the affair

I'm feeling a bit a guilty, so I think it's time to confess: For the past couple of months I have been having an affair. If you want to get technical, it's probably more of an occurrence of "two-timing"...

You see, I love to run. That's right, I actually enjoy exercise! And for me, running is where it is at. I love being out on the open road. Feeling the pavement under my sneakers, the wind in my face. Running is "me" time. It's my opportunity to be selfish. As one of my favorite running shirts reads "it's cheaper than therapy." Now that you have a little background, let's get back to explaining the torrid affair.

For Christmas I got a bike. It had been on my list, but I hadn't really put much thought in to it. I'm not a cyclist. I took up spinning that last month or so of my pregnancy, and I thought it was fun. But that was the extent of my cycling experience. Struggling to come up with a Christmas list, I simply listed a bike. There was no make or model described, so you can imagine my surprise when I actually got one. But there was no mistaking it. Bright and early Christmas morning I woke up to a beautiful new bike.

I got it home, and didn't really know what to do with it. I was already running almost daily. When would I ever have time to ride this beautiful bike? Plus how would I ever be able to accomplish this? At least with running I can take the kids in the jogger. Owen is still way too little for a bike trailer. So I decided I needed to get a bike trainer so I could set my bike up indoors and take it for a spin.

Jeff set the trainer up, and for an entire week I couldn't bring myself to get on. I can't explain it, and it sounds totally dumb, but I was nervous. Finally one Saturday, while the boys were napping, the bike and I had our first "date." Boy, what an awkward experience. But I kept at. At first, I was only seeing the bike a couple times a week. But as we became more comfortable with one another, it became a daily experience. Suddenly 3 months had passed. I was still running everyday, but I was also biking everyday. Sometimes it's hard juggling the two, but they are both so much fun, I didn't think I could give up either.

As much fun as I was having, I still didn't feel like I had totally "committed" to the bike. You see, although I was riding nearly every day, we had not gone "all the way." After 3 months of riding, I still had yet to ride the bike outside, on the actual road. So today, I took the plunge. And I am proud to say, I am no longer a virgin biker. This morning (yep I know, chastise me all you want, I admit... I broke the sabbath) I took the bike on a 12 mile loop, and it was awesome! I was scared to death the entire time. Dozens of questions and fears continually ran through my head: What if I fall? What if I can't unclip fast enough? What if I stop on a hill, and have to get going again? What about stop lights? What about going downhill too fast? What if I can't keep up with the group? I am proud to say I encountered, and overcame every single one of fears, including falling. Yep, I fell, but not until the last five minutes of the ride. By then I was feeling confident, maybe too confident. I took a corner too quickly, got stuck in the ridge between the street and the curb, hit the curb and flew off. Luckily I landed on grass. No major injuries, just a bruised ego, and some aches and pains.

All in all, I think this will be an affair to both remember and continue.