Ooh, those muscles are long-forgotten...

[jducoeur]

So I went down to the shop and picked up my new bike this afternoon, now that the sticker shock has decayed to a dull pain after two years of dithering. It's quite nice, although I'm going to have to get used to the new index-shifter technology. And we need to figure out exactly where we're going to keep it -- the house continues to burst at the seams. But biking has always been my single favorite form of exercise, and I've missed it.

I got back home at 5ish, and said to myself, "Self, I've got some time before Council. It's only two or three miles to work, which is just a trifle compared to the 15 miles a day I used to do. I'll just bop over to work, work for a while more, and then come home to rendezvous with msmemory for Council."

Well, by the time I got to work, I whapped myself metaphorically on the head and said, "Self, I was doing 15 miles a day twenty years ago, and I am now Horribly Out Of Shape. 2-3 miles each way is not a trifle any more. Those cute little hills aren't nearly as shallow as they look. You are, in fact, an overconfident nitwit. A satisfied nitwit, yes, but a nitwit nonetheless. And you smell."

It's really not too bad -- my legs have advanced from Jello to Galvanized Rubber since 6pm. And with time and practice, the ride to work will get to the point of being pretty easy. For the time being, though, I think I can discard my previous assumptions about needing to keep jogging so that I will get enough exercise over and above biking to work...

Comments

*laugh*

[hawkegirl.livejournal.com]

I am so in your boat...

I am tired from having tried my armor ON (no fighting at all or even exersizing with it on - just putting all the chunks in all the right places). What happened to the days of fighting in the woods for hours...?

Ah well, we will get better!

Ride today

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Dude, you are going to charlie horse BADLY if you don't continue to get some mild exercise today and tomorrow. Trust me on this - lactic acid buildup in the muscles strikes worst the SECOND day. Get some blood flowing through those muscles today and tomorrow, to wash that lactic acid buildup away.

2-3 miles will seem as nothing, shortly. Yeah, I go to the gym all the time, but at this point I happily bike 2-3 miles just to get to the gym to exercise... It'll surprise you (by the end of the summer) how little 2-3 miles matters.

Re: Ride today

[jducoeur]

Oh, I know -- I'm doing the ride to and from work again today, and tomorrow is dance practice. I'm actually surprised to not be horribly sore this morning, but I'll take the little mercy.

And I'm quite aware of how little 2-3 miles will be -- like I said, I used to do 15 miles at a shot routinely, and I still have anything less than about 7 miles mentally pegged as not really being exercise. But it's clearly going to take me a month or two of fairly regular biking to get back to that point; in the meantime, it's enough effort to count...

Speeds

[cristovau.livejournal.com]

One factor for biking is always speed. A one mile trip is exercise if you go full out. I used to ride lightly in the morning to reduce sweat, but pedal hard home. The difference was startling. Even out of shape as I am, I could bike all day if I did it slowly. I miss it a lot. I might have to look into a bike.

Re: Speeds

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

As I mentioned in a late-breaking comment to his previous post about going to buy a bike: you can get excellent reconditioned bikes from two non-profits - Bikes Not Bombs and Broadway Bicycle School. Much cheaper, just as good if not better.

Re: Speeds

[jducoeur]

Definitely true; unfortunately, I'm not going all that fast as I tire myself out.

Really, the issue is the gentle but persistent hills that are all over Waltham. I'm fine on the straightaways, but I will need some time and practice to be able to cope with hills...