You know how it is.
I do try to have some intentions, though, and since I started off January 1st, 2011 by PICKING A FIGHT with my bf over ridiculous bullshit, I'm rewinding the day and starting again fresh, okay?
So, Intention #1 for 2011:
To keep on taking care of myself in the best ways I know how.
Today this entailed finally putting my beloved R1000 onto the Ascent trainer I bought a year ago.
This was not a simple task, as flipping the bike, changing out the quick release, flipping it back, then wrestling it into the trainer sprockets while keeping it upright would have been easier with two people. But, hey, I'm a gal who's used to workin' things out all by her lonesome, and with a well-placed knee, shoulder, and (miraculously) no broken fingernails, and with no thanks to the crappy illustrations on the instruction sheet, I worked it out.
Working shit out is what I do, after all.
A few adjustments of the resistance, and a careful music selection later, I was pedaling merrily along.
This took some adjustments and not only recall of training from over a decade ago, but some muscle memory, as well.
First, a reminder to myself that pedaling efficiently and well is about making circles, full circles, pedaling all the way around the crank. I remember doing exercises to practice this on the flat parts of 9W. Unclip one leg and let it hang, while keeping the bike moving with the other leg. You have no choice but to make complete circles with that pedaling leg.
Maintaining RPMs: ahhh, my bete noir, and why my knees sound like Rice Krispies when I go up stairs. I had a bad habit of being a showoffy gear-masher on long straight stretches of road, so now I resolve to spin at Lance Armstrong-like revolutions (ever notice how fast his legs are always going? The man was a spinner extraordinaire). Disco music is very helpful for this, as it is usually played at 100-128 beats per minute. I'll spend the rest of the winter pedaling along to some good old 70's disco and by the time I'm ready for outside riding, hopefully the spinning habit will be ingrained.
Net-net, today I did a respectable 30 minutes, leaving me a red-faced, dripping sweatball, but hey, I did a half hour of cardio work and never left the house.
It was fun.
4 comments:
Awesome. Seriously. And if you tried that shit out in traffic, you'd be dead now.
Don, I have done that shit out in traffic -- even on Riverside Drive with giant SUV's trying to run me off the road, and never got kilt yet. I think it may have something to do with my preferences for neon-colored lycra. The only accident I ever had on my bike happened, ironically, on a bike path. Some rube who didn't know basic "signal before you turn" bike etiquette turned left in front of me, I T-boned her back tire, and went over the handlebars. Ended up with a broken collarbone. In NYC, your odds are better in traffic.
Did you sue the rube? Did ya? Did ya? ;-)
I find it amusing that disco - the stuff of my youth - has survived through exercise. I have never exercised to it. Dancing isn't exercise; not all exertion is exercise. ;-)
Yay Aileen!
Sorry about collarbone, got mine broken during co-ed field hockey in HS ... STUPIDEST IDEA EVER. Giant boy crashed into me while I was filing my nails in the end zone.
So, um, what exactly is the problem with the megamillions plan? :)
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