More on training

Well, my back problems are now over, although my coach (who is also a physical therapist and a personal trainer) has given me some exercises to make sure it recovers well. He’s also suggested ways of treating the scar tissue that my orthopedist told me was untreatable–will try that and see how it goes. It feels like it’s already making a difference, but time will tell.

Today I’m going off to shepherd two novice-rider friends of mine around Golden Gate Park. I’m not quite sure how that is going to go–they haven’t been riding in years, and their bikes haven’t been fitted yet, but I imagine things will work out OK. I think I may try to get my workout in first, though, as it’s unlikely I’ll get in a quality workout while running around with them, and I don’t know how long they’ll want to ride, either. Of course, I *could* put in the extra time on a trainer, but I loathe the things and would rather be out riding. 🙂

Last night I said goodbye to some good friends who are moving out of the Bay Area and going to India to work with Wangdor Rinpoche, one of the senior Tibetan monks. I have mixed feelings about this…I am sorry to see them go (especially since they say they’ll never live in the Bay Area again…they’ll go back to Canada if they go at all), and I am also incredibly envious. It feels to me like they’re going off on another adventure, while I’m stuck at home doing basically mundane things. I LOVE the idea of foreign travel, and wandering the world translating for a senior Dharma teacher is just the sort of thing that sounds fabulous. But nope, here I am. I wish so much I were going with them…

And yet I don’t. My life is here, I’m working on a book, I’m doing the AIDS Ride–my life isn’t totally mundane, even if it’s not as exotic as going to India. And I’m honestly not sure I could find the courage to pack up my entire life (as they are) and move to a foreign country.

But I’m still damn envious. I think that if they asked me to come with them, in a couple of years, I might very well do it for awhile. I would just LOVE to go adventuring again.

But for today, it’s a nice quiet day, good for training, working on tutus, and writing my book. I’m just about done with Chapter One–although there’s a troubling shift in tone near the end–and am working on putting together a photo shoot so I have photos of training rides to go with the chapter. It’s a nice day.

But I still wish I were going to India.