Riding my bike makes me who I am, and helps propel me into a better version of myself. When I have the time to workout I choose the bike — always I find something I didn’t know I had, or a thought or idea that is released because of my forward motion, or my effort, or the landscape and olfactory stimulation, or all of it.

While that makes my soul and legs happy, much of the rest of me is lacking.

I’ve let my core strength, my upper body strength, my agility with weights and compound movements just slide…I chose to walk the dogs and/or ride my bike, rather than do planks, push-ups, TRX.

So last night I did a cycling class and Body Pump class back to back. The cycling class was no biggie; I will adjust to the gears & instructors. The BP class…it was my first, and I was conservative with the amount of weights I used & took breaks…my first weight-training in about a year. So now, I hurt.

I knew for months that I needed to incorporate strength training of any kind into my routine, and ignored that tiny voice in my head as I walked the dogs and rode my bike and ran my business. Best year ever for real estate, by the way — extra-busy meant  less free time. Less free time meant choosing what mattered most. Dogs + bike won.

I’m paying for that now, and for tomorrow as well. I anticipate getting balance back, now that I have classes to choose to take, and less time cycling outdoors, as the days grow shorter.

Updates to come. And even with my current pain, I’m happy that I’m healthy enough to work out hard enough to feel pain.  I’m looking forward to having balance back.