Back At It

Three days without any exercise and I feel like a total slug. Thursday was a planned day off, Friday I got stuck at work for two hours after I had wanted to leave and didn't get my planned workout in. Yesterday I worked in the morning and spent the afternoon working in the garage. Today the weather was crappy, but it didn't take much of a break in the clouds for me to get out on the bike. At least I don't have to worry about sunburn, this looks like it really hurts.

So after the ugly Packer game I headed out. As I walked out the door the dog just sat on the edge of the carpet staring at me. "Don't worry, I'll be back for you in a bit" was my response. Yes, I talk to my dog.

Plan was to bike, then walk. A lot of the info I've read emphasizes the need to get used to the run after biking, and doing the two together allows you to practice transitions, more on that later.

So with the heart rate monitor on I headed out. Patrick set it up to tell me if I'm out of the target heart rate zone. If you're high or low, every 5-seconds it plays a little message to tell you the error of your ways.

"Kick it in the ass, lazy bones."

"Are we working out or sleeping here."

"My grandpa works harder than this."

Actually it just beeps, but after a while it feels more like the above. It took about 5 minutes to get my heart up to the point where the thing stopped beeping. Then it beeped pretty much whenever I stopped pedaling. Hit the high alarm on a couple hills (the one by the hospital at the end of the bike path was a killer). Average heart rate was 132, and after about 11-miles I made it back home.

Transition time. Apparently transitions can be a big time drain, so they should be practiced. Here is mine.

1. Remove helmet and gloves.
2. Open garage door.
3. Replace bike on new storage thing.
4. Enter house, remove shoes.
5. Turn on tv, check cowboys/patriots score.
6. Watch cowboys score defensive touchdown.
7. Remove bike clothes, search three rooms for walking clothes.
8. Get dressed, search for shoes.
9. Shoes on, find ipod, find headphones.
10. Grab poop bag and leash.
11. Drink some water, use the bathroom.
12. Leave house, close garage door.

According to my handy watch, elapsed time was 10 minutes, 9 seconds. Apparently changing clothes on a regular basis for the last 30+ years has done some good. End of transition practice. I can live with 10-minutes.

Walked about 4-miles. Nothing much worth noting I was surprised at one point to look down and see my heart rate in the 120's (I had turned the alarm off). The average for the walk was 117, not far off the previous outing.

That's about it, probably get back in the pool this week.