My First Bike Race

I did it!

I rode the Black Dog Time Trial tonight. I rode as hard as I could for seven miles and felt like I was going to throw up from about mile 3 on, but I did not hurl. I rode to my limit, with heart rate between 180 and 190 for about 22 minutes (not sure of my official time yet) and now I know that I can push myself a lot harder for a lot longer than I thought possible.

I pushed waaay beyond the comfort zone, and went harder than I ever have at any physical activity. It helped knowing that I would be done after 7 miles :)

Bike goals achieved so far this year:
commute to work (2x so far)
2nd metric century
first bike race

This is fun! I'm so happy I have the ability to do stuff like this.

Food Musings

I'm reading Harvest for Hope right now. It's an excellent book about where our food comes from (the subtitle is A Guide to Mindful Eating.) I checked it out from my local library, along with another book called The Real Food Revival.

I've made a decision to eat as organically as possible. I'm making an effort to stop spending my money on needless crap and start buying better food.

Some of my favorite tasty items:

• Brown Cow Yogurt (cream top)
  

• Endangered Species Chocolate (I like the blueberry dark choc.)
• Ginger Spread (thanks to Priscilla, who brought me a jar of this one day at work. I haven't stopped buying it ever since. I love it on a peanut butter sandwich or to add a bit of sweetness to my oatmeal, or just on toast...)
• Reed's Ginger Juice Brew is another favorite ginger item, but I have only been able to find it once, in a co-op in Grand Forks MN. I like it because it is not carbonated.
  
• Thunder Cookies (you can only get these if you happen to find yourself in or around Duluth. They're made at the Positively Third St. Bakery and can be found in local co-ops, but nowhere in Mpls. that I know of.)
  
• Organic Mangoes (I know, most fruit is better organic, but truly, once you have an organic mango you'll never go back)
• Birchwood Granola (they sell it by the bag at the restaurant)