Ramping up the work out

It occurred to me today " I need to really ramp up the workout"


The facts are that between work, school and a couple other endeavours that I am looking into, it is going to be hard to get more than one full day to get any kind of heavy aerobic work-out done. Where I live makes it inconvenient to do my Port Royal Ride any more than maximum 2 days per week and school has now come along and cut that down to one day. My better half had stated an early morning walk with our next door neighbour but she and I wont be able to continue until maybe next month when the mornings are not so damn cold up here.

I really wanted to ride in excess of 15 miles today but realized very quickly that it was not going to happen as on getting out of the car at 6:10am I was greeted by very blustery breeze, and the effort needed to ride in blustery breeze is like trying to breathe with someone standing on your chest.

The ride out was brisk, but the ride back in was a chore and I got winded very early. Its pretty easy to throw your hands up in the air and take a break, especially when your heart is trying to jump out of your chest from exertion and I was tempted to stop and take a break, when up rode this guy I didnt know, he obviously knew me as he called me by my name. A friend of mine in Atlanta (Jackie) who knew I had taken up riding told her friend who rode and pointed him to my blog, so he knew what I looked like and what I was riding.

He was out racing with the Spinners Club - you know the group of riders who barrel past you at about 28-30 miles an hour shouting out "RIGHT" so that everyone in the pack moves to overtake as a group. He had seen me and turned back to say "Hi" and ride with me for a while. He was a tremendous help as he gave me advice and riding along with someone really motivates you to not quit, I did stop for about a minute to get a drink but completed the route. Back at the car I chatted with a couple of more experienced riders and listened to their sage advices, the majority of riders that I have met so far have been real gentlemen.

Before coming back home I decided to hit Chancery Hall and tackle a steep hill that I used to walk on regularly maybe 10 or 12 years ago. It's a 1 mile hike straight up what I call "The Mother of all Hills", pretty steep, no flat area as such. I used to struggle over it when I was 27 or so and wanted to do this right after riding on a Saturday. I managed to do about 1/3 of it before nearly collapsing, I know my legs will be tired after riding, but I want to really overload them and then give them a couple days to recover. The entire hill up and down is 2 miles, so more work for me.

Chancery Hall told me how much out of shape I was. Cycling is good, but adding hill climbing will probably get me in shape quicker and help me to get my distance and speed up on the bike - so it should be a win/win situation.

So from now on it will be bicycle ride and then hill climbing. Let us see how that goes.


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January 30, 2010

Miles Ridden Today - 11.7 miles

Miles Ridden MTD - 56.7 miles

Target for month - 100 miles

Miles Needed - 43.3 miles