Up and down day

I knew this morning would be hard since it was my first time at Mercy since stepping down as the worship leader. As with most hard changes, I'm in a period of mourning right now and felt like I was wearing my emotions on my sleeve as I walked in. Thankfully, the only people that were in the lobby at the time all know me pretty well and were very gracious to let me work through my emotions.

Thankfully, Ryan from work decided to check the church out this morning which meant that I almost immediately got to turn my focus from myself to making sure that he felt welcome. That was just what I needed. By the time the service started, I was dealing pretty well with things and was able to simply engage in worship. I have a feeling the next month or so may be a little awkward as I adjust to not being in leadership, but I love the people of Mercy and still believe strongly in the vision of the church. It's a place that I'm proud to invite friends like Ryan to visit believing that it's a place where people can find belonging regardless of background and regardless of where they are at on their spiritual journey.

After lunch I was able to get out for my first road ride of the season. Temps were in the mid 30's, but the forecast for sunny skies from a few days ago gave way to a cloudy forecast which eventually gave way to a light drizzle which I got to ride in for my last 15 miles or so. I had decided to head out southeast of town on some roads that I ride pretty regularly and gauge my long term route plans on how I was feeling.

Turns out, all of the off season snore fests on the trainer and snowy commutes have accomplished something. I felt pretty decent and decided to press on toward Larchwood and then south to West Lyon School before looping back. My first ride of the year is usually in that 20-25 mile range, but this one stretched to 47.75 miles over 2 hours and 48 minutes. I felt good for most of the ride and only felt the effort for a few miles coming back into town. By the time I dragged myself home, I had burned over 2700 calories and had only eaten one bag of Sport Beans (worth about 100 cal).

With the Gut Check a little over 5 months away, I am really pleased with where I am at with training right now. I'm starting this season carrying less weight than at any point last season and definitely have better form than at this point in any season I can remember. Not sure when the road rides will become a regular part of the week for me, but I'll take what I can get, when I can get it right now.