Fitness vs. Having a Fit

Every day I my hip feels a bit better (about time, too, says the grouch within). Here's a poster that stared me in the face Saturday when I ventured out on my bike to the local Trader Joe's, a round-trip journey of about six miles. I related to the poster's sentiment.

Friday was my first bike ride--a very tentative double circuit around the block. The actual riding is a piece o' cake--I've been logging bike miles at the gym for a week or two with only mild pain. Getting on and off my trusty bike (on left) has been a whole 'nuther story.

My habit has always been to mount by standing on my left leg and swinging my right leg back and up, over the saddle and into the pedal clip in one rather elegant and swashbuckling motion. Problem is, the left leg bone is connected to the left hip bone, the one that is bruised and cranky. This means my new way to get on is to concentrate on centering my body weight over my left foot and then sneak my right foot up that left leg to about knee level before thrusting it laterally over the center bar and dropping it onto the ground before I fall over. From that position of straddling the bike, I'm able to lift my right foot onto the pedal and finally push off and get in motion. Not too elegant and just the opposite of swashbuckling.

Dismounting is even more exciting (meaning terror-inducing). Not only do I have to repeat the above practice, except backward--before I can do that I have to halt the bike's forward motion. This means squeezing the brakes about three yards before my anticipated stopping point and slowing down enough that I can lower my left leg to the pavement before I teeter so much that both bike and I tip right over.

I never dreamed getting on and off a bike could be such an adventure.

Yesterday, the day after my trip to TJ's, I took another bike ride, this one on the Bay Trail. I think I went about eight miles. It felt wonderful, but for the rest of the day I was truly toast. Complete with grill marks across my brain.

Still, I'm so excited to be in motion again! This morning I biked to the library and then, later in the day, biked the short distance over to the pool, where I swam an unbroken 25 minutes. I'm not fast, but I'm steady, and I'm happy.

I was off today from work, but have to return tomorrow afternoon. In the morning I'm planning another session at the Berkeley Health Studio, aka my gym.


It's a no-frills place, and many of the customers are retired folks who strut around looking studly. I fit right in. When I can get there at 6:30 a.m., I'm often rewarded with some mighty lovely early morning light streaming through the front windows.

Ps. One other (big) reason I'm happier today that usual is that Z continues to recover well from his surgery. Very well. He still faces some challenges, but seems good at rebuilding his strength and even his very life one day at a time. He's an example for me to emulate.