Tuesday

I must be recovering a bit, because I feel stronger and more energetic today. The bike ride in wasn't a piece of cake, but it was better. I've noticed a couple things about my bike riding: 1) I feel really nervous about getting out of the saddle and standing to climb or do whatever -- I feel really unstable; and 2) my crotch hurts like hell at the 25 minute point. It stops hurting when I get off the bike, but still. So today, I tried standing on the pedals every now and again. The trust isn't there yet -- but my crotch didn't hurt at all when I got into work.

I was reading Adventure Cyclist (well, I can dream, can't I?) yesterday and cracked up when I read this:

"You'll see a bountiful offering of saddles. Consider yourself lucky if the stock saddle is the one you like most. And remember, almost everyone agrees that (a) the more you ride, the the skinnier the saddle you want, and (b) fatter saddles sell better. Don't expect me to fix this disconnect."
--John Schubert, March 2003, How to Buy a Touring Bike

I, of course, have a big ole saddle on my new bike. Is this true? Cyclists, please tell! (is this my excuse to go to Terry and get a new saddle?)

My walk for today was just 20 minutes, and I ended up walking around downtown. I was very pleasant, a nice morning, and I always enjoy people watching, checking out the older buildings and the like. I saw a lot of women wearing beautiful shoes. I felt a pang of longing -- I wish I could wear pretty shoes. I had decent legs -- wouldn't they look nice in heels? The thing is, girly shoes, flat or heels, kill my feet. I can't wear them. Well, I can -- I'm just so uncomfortable that I'm sure the expression on my face ruins the effect of my pretty feet. I thought of a blog entry in Fit Notes (sorry, can't find the permalink here):

No matter what shoes I wear, if they’re not laced-up athletic shoes, they tear holes into my feet in minutes. I see women walking around in all kinds of dress shoes, flat and otherwise, and they look perfectly comfortable. How do they do it? Is there something wrong with my feet?
July 22, 2004: Danger: Shoes

It set me to thinking. Could a person train to wear girly shoes? In high school and college, I adored heels and wore them often, until I decided that looking unstable wasn't sexy. They weren't painful then. Maybe I could adapt a marathon training program for wearing them -- slowly ratcheting up the time spent in them?

I wish the marathon would hurry up and get here!