"They see the glamour and the glitter and they think it's a bed of rose, who feels it know..." - Buju Banton
I strated riding this morning, I am discovering aches in places that I never know existed before. You all should know that I am a huge cricket fan and one particular sledge of Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka by Shane Warne ran through my mind while I was huffing and puffing away this morning "You get no kudos for being a fat, unfit f**k." :)
The route was a 8.8 km ride from The Officer's Club near Norman Manley International Airport out to Port Royal on a nicely paved stretch of road that is realtively flat. It's used by many cyclists from the beginners to the hardcore professionals who rush past like a bullet train, calling out to overtake and ensuring that I keep my wobbles to a minimum and not cause a pile up.
We started at 6am which was about 30 minutes later than we wanted to, Wayne was up last night late working on his road bicycle and slighly overslept. We made some adjustments to both bikes and off we went very slowly. Now I haven't done any serious working out in over 3-4 years and while my job keeps me on my feet on and off throughout the day I am seriously OUT OF SHAPE, and it showed up pretty early but I soldered on until about 3.5 Km where I stopped and refused to go any further :) Wayne continued onwards to Port Royal after a bit of fussing and I made an attempt to ride back to the car, but ended up walking and pushing the bike for about 3 KM, at least whether riding or walking I am getting exercise (I thought to myself). The sun was ripping at the time I stopped and I realised that we would have had an advatage if we had started earlier. The big riders who barrelled past me going and coming were all so pleasant and encouraging, most slowed down and asked if I was ok while I was walking back and many told me not to worry as the more I did it the better I would get.
I have started and stopped exercise routines before and know that I need to take things slowly and give my body time to adjust and most importantly STICK TO IT. I will be up again on Wednesday morning when I will do a few circuits around my neighbourhood ( a few inclines there) and again on Saturday where we will see if I can go 4 or 5 KM this time :)
The ride from the Officer's Club to Port Royal is 8.8KM one way and my goal is to be able to complete that and stay alive, then increase that distance to both ways. I am going to need to adjust my diet to help with the weight loss aspect and also try to quit my worst habit - PESPI COLA.
I love taking pictures and from time to time will pepper here with photos of Jamaica, etc. so look out for those.
1st picture - Part of the route
2nd picture - Building in Port Royal
Keep on keeping on! At least you have started!
ReplyDeleteDon't give up. Some advice - start by going around the block near home a few times till able to do a longer ride, then gradually build up. Will only demoralize you if you try the long rides first.
ReplyDelete(I am a rider & Yamfoot's friend)
Thanks for responding Yammie and Basil, please feel free to stop by anytime and talk.
ReplyDeleteI am going to do just that, ride around the block a few times until I adjust to the bicycle (until I get rid of the wobbles) and then build up.
The thing with me is that I always want to do the whole hog right away. In gym I would graduate to really heavy lifting very quickly after starting because I love the feeling of pump that you got afterwards, but this is a real lifestyle change that I want to make gradually - more walking, more cycling, lifting some weights, and really watching what I eat.
I'm rooting for you!! I haven't seen you in a while, u really allowed urself to get out of hand, mine u squeeze out poor Anne :-)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.