Power without Pain
Hi. Been awhile. I’ve had a lot to say. Been busy. Busy with Partnerships, Training, Single Mothering of Two Teenage Daughters, and getting Zoefitness Gear ordered. And recovering.
I’m finally starting to feel human again. I’ve been on Mom-Cation, went on a Mom-venture, and have been overjoyed to be on a Mom-stay-cation.
A couple of weeks ago I finally gave into the power of Amoxicillin. I had been fighting a sinus infection for months, and an ear infection, my best guess, is since last fall. It finally got the better of me, no more saline rinses, or alcohol in the ear, post swimming.
At the same time I have been recovering from a deep hip muscle strain.
I have to say today’s ride was the 1st time in months I have felt decent on the bike. Was able to produce a little bit of power to get over obstacles, on inclines. For over a month I have been getting off and walking over much, to avoid too much stress on the hip. The pain in my hip has been so great at times, a 15 on a 10 point scale for pain. So much that at times I haven’t been able to lift my leg over small obstacles, speed bumps, left out by the monkeys.
Sure I have been doing some training. I haven’t seen an interval in 4everZ. And I just have to realize, that’s OK. Going to fix that anterior-ly rotated hip once and for all. The process has been long, I know it’s going to be for the best, making me stronger, improving my bio mechanics, but Geeze. Patience is a hard one sometimes.
Yesterday is the 1st day I had no pain while running a few strides with the boyZ in the morning. I have to say it feels great. Ok, the running without pain felt great. The hip, well, that only feels OK. 🙂
Not ready for a road race on Saturday.
I am ready for more adventuring. Thinking Friday a hydration pack ride in the Placitas. Getting lost to find myself. I know that ride up the back side of the Sandias is do-able. Not sure if I will on Friday, I may. I am more interested in riding Water Canyon on Saturday before the monkeys come home.
I made a fire pit for my Mom-stay-cation.
Planted a pomegranate tree.
Been sleeping…in…kind of…
Mom-venture 2017:
My Mom-cation started with a 430 arrival at the airport to a cancelled flight. Um. That wasn’t in the plan. It worked out for the best. As always. Just have to trust in the process. I really needed the rest, and some downtime. The following day I headed to White Mesa with the BoyZ, on my way to Phil’s World.
I have to look at White Mesa each time I ride. It gives me something to be hopeful about. The joy, the technicality, the thrills. It’s a must do for mountain biking. It’s about an hour drive from Albuquerque. And the vistas from the end of Devil’s Backbone; the journey on 550, the views on this route, is what made me fall in love with New Mexico over 20 years ago.
I’ve tried 3 times to fix the image. The image that is saved to my computer, right side up. Is transferring into Word Press on it’s side. And not allowing me to edit it in the Media Library. I tried to out smart it, and put it in sideways, that didn’t work either. So work with me a little bit, and hold your head sideways, temporarily, or check out this link to Strava. You do a quick climb out of the parking lot up to the Devil’s Back bone, which is literally like riding a spine. It’s a wide spine in spots, and other spots, it’s pretty narrow. It’s an awesome adventure.
Someone asked me why this was a WTF ride. So why did this ride involve an F-Bomb? First off, I should have probably gone out and back. I figured I had ridden it enough it would be a no brainer. The thing is I’m allergic to Sulfur. I’m most allergic to Hydrogen Sulfide, and petroleum based products, and Natural Gas. White Mesa is oozing H2S. It’s literally like the Devil is bleeding Hydrogen Sulfide. I knew this. When I am exposed to H2S my body can not differentiate between sources and responds with an acute attack of symptoms. The main symptom, besides fatigue (referred to sometimes as the “poppy field syndrome”), is cognitive function impairment. So here I was being brave, choosing NOT to do an out and back. This would have been fine, if it hadn’t been warmer than I had anticipated, and the boyZ in the car.
Something went awry. I was confused, panicked because of the dogs, I ended up in the bottom, rode to the end, and didn’t understand why I hadn’t seen the trails that I had before I descended. I felt like I was running out of time before the heat of the day. I ended up doing some bushwacking, then, went back the way I came, saw the trail, and felt like I had no other option at this point to ascend the super sick Red Bull type downhill. Which, I’m guessing, has the Strava segment name of “Going the Wrong Way”.
Which, BTW, I am now Queen of Going the Wrong Way.
Which if you know me; yes, I am Queen of Going the Wrong Way. On so many levels.
So watching me carry myself, and my bike, up this super sick wall, I’m sure was amusing.
And I always strongly suggest, if you’re going on an adventure with me, you refrain from wearing your super sick carbon, ratchet, race mountain bike shoes. Because in my world, it doesn’t constitute an adventure, unless at some point, we are hiking our bikes.
The car was still cool when I got back. Thank goodness. I have this fantastic option on Big Red, remote start. So when I head out, I run the remote start, with the air conditioning blasting. With the windows, away from the sun rolled down, the sunshade, and the limo tint…it felt refreshing upon my return.
It was then up to Durango for the night.
Even Mountain Girls need to go play in the Real Mountains sometimes. Yummie. I cannot wait to get my Real Mountain Bike Racing on this summer!
The last time I was at Phil’s World, I went out and back with the dogs, in a day. Being summer, it limited my time on the trail. So my plan of attack was to sleep in Durango, start early, and get more riding in.
Phil’s World is nothing but Phil’icious. I am not going up there again, without riding the full 28. By the time I got to the trail, I didn’t see a 3 hour ride in my near future. But I’ll roll with it. Garmin just uploaded, got about 10 miles, of pure bliss.
The funnest part of the trip was forgetting my cycling jerseys in the dryer. This led me to ride in my wind vest. That had me feeling like I was wrapped in plastic wrap. Hilarious in of itself.
Short adventure. Did it feed my freak? Probably not enough. I am hoping to get some more of that in in the next couple of days.
Sure wish the girls were here so they could vacuum. I have a client at the house tomorrow, and the dust bunnies seem to be taking over.
But hey, at least the fire pit is done, just in time for 80 degree weather!
Name Change:
I’ve begun the name change process back to Briggs. This is my maiden name, the name I was born with, and the name I am returning to. I imagine it will be some time before it is changed on everything. I started with Facebook, Strava. It will be a long arduous process. I am hoping to have it all completed within the next couple of years. My name is Zoe Briggs. aka Louise. Changing from Zoe Nance. Feels good, feels great.
On-line Dating:
Wow. This is something. Everyone said, you should try it. I met my _______ through ______.
So I took my fake account, and made it a real account. Then, I asked a friend, how are you meeting all of these amazing men, and she said _____. So I joined that too. I realize this is a delicate subject, so my hope is to tread lightly; share a little bit of what I learned, and hopefully, of all things, entertain you. Or maybe just have you going…hmm….
First off, let’s talk Greg Behrendt.
Dude, he’s just not that into you.
No shit.
I know that.
That’s some funny stuff right there. If I would have just known that 42 years ago 😉
When the book came out, yeah, I bought it for my girls.
So back to On-line Dating….
It’s all based on looks. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with that. I want to sense someone’s energy.
I get it, we want to be with someone we find physically attractive. But I’m looking back on my past relationships, and recognizing none of what I have done in the past has worked. It’s time to try something different, something new. No relationship I have ever had, has worked out based on the magnetic animal sexual attraction. Last summer, I realized, then, if not, it must be something different. Something that grows over time.
The 4-text Protocol:
This is something I came up with through this process. I know, I’ve had some people challenge the idea. I still hold true that it works, and is effective. Once explained, my constituents agree. The 4-text Protocol is simple. If you think a girl is hot, and you would like to see it go somewhere, then, be engaging. Find something interesting about her, and ask her about it. Something you would like to learn. ‘How are you’ Doesn’t cut it. Most frequently, not including punctuation. If you can engage me in conversation, get my neurons firing rapidly, then, I’m all in.
If you’re separated, and not yet divorced, I would strongly suggest you wait, until the judge’s John Hancock is on the decree.
So there’s something fundamentally wrong with a right swipe/left swipe, looking for my soul mate mentality.
I counted the days until my subscription ran out. I cancelled one of them, without even waiting. Each time I made a connection on one, that person had already met a friend of mine, on the same site. That was even more weird. It’s like making the rounds. Creepy. Strange.
My one account was hidden more than it was on. In the final days, and even weeks, I used it primarily as a time waster, entertainment purposes.
One of my life goals is to not be on my phone as much. It became clear to me, just how addicted to it I was, when I broke the screen, the Friday before President’s Day, and was without it for 4 days. Watching myself, going over to it; even in lieu of it being broken, and swiping the screen, like it was going to magically be working all of a sudden.
So why am I engaging in this activity that has me on my phone more?
When I want to be living life more; living life more in line with my goals, and aspirations.
It’s been an adjustment. Not scrolling and trolling, but I’m into it. Enjoying my personal freedom. And even meeting new people.
Let’s talk about the new rules for communication.
This part, I don’t get. Not one bit.
First off, I think, it’s really important to be myself. I don’t want to hide who I am, or act differently. Or communicate differently.
There are these rules, they’re actually publicized rules for communication.
- Don’t text back right away. I’m sorry, if I’m sitting on my ass, or standing in my kitchen doing the FB scroll, while I’m sauteing veggies, or waiting for a pot of water to boil; I don’t see any reason I shouldn’t respond back right away. I’m there. I like to connect with people.So you’re telling me, if I respond to a text message too soon, that means, I’m desperate…? This doesn’t make any sense to me. To me it says, I’m on my phone, let’s connect.
- Wait twice the amount of time he took to respond to respond back. What?! So let’s say I’m bored to tears because the monkeys are doing homework, and I can’t watch TV; I’m brain dead from the day’s festivities, I’m scrolling Strava, getting caught up on my kudos. I have to actually count the amount of time, I didn’t hear anything, and then double it. Oh…because that makes the guy feel like there’s a chase…to me, it’s says, games. And not really being myself.
And yeah, I’ve known for almost 2 decades, he’s just not into you, so it’s not like going ghost is going to explain that. And if you do go ghost on someone, (okay, it is me, so maybe these aren’t all safe assumptions) it’s not like a relationship would ever come of it. Relationships are built on being there, 100% of the time.
Friends first, and there’s never any good that comes from burning a bridge. What does happen is that totally awkward feeling when you run into each other. This world is really small.
Honesty is always the best policy. And maybe it’s hard to be honest and truthful with people. I know it is. Sometimes it makes me sweaty, and nervous, and always makes me feel uncomfortable.
And yes, sometimes I even try to avoid it.
Wow. That feels good to finally put pen to paper, or in this case, put fingers to keys; and hit the topics I have been wanting to for some time.
As always thanks for checking in.
Tomorrow is a new day.
I’m off to the kitchen to saute some veggies.
-Zoe