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March 1, 2007
I RODE MY BIKE OUTSIDE!
Life is good my friends! I wouldn't call it warm per se but it's warmer and the birds are chirping and when I ran this morning it felt and smelled like early outdoor track season. March is my favorite month so far this year! (yes - that is saying sooooo much! :)
I have today off work which is a wonderful, wonderful thing because not only did I get 8 wonderful hours of sleep but I both ran and rode outside today in (kind of) warm weather and managed to escape the rain that is coming (actually, already here) as I type this.
I started the morning off with my run in order to let it warm up a little for my ride. It was 50 minutes, nothing too special or exciting but I did feel pretty good and my hamstrings cooperated. I think The Stick beat them into submission last night.
After my run I came home, ate some cereal and tooled around a bit before starting the process of getting ready for my ride. I had prepared my bike last night (pumped tires, located my saddle bag and helmet that I haven't needed for centuries, exchanged out the skewers, etc...) but it was quite an ordeal to get all my cycling clothing on. It was in the high 30s when I left for my ride so that meant I still needed quite a few layers. But OH THE JOY to ride outside again! I felt like I was riding a bike for the very first time for the first mile or so. But then I just really enjoyed myself. I can't tell you how much this ride did for my pyche. Even if I need to ride on the trainer again now until mid or the end of March I think I will be able to survive. I just needed one ride where I could feel the wind and go up and down hills and make turns and feel fast. Thank God!
I rode for 1:54 (supposed to be 1:45 but when I turned around after going out for 53 minutes and the wind hit me smack in the face I knew it was going to take me a lot longer to get back). I rode on a relatively flat course because I knew it would take some adjusting to keep my HR in line. It's obviously a lot easier to keep the HR in check when you are on the trainer! I rode along the river (which still has big ice chunks in it!) and thought about how in 4 months time I would be swimming in there! There is hope - spring is on the way!
And that basically sums up my morning. I am now headed downtown to get my body fat tested in the Bod Pod. I'm helping a co-worker and classmate with one of her school projects. I am her subject in a semester long thing where an "athlete" (if that's what you want to call me) has their diet, body composition, training regimen, etc... analyzed and all that jazz. My body composition has been tested numerous times before (even by the Bod Pod - Penn State had one too!) but I haven't had it done for probably 3 or 4 years. I will be interested to see what I'm made of. :) Incidentally my diet was already analyzed and not surprisingly I eat well over 3000 kcals/day. That's a lot, yes, but even more so when you consider that I'm 50 kg and therefore eating over 60 kcal/kg/day. As a means of reference, in the hospital we feed patients about 25 kcal/kg/day. I am an eating machine! :)
Posted by beth at March 1, 2007 1:45 PM