A lot of gratitude and a bit of butt pain

Last weekend, before I went to Atlanta, I did a ride in Scott County, which has gentle rolling hills through a lot of corn and soybean fields. You also get to ride through Jordan which has a little bridge that crosses a cute creek right in the old downtowney area. Maybe they call this a river. I am not sure.

I confirmed that I really like listening to podcasts when riding solo out in the county. I took very few breaks, which probably was a bad idea, even if I did three yoga classes that week to try to stretch out all of the key parts, including a stretchy hot yoga class after this ride.

Unlike the grotesque, awful, horrible hotel I stayed at in Atlanta in January (which ended with me disrobing on the back patio during the polar vortex to leave my luggage and belongings outside for two weeks in 30-below temps in the event I brought home any bed bugs), I stayed at a nice hotel this trip and even (gasp!) slept with my curtains open so I could look at the ATL skyline.

I am an employee of a government contractor and there are definite pros (flexibility, the option to do side projects) and cons (not as good of benefits, scope of work can be limited) to this arrangement. I appreciate the company I work for, though, as they really do try to make you feel like they care. They gave me a prize and a gift card when I was in ATL. The best part is that now I can be considered for the annual employee of the year prize - - a bobblehead of Joe Carter (the founder of the company) himself. This is so odd and weird but yet cute and compelling.

Since I did the week long Ride Across Minnesota, I've been having more right hip pain then before. On the bright side, it sort of distracts me from my on-again, off-again lower left back pain I've encountered since my rowing years (which, I learned can be eliminated if one actually maintains core strength - - a novel concept).

Anyhow, after Matt and I did a hilly metric century ride today (which actually is more hilly than my September California ride will be - - THANK GAWD)... 

... I spent over an hour stretching tonight, and Googling what the heck is actually happening with this pain in my literal butt. Some gluteus muscle that is a hip extensor continues to be rather uncomfortable, despite two massages, a chiropractor visit, doing core exercises, doing yoga, and stretching a lot. Annoyingly, it hurts when I try to stand up when climbing a hill. Not great, considering that I will be doing a lot of hill climbing in CA. I hope it isn't a tear or bursitis or anything that the Internet suggests would be very inconvenient. I think I strained it on the Ride Across Minnesota when I was trying different pedalstroke techniques, and it needs to chill out.

Anyhow, any pain in my patootey is overshadowed my my huge, massive gratitude and appreciation. Friends from near and far helped me exceed my fundraising goal, and I cannot begin to describe how great of a feeling that is, plus how humbling it is. Thank you so much.

httpp://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo