Patience, Grasshopper

I think TLC needs a new reality show called American Pickers: Curbs of New York. Curb finds are a secret gem of living in the city, because people will toss all sorts of things out that are in remarkably good condition and ripe for young, broke, 20-somethings to haul home and pretend that they didn't just pull it out of someone else's trash. I'm willing to bet that every New York apartment (at least the ones without doormen) has a minimum of two curb finds being used as regular furniture. And odds are you can't tell which ones they are.

Last Friday, Christian was sick of my moping around and whining about my foot so he packed up some adult beverages in a thermos and dragged me to the park a couple blocks from our apartment. After a much-needed bottle of wine and some vitamin D (and a pretty impressive tree-climbing expedition for him) we headed home. And came across the GREATEST CURB FIND EVER. 

An exercise bike.

Zoe is enthralled with this new torture device.

It's not too big and completely silent - perfect for our tiny apartment. Just what I needed to get back into an exercise routine.

I definitely didn't expect my first few workouts on it to be so difficult. At this point in my life, I'm in decent aerobic shape, so I thought  - half an hour on the bike, bump up a couple levels, no big deal, right?

Wrong.

I have zero experience with bike riding, stationary or otherwise, and it was a huge shock to me how much slack I needed to cut myself to start working out on this thing. It was pretty humbling, and a very good wake-up call to remind me that I can't just dive right into something and expect to be able to go all out without hurting myself and/or burning out right away. 

Right now I'm building up to 30 minutes a day, and stay mostly at level 1, but I try to throw in a few intervals at level 2 and try to maintain the same RPMs. It's a fantastic workout and I had forgotten how much I enjoy a good workout. Actually, that's a lie - I have never really enjoyed a good workout and I'm pretty sure aliens have taken over my body and convinced me that this fitness thing is fun. Regardless, I think the pity party is over (thank god) and I hope that by the time I can run again, I'll be able to get back to where I was mileage and fitness-wise without too much difficulty. But if not, getting on this bike has reminded me that any sort of meaningful progress and development will take time. It's so hard to be patient with yourself when you want to see results, but it's a good reminder for me that that patience, and that journey, is the most important part.

After all, the freaking bike IS stationary. It's not like it's going to magically take off and start moving forward if I pedal hard enough. So yes, the journey...