Woo-wee people! It’s been a ride since I last saw you. Over the past month and a half, I shadowed writing classes in order to teach them (sign up here); I took my family on a vacation to the Outer Banks; planned, executed, and hosted the 20th anniversary party for the Windy City Rollers; tried to figure out what the fuck is happening to my old eyes; tried to get my podcast back up; found out that one of my besties has stage 4 cancer; and of course, I also caught COVID causing me to miss my kiddo’s bday. Things feel wild right now.
I know what you’re gonna say, “Elizabeth - stop doing so much.” I get it. I do. But there’s something about timing, right? The 20th anniversary party had a deadline. I agreed to this teaching thing before I knew what was coming. And no one plans for anyone to get cancer. Suddenly, there’s really nothing you can do but ride it out, and that’s what I’m doing.
A few years back, Adrienne bought a Peloton, this was way before the company was public and had German speaking teachers - for real tho, why didn’t they start with Spanish? Adrienne loved that damn bike. Even though I rode a bike daily, I still wanted a Peloton but I was a broke bitch. Then I convinced myself I *needed* one. At one point, though, I was so busy I stopped riding my bike and drove to get to all my hundred jobs. I also had a gym membership that I hadn’t used in years and a 5-10 Starbucks a week habit. Once, I did the math of giving up my membership and coffee, I came to the realization that I still could not afford one.
So I did what anyone else would do in my situation - MANIFEST!
I faithfully tried to manifest this bike into my life - visualized, told people, searched on FB for a used one, but the best I got was Adrienne telling me I could buy the bike with zero interest and an extra $100 off if I used her Peloton code. I gave up manifesting, opened a payment plan with Peloton, and in January of 2019, hit “buy” on the order.
Here’s some garbage insider info about me - I’m a lazy worker-outter. When I want to work out, I will sleep in my workout clothes (sans training bra because these babies need to be let loose), then I roll out of bed, pee, brush my teeth, walk to my bike, ride, then roll right off my bike to lay on the couch 2 feet away for longer than the actual workout is supposed to be. It’s great! No forgetting my shampoo or looking for a spot to park. Just roll out, do the thing, get in the shower.
When we were in lockdown, my Peloton became my most valuable friend. I was scared and unsure about what was happening. I missed my kids and my friends. All my spazzy energy, all the hurt in my heart all had to go somewhere and Peloton was there for me. I remember months into lock-down, after all the chaos started to even out, I cried listening to Alex Touissant addressing Black Lives Matter, while Kid Cudi pumped in the background. I cried again when Cody Rigsby reminded us to keep hope, acknowledging the difficulty of isolation between spurts of, “Turn the knob to the left, get up! If Britney could make it through 2007, then you can make it up this hill!”
And after each ride, I felt grounded, focused, and stronger. Cody yelling at me each time to grab my water, grab my towel, and get my life together.
The next year, I had a stupid idea to ride the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) and convinced Adrienne to go with me. Tired of sitting at home trapped with our families, we were ready to be back in the world. We started to follow the Power Zone Team - Matt Wilpers (serves Mormon vibes), Denis Morton (I’m a better white man than you vibes), and Christine D’Ercole (I used to dress like Robert Smith vibes). The bike measures how hard you’re working to determine “power zones” and you can use those metrics for training to be a faster, stronger rider than Lance Armstrong when he was eight. The power zone team taught us a lot and we rode 330 miles through the great state of Ohio, where we let go of the pains of the year before and embraced a brighter future.
When Apa (my dad) died, Peloton helped me work through the grief. The workouts are great, but the real healing comes when you're so focused on working out that your brain flips to autopilot. Between the grunts and moans, there is a flow of thoughts that you can acknowledge, feel, and let go. I took all the hurt and turned it into power and movement. It’s not just the icky feelings that would run through me, but new ideas and realizations that helped me get through it all.
I want to acknowledge that this is a stupid expensive purchase that’s not accessible to everyone. If you’re looking for other ways to deal with stress and painful situations through your body like I do, think about these things:
Walk to the store to buy your Tillamook Campfire Peanut Butter Cup ice cream
Run to buy you Tillamook Campfire Peanut Butter Cup ice cream
Lift 10 lbs weights you buy at the janky Five Below for exactly just more than $5
Dance so hard in your kitchen, your cat wonders if they should call 911
People really love Yoga by Adriene where you can accidentally fart in the privacy of your own home
With the bad health news my friend group received this month, I imagine I’ll be burning out this bike. It feels silly to talk about this bike and how much it’s been there for me, but truly, if I try to access deeper feelings, I think I might fall apart. Thank god, I have my Peloton.
Tell me what you love to do to deal with stress/pain! I’d love to add more things to my toolbox!
PS: If you decide you want one, click here. HAHAHAHAHA!
PSS: You can also get 60 days free for the app which is much more reasonable and has lots of fun classes, click here.
PSSSS: If I made any errors here, my eyes are still a mess, but a bette mess, so there’s that.
OBSESSED:
Listening: A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey is the hype song of the summer. Even Obama listed it first on his summer playlist.
Streaming: Kevin Can F*ck Himself was my COVID watch and it’s really great. I’m not sure that I love Annie Murphy as the main character, but I think the show is a great reflection about what women are sold by pop culture, particular old school sitcoms.
Booking: I’m still trying to finish up Raw Dog by Jamie Loftus, but it’s tough and can drag at points. So I am now listening to that AND Monday’s Not Coming, a story about a couple of young BFFs and one goes missing.
Obsessing: The Windy City Rollers’ TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY PARTY! More to come last week!
Crocheting: Nada but I did organize my crocheting stuff in preparation for fall crochet lyfe!
Patryk’s Gripe Corner
My bestie Patryk asked if he could have a corner of my newsletter for griping. I’m obsessed with Patryk’s need to improve everything. He blames it on his Polish culture but, I think it’s his love of dissatisfaction.
What the hell is non-clumping litter for? And why do I keep accidentally buying it? It’s the equivalent of perforated toilet paper.
Isn't all home toilet paper perforated? Is Patryck getting industrial toilet paper?
I don't have any keeping sane advice. I've been thinking today I've dived so far into biking I'm thinking about it all the time, which is certainly better than thinking about my feelings, but seems like it's not the best either.
Anna Greenberg’s yoga has gotten me through so many shit times (and weird, inexplicable body aches because I’m old and decaying).