Off Work, Busy

Even though I was off of work today I ended up spending the majority of the day doing work. I either had my nose buried in the laptop working on replying to emails and getting things done or I was trying to set things up for the coming week after the Thanksgiving holiday.

I also needed to get scheduling done for a big meeting that will be happening tomorrow with some of the executives and the sales team to determine what we will be focusing on for the last two quarters of the fiscal year 16 which is fiscal year 15 for us.

Once all of that was done I still had one more interview review to take care of for one of my off-site guys. I called him just around lunchtime and ended up talking to him for around one hour and 35 minutes to do his full review and discuss some other things. That sounds like a long time but it's actually average to where I was at with every review last week.

In theory if everything goes right and I can keep my nose out of the laptop I should not have to do anything work related tomorrow. I will still check on things and make sure there is nothing blowing up or requiring my attention but that should be few and far between compared to what I had going on today.

I don't mind doing it, but when I have the day off I would rather not be spending it that way. It's entirely my own doing because I am not required to spend time checking emails and getting back to people when I am on vacation like I did today. Really the reason I do it is because it makes life that much easier when I return to work. Not to mention it helps to keep things going while I am away.

Cycling

Once I was done with all of the work stuff Cicely surprised me with a heated up avocado and black bean burrito that we bought yesterday from El Pollo Loco. It was a great lunch and really hit the spot after being busy all morning and not eating anything. I had drank some tea that I had left over from Starbucks from Sunday and all that did was give me a crazy caffeine buzz on  my empty stomach. Eating the burrito tone things down quite a bit and I felt much better and was ready to go and do something to get rid of some of my energy.

What a better way to do that than to go for a bike ride and that is exactly what I did. I am not sure if it's a combination of me having a cold or if it's because it's cold outside or maybe a little bit of both but the ride was pretty difficult for only going just under 18 miles. I felt like I hadn't written in months when really it's only been about a week.

I am really hoping that it's due to the yard work I did yesterday making my legs tired and the fact that I'm sick so my lungs were not working the way I would have liked him too and therefore I was just not as functional as I wanted to be.

Although looking back at my ride from my Garmin I actually did fairly well in most areas and was only a few seconds behind my normal ride speeds. In other areas I was maybe a half a minute to a full minute behind but that is no big deal considering. It made me feel a lot better to see those results and had I not I would have been much harder on myself after the ride. Thinking I need to do something to ramp back up and quick otherwise by next summer I will have lost everything I gained in the way of riding long distances and climbing this past summer.

Either way it still felt good to get out and ride and to be perfectly honest there were parts of me that were saying turn around and go back it's too damn cold out here and your lungs aren't functioning the way they should be on a ride. I powered through it and just took it a little easier and ended up finishing the ride so that was worth it.

Wahoo

Tomorrow should be the big day I have been pondering, researching and waiting for. Why you ask? Because tomorrow is when I am supposed to receive my Wahoo KICKR indoor cycle trainer.

I I am kind a like a little kid on Christmas morning and I cannot wait for the UPS man to arrive and for me to get it in my anxious hands. I am extremely curious to see how it performs for me. Yet, at the same time I am a little nervous to get it and have it feel awkward or something.

I think I am worrying about nothing and it will be fine and I will be thankful that I have it - especially on days like today when it's just too cold to be outside riding but I have no other choice.

I do need to get my bike in and have it tuned up a little bit and have the guys look at the shifters and the cables but at the same time I really don't want to give it up now that I have the one coming. Worst-case maybe I will take it closer to Christmas and let them mess with it then.

The shop has been bugging me to bring it in and tune it up and I keep blowing them off because I want to ride - how funny is that? The guy that always thought he would never get on a bike and have to pedal to get from point 'A' to point 'B' is now so addicted to doing just that that he has a indoor trainer where he goes nowhere from point 'A' to point 'B' instead just peddling in place.

I guess this is no different than me spending hours upon end on my treadmill during the winter months.of course on the new indoor trainer I have the ability to ride segments that I have done on this drama as well as those that others have done. There are also tons of apps that go along with it so I can ride various areas and/or use my iPad for the screen to view rides I am doing virtually. With other paid sites I can even use the TV I have set-up in the garage for an even more realistic experience. I think overall the investment of $1200 will be money well spent. In the end the trainer will be just as cool as I hoped it would be and as awesome as all of the reviews described it and it's features as well as overall durability and performance.

Panda Time

Alright that's enough out of me for one day. I hear some noise outside so I think Cicely is home and what does that mean? For me tonight that means it's time for a Panda Express Chinese fast  food dinner! Yea basically this is my reward for peddling my ass off today in the cold. Don't judge me, we all have our little quirks and/or guilty pleasures. Plus what good is hard work without a little reward at the end?

Photo: here it is, Panda Express dinner. Fresh, hot and ready for me to chow down!