Tag: legs

Longer, Harder and Uncut

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

Ok.

I thought the ride would get harder because when you push yourself to go that extra block you use more energy to get there.  Well, when I got to Eye st. I decided to just keep going to Chester and I made it so then I was able to turn right and go back to 3rd.  It was actually easier coming home on Chester than it was going to California on H.  Maybe because I knew I was coming home.

Hmmmm, let’s see, what is uncut…  Well, this blog is, there are no commercials.  So there 😛

By the way, going from Eye to H to California to Chester to 3rd then back to Eye was only 1.6 miles and I’ve been going 1.5 miles turning on Eye instead of going to Chester while on California.  I know, 0.1 mile is not a lot and 2 min extra is not a lot but I started out with 15 min for 2 days then got to 17 min.  Who knows, tomorrow I might do 17 min again or I might do 20 min and 1.7 miles.  The point is that I’m getting my legs used to the work.  The first day my legs were in agony, I could barely move.  Of course today when I came home I could barely walk, I looked like i was an old man using a walker again lol.  But that’s what it takes to get the muscles back into shape.  A little pain at the beginning so I can go the distance with no pain at all.  That’s why they say “no pain, no gain”.

I remember as a teenager riding my bike to school in the morning and not being the least bit tired from the bike ride, then riding home, putting my McDonald’s uniform on and going back out the door on my bike to work.  When I got there I had no pain in my legs because I was so used to riding a bike that my legs were never in any pain from it.  I think because I was so thin back then helped my case because I have 100lbs more than I did 22 years ago.

Also when I was 22-23 years old and I rode my bike from North Hollywood all the way to Hollywood and I did that several times a week too and it would take maybe an hour but it didn’t matter, I was never in any pain.  And I never had a water bottle with me because it wasn’t that hard that I needed water.  Although now that I think about it I probably could have used a water bottle lol.  But that trip was uphill and downhill and curvy.

Oh and when I was 19 and I lived in Canoga Park I used to ride my bike once in a while on the Santa Susanna Pass going to Simi Valley to visit my Aunt Betty at Ralph’s.  That never even phased me.  Although I was a bit winded, I needed water lol.  But I got through it no problem and the ride home was a breeze because it was uphill the entire way there so it was downhill the entire way home.

Todays Bike Ride

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

I did the same thing as yesterday.  I couldn’t go any further.  I was looking at the street signs this time and it was 7th street when my legs started straining.  I only live on 3rd so that’s only a few blocks lol.

Anyway, I brought my step counter this time because it has a stop watch on it and I did 14 minutes total.  And I was in the wrong gear by the way.  That’s why my legs are struggling to keep me standing up when I get up.  When I realized the lower gear was an asset I kept it.  So tomorrow morning when I go out the bike will be in the right gear and I won’t have to struggle to ride and maybe, just maybe, I can go further.

PAIN

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, Doctor, ExerciseLeave a comment

Ok.  First off Darrin woke me up at 6am because the pain was too great in his stomach and he needed to go to the E.R.  He told me he was having a heart attack.  He wasn’t thank goodness.  The doctor gave him some meds for his stomach pain and we were on our way.  Ok that was Chips pain.

Now for my pain.  When we came home from the hospital Darrin got ready for church and then left.  I on the other hand geared up for what I thought was going to be a long bike ride but turned into a 20 minute bike ride, if that.  I put my sunglasses onto my glasses then strapped on the helmet then put the ear buds in so I could listen to Gavin Degraw’s latest self titled CD in my Dell DJ so the ride would be at least tolerable.

I go down H street from 3rd and I’m nearing the Catholic church which is like 10th street or something, I remember seeing 11th street as I was passing the church but just before I started to get near it I could feel my upper front legs just tightening up from the stress I was putting on them from the ride.  I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t in the right gear or something but my legs were in pain.

I had to push myself to get to California Ave though so I could say I tried.  As soon as I got to California Avenue I sighed a big sigh of relief.  Then I had to turn right and Eye street wasn’t too far then I could turn right and go back to 3rd st.  Now keep in mind, I didn’t go very far.

I finally got home, took of that hot helmet and I swear to science that my legs were in so much pain I was walking like an old man in a retirement home using a walker.  Flower was so happy to see me that she was jumping up on my back legs trying to show her love and trying to get me to pick her up but I could barely walk much less bend over to pick up a toy chihuahua.

I’m glad it’s over BUT… I gotta try again tomorrow.  If I can get to California avenue and not be in so much pain then I can keep going, maybe to Truxton lol.  The song I was on was just track 5 so you know that I wasn’t gone long lol.  Maybe tomorrow I will get to track 6.

This is a cropped image from Google Maps of today’s short route hehe.  It was 1.5 miles by the way.

GPS Mount for the PSP

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I Like, PSPLeave a comment

As some of you know, I’m very excited about the GPS module coming this holiday season for the PSP. Well, I just read on the Playstation Blog that it will be out later this year and there is a company who is making a dashboard bracket for the PSP making it easier to navigate the country without needing to hold your PSP while driving lol. Here is a picture.

Now just tell me how I’m supposed to use my PSP while riding a bike without crashing into a car, breaking both my legs and smashing my PSP into a million pieces.  I joke hehe, I would never do that.

Cat Spirits

On By Michel McDonaldIn SpiritualityLeave a comment

Ever since we moved to Bakersfield I have had the feeling that we aren’t alone. When we lived in the 1 bedroom house next door I slept on the couch and there were so many times that I’d be laying on the couch and it felt like my cat jumped up on the couch and walked over to my chest area and I’d open my eyes but there was nothing there.

When we moved into the big house I have my own bedroom and sometimes when I am laying down on the bed I can feel a cat jumping up, because when a real cat jumps on the bed it puts some pressure on the bed because of the cats weight and then you can feel the cat walking around on the bed.

So one time Darrin was laying on my bed and he had his eyes closed but he wasn’t sleeping and he was holding the dog and he knew the cat was outside on the patio and he asked me if our cat jumped up on the bed and I turned around and saw no cat and said I am so glad you felt that too because I am always feeling that.

So that brings me to my point. Last night I was laying in bed and I felt 3 cats jump on my bed. 1 on each side of me and one between my legs and I could feel it putting pressure on my blanket and I could feel it like kneading the blanket on my leg. I am not afraid of cat spirits and so I held out both hands and said here kitty kitty kitty and asked them to come closer to me but I just felt them near my leg area. I think it’s kinda cool.

New Sewing Machine

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

Darrin bought a sewing machine the other day at Sears because we really need one. I hate to sew things by hand. I have these pajama bottoms that have holes in the left leg for some reason. It’s only the left leg in both pajama bottoms too.

Anyway, I don’t like to wear them because of the hole because every time I put them on my foot goes into the hole making it worse. So I wanted to cut the legs off and make them into shorts. They would actually look more like boxer shorts than anything.

So I was able to finally do it and the ones I did look funny lol. 1 leg is higher than the other. That’s ok. It was my first attempt. I didn’t use pins or iron them where I need to sew them, I just cut and went from there lol. Next time I will do it right.