New Adventures in Phatness

My running efforts since Bloomsday have been less than stellar. I started out okay but then I went on vacation in Iowa and ran head-on into pollen. I have never suffered from allergies before but I got a good taste of it in Iowa. They must have industrial strength farm pollen cuz it got to me. I would go for a run and not even make it a half mile before I had to stop and wheeze my way back. My eyes got a little puffy and I was coughing like a smoker.

So I got way out of the routine of running and have only run a mile a couple of times in the last month.

Monday will mark the commencement of a next phase in my fitness life. There are 22 work days in the month of July. I am going to attempt to ride my bike every one of those work days. Part of it is for exercise and part of it is to see how much money I save on gas. It is currently at $4.00 per gallon...and still rising...for no apparent reason...other than we will pay it. My calculations indicate I can save well over $100.00.

Now, this is not as quite as ambitious an effort as it may sound. While my ride to work is about 18 miles, I am peddling only a small portion of that. I will ride downtown and catch the bus. The buses are equipped with bike racks. Then I can ride the two blocks to work from where the bus drops me off.

The challenge is to re-arrange my life so I don't need the car. If I can do it in July, there is no reason I can't do it in August. Then I'll see if I'm up to the challenge of doing it into the Fall. And of course, I am not! But money is a strong motivating factor and if I actually lose some weight and firm up my flabbiness, that too will motivate me.

And so, let the month long bicycle extravaganza begin. And pray for me.