On to the Next Bike for the MS 150

This the latest of four bikes I’ve had this year and there is no turning back now. This is the bike I'll be riding in the MS 150. With just about three weeks left, I am preparing better than ever. In the process of my training, I have lost 20 lbs. Whohoo! I have 20 more lbs. to go in my weight loss goal. I hope to have lost the last 20 by the end of May.

But enough about my weight loss. I will go into a little detail about my bike and the journey’s I’ve been on during this training period with this and other bikes.



First Ride
The first long ride I did was 10 miles, and it was on a hybrid bike. Worst decision I ever made was to try to train on a bike purchased from Walmart. My advice: If you ever decide to participate in long distance biking then go to a real bike shop, and not a department store, to purchase a bike. I made that mistake twice. I decide to purchase a road bike from Target, and the bike came with the front wheel bent. So I return that bike, and got a second bike from Walmart, and the chain broke. I was basically trying to convince myself that I could train on a cheap bike. Luckily I was able to return both bikes, and not hurt myself while riding on them in the process.



Latest Ride
My last ride, I was able to get to about 36 miles before I called it quits. I loved every mile! But the next day, I only did about 10. This is perhaps the most grueling training I ever had to endure. But each weekend from this point forward, I will try to increase my distance each Saturday and Sunday leading up to the ride. My next training after the MS 150 will be the Insanity Workout Program.



The best part about riding a bike for long distances is you get a different view of the scenery. When you are driving a car, you are moving too fast to see the details of what's around you, and have to keep your eyes in front of you. With biking, you are not going as fast as a car, and if you are lucky like we are here in Houston, there are many bike trails that keep you off the rodes so you do not have to share your ride with cars. Therefore, you have a better opportunity to see what’s around you. And it’s nothing like venturing to a new area and seeing what is ahead! This is the joy I find in riding. And I cannot wait to see what’s in store for the MS 150.



I also rode with a co-worker of mine, Robert. We rode in an area called Kingwood, and it was awesome riding with another person. Again, just the different sceneries I’ve viewed increased my excitement for riding. Lastly, I rode through Memorial Park. They have a one mile loop that I used and travelled about 11 miles around the loop before I got bored. That’s when I decided to travel in other areas of the Park.

Three more weeks! I cannot wait. Hopefully tomorrow I can wake up to meet some of my team members for a group ride at 7:30am. Wait...7:30!! I don’t even wait up that early for work! But we shall see...

Update (3/27): I woke up today at about 12pm. So no early bike riding for me, but I still plan to do some working out today.


REIGN

Tweet

Only a Month Left To Go!!

..And my nerves are getting the best of me!

Today was a successful bike ride for me. I travelled about 25 miles today, and tomorrow I plan to do a lot more.

I have about a month left before the BIG MS 150 ride from Houston to Austin. This is a two day ride starting from April 16-17. I feel like I'm behind in my training, but I'm confident that I will be able to finish the race. If I knew that this ride would cost as much as it does, then I would've thought longer before I decided to ride. It's too late to turn back now. I have to push forward and achieve one of the biggest accomplishments in my life. Below is a picture of the bike I have:

The bike is blue with red accent. I had a similar bike to this before, but I got hit by a car. The bike flipped 50 ft. up in the air and I feared for my life!!

Just kidding.

But a car did hit my previous bike. Luckily I was not on it (I hopped off it just in time). The gentlemen that hit my bike was SOOOO generous and thoughtful that he replaced the damaged bike with the bike I have now. I could not believe it! This act of kindness has definitely allowed me to not lose a step in my training. This also goes to show me that there are good people in this world.

I will post more pictures of me on my actual bike in my next post, but below are pictures of me on my last bike...may she R.I.Parts:

Now off to watch Criminal Minds with K.D. Good night!


REIGN

Tweet

Voice - Yeah Yeah Yeah (90's Alert)

So for some reason, this song popped into my head today while at work, and the first thing that came to my head about the song was Tia and Tamera. I then asked myself: "Why didn't Tia and Tamera pursue a music career?" After looking at the video today, I see they were JUST the background singers...need I say more.

I can admit this was one my favorite songs back then. I looked at these girls as ladies! Oh they were so mature, they knew about love, these ladies are going to be stars!

Then I looked at the video today, and I'm thinking: "Why does it look like none of their hairs are done, and why does the lead singer have rollers in her hair? Where are their mothers, and what do they know about love? Whatever happened to the other two girls? Tia and Tamera are extremely young!! They look like they're 11 years old! I'm happy they aren't singing today!"

I digress.

Do you remember this video? Check out the video for yourself and let me know what you think and/or were thinking back then!



REIGN

Tweet

Winner of the CSN Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered our very 1st giveaway! We picked a winner using Random.org & the winner is......

Towanna!

Congratulations! I'll be emailing you today. :-) Thank you to everyone who entered! We really enjoyed reading what you guys liked about the blog! :D

K.D.

Tweet

Have You Entered Our CSN Giveaway?

Don't worry! You still have time too. Just click on this link & follow the instructions. 

The contest ends on Wednesday, March 16th at 11:59pm Central Time. :-)

K.D.

Tweet

Mardi Gras Weekend!

I'm so late in posting in these! So as Reign already told you we celebrated Mardi Gras on Galveston Island in TX a couple of weeks ago. Galveston is only 1.5 hrs away from Houston so we went down for a little overnight vacay.

After checking into the hotel, we drove to the festivities. Actually, we had an argument because I wanted to walk to the festivities like everyone else, but Reign kept telling me I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm a walker so I thought I could (totally disregarding that fact that I was 7 months preggie). By the time we got to the Mardi Gras festivities, we were good.

We took pics in a photo booth & then started catching beads....Reign started out with just a few on his neck.

I really wasn't that into the bead catching at first. I guess it was because I wasn't catching any! We were about to move on the other spots when he said, "Ok, let's count the ones I have on my neck. If I have 10 we can move on." We counted and he had 15. Do you think he stopped? Noooooo. lol. We stayed over there at our 1st stop for about an additional hour. (We had no idea that this would be just one of the stops where we could catch beads)

Eventually, we walked to another spot down the street & this was the result....by this time Reign was way past addicted to catching beads. I started catching beads finally, but most of them I gave to Reign. I kept the cute ones. I didn't want a lot. Just a few them.

We watched the literally 5 minute parades and quickly went back to catching beads. I've never seen quick little parades like that.

Here's the King of Mardi Gras counting his beads.

After eating, we went back to some more spots to catch more beads. We were both addicted to catching them at this point. I just wanted to see how many we could get. It's easy once you start catching them. There were some perverts though that wouldn't give me any beads because I wouldn't show my tatas. I'm not about to show my chest for some dollar store beads. My goods are priceless. ;-)

It took me so long to catch that Mardi Gras necklace. It was the last one they threw down! Here is Keith with all of the necklaces!

Munchkin bump!

The total bead count at the end of the day was 113. There were 8 that I caught and kept to myself. And for those of you wondering....yes Reign was right. I wouldn't have been able to walk to the festivities and then walk back to the hotel. Keith had to drive my car. That's how tired I was. I was beat down by the end of the day. I could barely keep my eyes open. I really over estimate how much I can do now that I'm preggie. I guess the Munchkin does slow me down...When we got back to the room, we made it a Criminal Minds night. ;-) Did I tell ya'll we got the dvd set?? So we're looking at them in order now. We're in Season 3. 

K.D.

Tweet

I Gave Up Coca-Cola For a Month

This all started with a conversation I was having with my youngest brother one Saturday in January. Basically, he was telling me how he and his girlfriend were giving up eating at restaurants for a whole month as a personal challenge. One of his reasons was to save money.  I was like, "That's a good idea. I think I'm going to give up something too." So my brother inspired me to give up something and I chose.....

Image from Business Week

I've had an unhealthy addiction to Coke for as long as I can remember. The taste. The fizz. The way it burns my throat. I live for that feeling ya'll. When I don't consume it, I even go through withdrawals which always end in me going out to buy one. So I thought this will be a true challenge & I was up for it. So did I make it the whole month? YES. :D I was so proud of myself. It was so HARD, but I'm proud to say I did it. There were days when I would be at the grocery store & my mouth would be watering looking at all the pretty, red Coca-Cola displays. I never realized there were so many of them, lol.

Because I went a whole month without consuming it, I'm not as "addicted" as I once was. I don't drink it as much & I realized that I don't need it as much as a thought I did. In a sense, I tricked myself out of drinking Coke so much. Reign became inspired by me giving up Coke & now he's doing his own personal challenge right now. I'll let him tell you what he's giving up...

Are you inspired to give up something??? If so, what are you thinking about giving up?

For me, it's not over. I'm going to give up something else for a month. I'm still trying to figure out what I'll be giving up for this second round. ;-)

K.D.

Tweet

Our 1 Year Blogiversary! (Giveaway) CLOSED

Hey ya'll!

A year ago the hubs and I started The Leo Duo & we're celebrating with a giveaway! Yes, we're having a giveaway for all 15 of our followers. And let's not forget about our 18 followers on Twitter & the blog lurkers. We appreciate you all for stopping by to read our little blog. Thanks so much for continuing to follow our journey, even after we took a 5 month unannounced hiatus last year.

We're collaborating with CSN Stores to give one of our lucky readers a $20 gift certificate that can be used at any of their stores. They have over 200 sites so there's something for everybody! CSN is great for buying everything like home decor and baby stuff (hint, hint). I really like the flat panel tv stands. Look at this one! I love entertainment centers & this one is just gorgeous.

Wildon Home, Leaburg Contemporary TV Entertainment Center

*I had to edit this post to add this entertainment. It was too pretty not to.*

So here are the rules:
*Leave us a comment telling us what you like about The Leo Duo & what you'd like to see on TLD in this upcoming year. :-) Make sure to include your email address so we can contact you in case you win!

How easy is that?

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, March 16th at 11:59pm (central time). The winner will be announced on Thursday, March 17th! Good luck!:-)

K.D.

Tweet

Mardi Gras Galveston 2011

I wanted to post this collage on here, and I just have been lazy, but I finally found time to do it. This is from KD and me attending Mardi Gras in Galveston last weekend. This is just a few pics of me, and KD will post more of us, and tell you about our exciting weekend. Stay tuned!

REIGN

Tweet

Thank You: Andrea & RJ

This past Wednesday, KD and I went to a restaurant called the YardHouse with one of my co-workers, Andrea and her husband RJ. We never heard of this restaurant until Andrea recommended the spot. We were very pleased with the entire night. We had a blast spending time with such an awesome couple.



The food was great, and we had a chance to learn more about Andrea & RJ. I only met RJ one time before, and I am happy all four of us got to spend time together. RJ even switched dishes with me because unbeknownst to be, the dish I ordered was fried and I could not eat any fried foods that night (I’ll save that one for another post). What I ended up eating was a grilled chicken breast sandwich on wheat bread which was delish! Below is a portion of their menu and some of the dishes from their website.










But I want to send a special thank you to Andrea and RJ for a couple of things. First, amidst their busy schedule this time of year, they were able to carve out some time for us. See, they will be leaving Houston so this week could be the last time we’ll see them for a while. Secondly, they got us something for the baby! Yes!! Our first gift for the baby! We were so shocked and excited; it was like a mini baby shower at the YardHouse for us!!! They gave us a card, some baby clothes and a Target Gift card #ohyea.

Now back to them leaving: I’m really happy we were able to meet such a great couple in such a short time we were here, and now that they’re leaving, I’m really going to miss them. This was a start of a good friendship between couples and hopefully the distance doesn’t end that ;).

They have their own blog, which we follow called LRIG which stands for... well... go to their site to find out for yourself.

To Andrea & RJ: Thanks again for everything, and please do keep in touch, be safe on your trip, and be blessed!

REIGN

Tweet

This is what happens when you mess with the Avalanche!!

Looks like an Avalanche came through here...#carryon

REIGN

Tweet

The Jeep Wrangler is the Best...Period!

This is in response to Reign's last post....#carryon Don't mind us....You dragged me into this with your "Read it and weep Wrangler!" comment. This could've been easily avoided.

The Jeep Wrangler doesn't weep. This is what we do to tears!

Photos from Jeep

Even your favorite rapper knows the best when he sees it!

Photos from Just Jared

Take that. Take that. LOL!

K.D.

Tweet