I've had a few shocks to the system in the last couple of weeks. Initially it was adjusting to British weather. This is to be expected after a holiday but beyond that the majority were self inflicted.
Only twelve hours after I arrived home I was on the start line for a charity cycle ride. This shouldn't have posed a problem as I like to think I'm still relatively fit; even if I'd just had five weeks of doing very little exercise. It was a two day event cycling a total of one hundred miles. With fresh legs, I set off cautiously to ensure I'd reach the destination with some energy to spare for my return the following day and am pleased to report I made it. It wasn't until the following morning that I realised, despite my level of fitness, I didn't have a bottom "conditioned" for cycling, even if I had a little more padding than before I went away. It's not often that I appreciate an incline but the killer hills on the second day actually came as a little respite for my derrière as I stood up to pedal.
The second change probably doesn't come as a shock to any of my friends although it still surprises my body. The arrival of Easter Sunday doesn't just mean Christ and chocolate eggs to me; it is time to eat all the food I've forbidden myself over lent. I know this isn't the point of Easter or the forty days prior, but it has become a tradition for me. This year I even added cake to the list as my birthday actually fell before Ash Wednesday. I keep hoping that as I grew older I'll no longer have the urge to nip into the sweet shop but until that happens those forty days help me to prove I can resist temptation when I really have to.
