On how I am all of a sudden a hardcore athlete, and how peer pressure STILL works

Yesterday after work, Josh, Stacie, Meredith, and I all went on a bike ride. We rode about 5 miles and it was pretty cool. But I always get so freaked out about riding bikes. I think I suck at it, but really I don't. I am actually decent at it. I know when and how to switch gears. I know what gears to use on what kind of terrain. I even know how to adjust my sitting position according to the terrain I am on and speed I am going. I think my main fear is just that I am going to fall. Crash. Get hurt. Break bones. Because that's something that I am REALLY good at. I mean, I'm a PRO. Thankfully, I didn't crash at all. In fact, everything went super smoothly and wonderfully and I was imagining myself as a hardcore mountain biker impressing everyone with my mad skills. And as our bike ride came to a close, we JUMPED IN THE RIVER. ON PURPOSE. That was even more crazy than my wild dreams of being an off-road triathlete. I wasn't going to do it. I really wasn't. But Meredith made me. I was able to resist Stacie and Josh, but Meredith pushed me over the edge ("Lauren, you are going to regret it if you don't do it. You will be the ONLY ONE who didn't do it!"). As we stood on the dam I had 3 announcements before we jumped in: 1) I am really scared of big fish which live in river weed, so 2) I am really scared of river weed, which there is a lot of right here, and 3) I really have to pee, so....I probably will when I hit the water. Holding hands, we all counted to 3 and jumped. And boy howdy was that water cold.

Thankfully, I got to take a hot shower right after (well, right after I rode my bike back up to my house from where we were on the river and took off my soaking wet shoes and clothes) and put on Matt's sweatshirt (which totally eats me alive and is therefore very warm). However, when you have been working out and your muscles get all warm, jumping into a really cold river does not make said muscles very happy with you. In fact, it does the exact opposite. By the end of the night, all the muscles and joints in my legs were screaming very mean things to me. I opted out of taking any pain pills just to let my body take care of itself, and I went to bed.

So it should be no surprise that due to my naive fantasies about being a hardcore outdoor athlete and screaming muscles, I was also a hardcore athlete in my dream. Last night, I ran a 50 mile race. And I might add, I didn't train beforehand and I didn't walk at all! I am SO AWESOME! I remember the pain in my joints and my muscles in my legs as I ran. And then somehow in my sleep I realized that I was not, in fact, running a 50 mile race, nor was I hardcore, but my legs were still sore from the bike ride. The 5 mile bike ride. Which...means that I am not only NOT a hardcore outdoor athlete but I am also a complete and total wuss.

So now I am going to go to some Tae-Bo with my good friend Billy Blanks.