My car broke down last week. Well, technically, it didn't break down since that usually implies that it wouldn't turn on or work. What happened to my car was that it wouldn't turn off! But either way, it had to get fixed so my dad took it back to his house to replace the starter.

Since I got back from DC, I haven't had time to go pick up the car from my parents' house. I tried to ride the bus to work, but it was smelly, gross, and inconvenient. So I started biking to work again. I love it. I can come and go whenever I want and it's actually faster than the bus. It takes me 15 minutes door-to-door on my bike (versus 25 minutes on the bus).

And now I actually have something to put on my exercise tracker!

Exercise Tracker

We had originally planned to do a 20 mile flat ride since the doctor had recommended no elevation gain, but Dr. Boyfriend decided her theory was flawed and I could indeed do a hilly course. So off we went to Point Reyes, about 1.5 hours north of the city. The course did indeed have many hills and I am so exhausted. It started with a brutal climb up. The total elevation gain was only 1000 feet and it was pretty well spread out. A long ways to go until the 30 mile ride with two 700 feet spikes in elevation gain.

Exercise Tracker

The boyfriend has convinced me that I should do the 50km ride in Marin on August 1st. It's not a timed ride, so it's not a race, but my competitive nature will mean that I will force myself to go fast. Unfortunately, there's about 1400 feet in elevation gain, 2 hills each at 700 feet.

I started my training today on a flat 14 mile course. It was fun and not too hard, although the real trick will be when we add elevation in.

Exercise Tracker

We had planned to take the dogs hiking, but got such a late start that it didn't quite turn out the way we had hoped.

First, I had confused two parks: We went to Lake Chabot, but meant to go to Anthony Chabot (which is further away). So we didn't have any trail maps or know where we were going.

Second, our late start meant that we didn't arrive at the park until after sunset. Luckily the moon was out and we were able to do a little hike, but it wasn't quite the same as walking in the woods.

Third, we tried out some new harnesses on the dogs, the EasyWalk Gentle Harness. They did not fit well since I had not adjusted them properly but it did prevent them from pulling. Their Gentle Leaders still work much better.

And it was cold! Probably not cold by most people's standards, but cold for a California girl. It was probably high 40s to mid-50s. I'm a bad judge of temperature. I forgot my gloves.

We walked for about an hour and I'm guessing it was 3 miles roundtrip, so nothing too strenuous.

Will need to be better prepared next time.

I also need to figure out what kinds of exercise I can do during the week despite the cold. Any ideas?

Exercise Tracker