7 posts tagged “fitness”

Whimper after too long out of the saddle of my road bike?

I am sore, but I am so glad I got off my fat arse and rode with Justin and brother-in-law, David, today.

GPS track, and my heartrate & cadence data for today's ride

According to MotionBased.com, where I log all my outdoor rides, it has been two MONTHS since my last ride--how in the hell did that happen? I did some indoor training rides since then, but they don't show up on MotionBased.com to help my "motivation through publication" since their site is a little crippled in that it won't log rides that lack a GPS track, even if they have cadence (and thus speed + distance) and heart rate data.

Anyhow, the ripe whipped my overly ample arse but in a good way and I am starting a new week feeling energized and ready to try, again, to lose all this excess "baby weight".

Justin's heartrate and cadence data shows his fitness level & my lack thereof -- his heartrate zone was 2.6 avg on the same ride that kept me at 4.4 (of 5 zones!)

The next time any of us find ourselves thinking we cannot do something, either due to physical limitations or lack of time or energy, we need to just suck it up and try that thing... or admit we aren't doing it for lack of WILL, not lack of ability.

It's been awhile since I've been on the bike, either outdoors (see MotionBased log) or indoors (my last bike trainer ride was on Feb. 28--sigh.)

I wanted to make this at least 10 miles but it'd been too long off the bike and the kiddo had passed out in an uncomfortable position in her bouncer, so I bailed off the trainer at 8.15 miles. The only goal I did achieve was biking at least 20 minutes to get some cardio benefit.

From the tiny print:
3/12/08 ~~ Distance 8.15 mil. ~~ Elapsed Time (Min:Sec) 23:12 ~~ Avg. Speed 21.1 mph ~~ Max. Speed 27.2 mph ~~ Calories 635 calories ~~ Avg. Heart 156 bpm ~~ Max. Heart Rate 166 bpm ~~ Avg. Cadence 64 rpm

Indoor Bike Trainer Ride

And since I haven't mentioned it, no, I've had no weight loss since starting this but I haven't stuck with it reliably and I haven't successfully cut back on my Dr Pepper intake.

I rode 14.89 miles with Justin and his BIL, David, this afternoon, and am feeling great. See the ride's stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305+heartrate strap at http://tinyurl.com/2xaywq; you can compare my heartrate to Justin's (his stats, here). He's in far better cardiovascular shape than I am right now.

We even swung by Bulverde Airpark where a former co-worker (former executive) has his home-built aircraft (RV9) hangared. She (all aircraft, like ships, are female) is a beauty--I was trying to be polite, so I didn't snap a Blackberry photo... only to have Justin confide to me that any owner of an aircraft would be thrilled to have someone take photos of his baby. Point taken.)

With the installation of my indoor bike trainer not happening until Tuesday (it arrived late Monday), and all the yard work on Thursday, I only got two bike trainer sessions in this week and today's outdoor ride, but that's nothing to sneeze at given all the weeks prior.

My cadence sensor didn't behave so I don't have cadence data for today's ride, which doesn't matter to me outdoors but is a PITA for the bike trainer sessions (because MotionBased sucks for GPS-trackless activities.). I hope to get the cadence sensor issue resolved ASAP. Tomorrow's a recovery day from the bike, though. I feel great but don't want to burn myself out.

I always had physical education before lunch or midday, leaving me with a (progressively less) red face for the rest of the day. A shower helps, but I'm always the beet after exertion, especially during outdoor activities in the summer.

Stats for Indoor Bike Trainer session #2:

20 min. 30 seconds sustained
(Dropped my chain 2 minutes in and reset my monitor to start fresh; also "coasted" for two roughly 15 second intervals, hence the extra 30 seconds)

Heartrate monitor:
Avg around 160 bpm (will know exact once I upload the data.)

How I feel: great, but ready for a shower. Justin advised me to take today as a rest day from the trainer if I was sore (legs, etc. Sore rump is to be expected!) Since I wasn't I saw no reason not to put some more time on the trainer. My quads burn very quickly -- need to get back in shape. Hammys have always been weak, and having a hamstring autograft ACL recon 3 years ago didn't do my left hamstring any favors

Yes, I need to buy a clip, case or sleeve for my iPod so I don't have to secure it by tying it around my NECK.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Post-Workout

...It's a start (judging by my red face, a long overdue start!) Full disclosure: it was 10 minutes, followed by a 5 minute break to hydrate and eat an energy bar (skipped breakfast and hadn't grabbed lunch yet--my usual bad habit), then back on the bike for 15 minutes with no breaks. I was shooting for 20 minutes that session, but Sara was fussing in her bouncer.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

IMG01427.jpg

Sadly, all my heartrate data is locked in limbo thanks to MotionBased.com and some kind of glitch affecting Garmin Training Center which might have been user error. So much for logging my indoor training rides the way I log the outdoor ones.