Unleashing (or maybe leashing?) the inner Dalmation.

I biked about 85 miles this weekend! And while I am feeling a little weary today, my inner experience of qi is that it is full and freely flowing.

Something that I have realized about myself through training for the AIDS LifeCycle ride in June, is that physically, I am rather like a dalmation. Typing "dalmation exercise" into google yielded this page which yielded information such as:

• If you are unable to exercise your dog, then you will have to find someone who would love to, daily. Walking alone may not be enough exercise for your Dalmatian - - they need to run.
• Given the right diet and the right amount of exercise, Dalmatians can live to 13 to 15 years. Without this, their life expectancy is in the range of 7 years (according to the Dalmation Research Foundation).
  

It may sound strange in this context to say I can relate, but I feel that if I've learned anything about my body to this point, it's that I've been under-exercised for years. And coming from someone who doesn't own a car, and rides a bicycle as my main form of transportation, I have to say I'm a bit surprised. I'm guessing different breeds of dogs demonstrate different exercise needs, as do different humans, but apparently I'm geared towards the high end of the spectrum. As opposed to wearing out, I'm breaking in.

This comes as good news to someone who, as recently as a month ago, was laying awake with anxiety about how I was ever going to generate the motivation to train to the point that I'd be ready to ride 545 miles in 7 days, come June 1st.