Bikes 16 Jul 2006 07:52 pm
Tandem, day 3
I had to take a few days off after my urban hiking experiment, and Josh’s back was bugging him. But after some recovery time for both of us, it’s back on the tandem again. I’m starting to get annoyed by my screwy aerobic metabolism. Josh and I can go about a mile and a half before I’m toast. That’s pretty sweet, but the tandem won’t be a useful means of transportation for us until we can go about 3 miles comfortably and reliably. I’m holding us back. I’m going to be holding us back for a while.
In the past, when I’ve worked steadily and carefully for several weeks without overdoing it, I’ve been able to nudge the boundaries of my aerobic ability a little bit wider. It might be helpful for me to gently crosstrain on the treadmill.
And I think that as we practice more, my adrenaline will drop and I’ll be able to treat coasting as a rest period. Right now, coasting is still sort of an “oh my god we’re going fast and I haven’t got any brakes and I can’t see and oh god here comes the intersection my god there might be cars aaaaaaaaaagh hypothetical cars please don’t kill me” period. This is not conducive to getting my heart rate down.
On the good side, musculoskeletally I’m doing great. Knees are great, sacrum’s great, hamstrings are great, everything’s totally good to go. And today I managed to take my hands off the handlebars briefly.
It’s such a humbler because, friends, I am a badass yoga-practicing Pilates ninja. My downward dog? Damn fine. My body awareness? Totally awesome. Under the flab, I’ve got abs of steel. I can fold myself into all sorts of funky-looking yoga positions and smile. Oh, yeah, I’ve been feeling cocky. And then I go a few times around the block on an innocent-looking little wheeled machine, and I start feeling wobbly as a water balloon. Whoo.
I want to get back on! Right now!
Update: So I did! After dinner, Josh and I took another turn around the neighborhood. This time I wore my heart monitor and managed my heart rate fairly carefully, especially on the uphills. It seems to have helped a lot. We went about another 1.5 miles, but my body feels like we went only half the distance we did last time. Soon I think I’ll try practicing some hand signals.
on 16 Jul 2006 at 9:44 pm 1.Lisa said …
Yea!!!! That is awesome! You are soooo kicking ass!
I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet up with you all, but it really was for the best as I needed much downtime yesterday.
I hate biking in traffic too. I really dislike it. But I really do like biking on the Burke-Gilman trail. I like going around the lake and looking at the lake and all the pretty houses. The only thing is that you have to dodge the other bikers this time of year. We start off by the peace statue I think and only have to cross a couple of roads to get there. The trail is very smooth and wide. I like smooth and wide. Not too many hills either. In fact, almost none I think. I don’t like hills either. My heart really doesn’t like hills which is a bummer because when I was younger I used to train on hills and loved it because it was like the most bang for your buck. Now hills and stairs freak out my heart the most.
on 16 Jul 2006 at 11:35 pm 2.Cam Sculpin said …
Thanks, Lisa! You’re right: I am so kicking ass! Sometimes it sure helps to be reminded of that. Josh is kicking ass too!
I’m looking forward to getting down to the Burke-Gilman. That trail goes all over the place. You can even go out to Woodinville wine country on the bike trails; I’ve read that a lot of folks in Seattle take their bike up to Chateau St. Michelle for lunch. Sounds nice.
I almost wish my heart would freak out a little tiny bit on the hillclimbs, just to remind me that I’m going over the line, but instead I have a short delay before a zonk-out happens. On the hills, I totally want to push it! Go go go! Fast fast fast! Up up up! I puff a bit, but it feels great to pound those pedals and haul up the hill. For a while. And then a few minutes later, I become a big pink Cam-shaped water balloon, and I think, “Hey, Cam, don’t be dumb.”