Happy New Year Y'all!

I last reported buying a bike trainer and I have already logged many, many miles on it. (I thought I would give you all the action shot to match Mike's - sorry we are dorks sometimes) What a cool piece of equipment! It has a totally different feel than our recumbent stationary bike and I get to use my own bike - can't really get any better than that. Awesome workouts that really make you sweat and gives you the rubber legs feel when you are done, so you know you really worked it. One thing we did learn was that the Forerunners were pretty much useless on the trainer since you don't move, you log no miles, just heart rate.

So, we were off on NY Eve afternoon in search of a Cat Eye Astrale 8 Cyclocomputer, which is basically an odometer with a rear wheel reader for cadence so it can log miles on the trainer. We do love our gadgets and I personally crave the data so I can see on paper (puter actually) where I am having gains or setbacks. The bike shop here in town was closed, so we ended up at Erik's Bike Shop in Madison, a nice place to visit and a decent price, but still the bulk of my business will continue to go to Michael's Cycles here in town - they are great to work with.

Today, being the first day of the new year, it was important to me to get off to a great start. Even though I haven't run in a few days, I took a run by myself around the neighborhood, my medium sized loop of a 5K and some change. It wasn't fast but I did it even though I didn't feel much like running today. Tonight, i also got on the trainer for a half hour (32 minutes), just to get a good bike start going too. It helped that The Biggest Loser was showing as a marathon today and after watching bits and pieces all day, I was motivated to do a little more work. It felt good and I am glad I did it.

As the year closes and the new one starts, it is a good time to reflect on the past and set new goals for the future.

My proudest achievements of the past year:

- Losing more than 50% of my body weight. This was last year's NY goal, and was absolutely achieved. Nuff said on that.

- Achieving my highest level of fitness since at least my teens, and probably more like ever.

- Having my second consecutive deficiency free annual State survey (third in my career) and a deficiency free JCAHO survey (second in my career) at work. For those not in the health industry, this is a HUGE statement of the quality of care we provide and a speaks volumes about the ability and training of my nursing staff and my leadership skills.

There are many moments that I am proud of in the past year, but these stick out in my mind as the top 3.

My Goals for the Coming year:

• Complete my first Duathlon and my first triathlon, then continue to do as many as physically and financially feasible
• Complete a 10K race or more
• Compete in at least 1 bike race
• Learn to Mountain Bike
• Graduate from Ball State with a BS in Nursing, thereby making me qualified for the job I have done for the past 10 years......................
• Continue to gradually lose weight into the 150 range or better, and maintain without significant gain
• Learn to run with my nutjob dog without injuring either of us ;-)
  

I will leave you with a couple pictures of my favorite baby, Isabel in the baby scrubs that were a shower gift from me. Michele brought her over Saturday and we played dress up with her for while.