lunch and heading off to a water park. I think I counted eight times up the four-story water slide towers, not to mention all the walking at ground level. My always-wet feet on always-hot concrete still feel a bit shredded, and walking barefoot on our living room rug is somewhat reminiscent of velcro.

The next day we were up bright and early to head for Disney's Magic Kingdom. Rather than doing rides and attractions that were close by, we followed his whims, back and forth across the blazing hot giant pizza stone amusement park grounds. I knew we'd done it right when at the end of the day I told him it was time to go and he said "okay, good."

Day three was spent kayaking, with me doing all the paddling and him gawking at boats and birds and everything else. The payoff was a cove full of at least a dozen friendly manatees, all of whom wanted to be our friends. They had a dog-like desire to be close to us, nibbling on the boat straps and resting their flippers on the sides of our kayaks. (They also have dog breath, for what it's worth).

After that, we walked on Daytona's boardwalk and splashed around some more in the waves before finally hopping the train back to North Carolina.

I even ate relatively healthy stuff, with an abundance of salads and a minimum of fried foods. If you knew me, you'd know that means I must be getting serious.

Since getting back yesterday morning, I've gotten back in the saddle, so to speak. Here are my stats for the last two rides:

Tuesday, 8/23
Weight: 230.6
Distance: 4.14 miles
Calories: 176

Wednesday, 8/24
Weight: 230.6 (is my scale stuck??)
Distance: 4.05 miles
Calories: 172

I might have to bump up my program on the bike tomorrow. It's too hard to read and pay attention to how hard I'm pedaling at the same time, so I may have to let the technology push me rather than me pushing myself.



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A Challenge Dropped

...but it's not a bad thing. i'm leaving in about 10 hours to go on a vacation. that sort of makes my "spend 30 minutes a day organizing and purging stuff" a bit difficult to accomplish. now, i suppose i could volunteer in the back office of the hotel and do that, but i think they'd frown on that. so, i'm putting that challenge to rest. for now. as i've mentioned before, there will amazingly be yet another 30 days after this 30 days is done for me to pick up the challenge again. it's a good challenge. just would rather give it a full 30 days.

the sleep thing? will still look to get my 7 hours a night on vacation, even if it takes a nap...or three. yeah, still having that issue of going to bed earlier, but having my body clock still get me up after 5-1/2 to 6 hours. but, that's the essence of the challenge...to change old habits. it will happen. i'm being patient.

and the reading? doing great. enjoying picking up reading again. i've finished my second book and am now reading "World War Z" - - a journalistic collection of interviews about the zombie war (you did hear about that, yes?). and this is top literature, mind you. for example, a line i read today is just literary gold - - "But instead [the monkey's] little penis popped out and he peed in my face." Pulitzer Prize, baby...