Johnny Paycheck

Today, I paid myself.

Finally!

And it was a pretty good paycheck, too. Not enough to make up for the first five months of not paying myself, but a pretty good start if I can keep it up.

Yesterday, as part of my Quest for Fitness (and I'm training for September's Boston/Provincetown AIDS ride, see the Harbor to the Bay website for more info, and to sponsor me), I did the long Cape Ann loop on the bike. Robert and I wound up doing 43 miles by the time it was over. My legs are still feeling it today.

But it was a good sign - I made the ride at an average pace of around 12 MPH, and that included some hilly sections far more severe than what you get on Cape Cod. I'm doing the shorter, 68 mile portion of the ride (Bourne to P-Town), so I think I'll be able to manage the additional 25 miles OK that day. My training so far is to do between 12-20 miles twice per week, and one longer ride on the weekend. I'll go shorter this weekend, probably (we have a wedding on Saturday that'll mess up the schedule), but I want to go 50+ at least once before the event.

As for the overall effect on my health, I've tapered off on the weight training until after the ride - I'm still doing a few lighter sets during the week to maintain tone, but the less weight I carry the better off I'll be. I weighed myself a couple of weeks ago, and all the weightlifting has kept my total weight from dropping as much as I'd like. Given the changes in my pants size, I know there's been a bigger shift than the scale shows - but I've added muscle as fast as I've lost fat. And muscle weighs more.

To get ready for this, I've rehabbed my old Fuji mountain bike and turned it into a bit more of a street-worthy machine. But it's still a lot more difficult to ride long distances than it would be on a road bike. I have Robert's old road bike, but there's not much on it I can use other than the frame, crankarms, and deraileurs, so I'm holding off on rehabbing it until I've earned more cash. As it was, it cost me about $150 in parts (and tires) to get my Fuji in shape - I can see spending twice that on the road bike, because it needs wheels, too. I'll probably tackle it for next season.