- Apr 14, 2001
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Join a mountain biking club. I would, but it's so flat here, there is no fun places to ride. The closest place is a state park 40 minutes away.
When I lived in GA I joined one. It was a blast, and that's when my body fat % was at it's lowest... even lower than when I was in the Army.
Needless to say, the only biking I'm doing lately is road.
And that's a bad thing?Originally posted by: Amused
Join a mountain biking club. I would, but it's so flat here, there is no fun places to ride. The closest place is a state park 40 minutes away.
When I lived in GA I joined one. It was a blast, and that's when my body fat % was at it's lowest... even lower than when I was in the Army.
Needless to say, the only biking I'm doing lately is road.
See if you can find other folks to ride with; not only do you have safety in numbers but it makes the time go much, much faster. Plus you have the competitiveness factor that will occasionally push the limits of your ablilities (and hopefully make you stronger in the long run). More than half of my road riding is with local groups that meet up on various days during the week. If I'm having an off day, I'll sit in the pack, drafting everyone and BSing. If I'm having a good day, I'll go up to the front and push the pace a bit if I can.The thing with your throat becoming raw is kind of a weird one. It may very well be a leftover from your smoking days, so perhaps a visit to the doc is in order. One thing that occured to me along these lines: you may be trying to do too much every time you run. I've worked with a few cycling coaches over the years and typically they will schedule two "killer" workouts per week while all the others are well within the "aerobic" range (heart rate under 150 or so depending on what your personal max HR is). It's kinda like weights where you need a few days to recover, the only difference is that this is "active" recovery; you're still out riding/running, but it's at a "conversational" pace (ie- you're not so winded that you can't chat with someone next to you). If you can spare $50 or so, a heart rate monitor might really help you ration your workouts. The biggest mistake most make is going too hard on the easy days and then not being able to go hard enough on the "hard" days because they're not fully recovered.
Call some bike shops and see if the roadies there know of any local group rides. A friend of mine also mentioned a site called Club Roadie that he's had good luck with as far as finding folks to ride with.
Couple other things:
Actually not true. Studies have shown that aside from the "boost" that caffeine gives you, it also spares glycogen use somewhat while performing aerobic exercise (allows your body to make better use of fatty acids IIRC) allowing you to ride/run longer and faster. It wouldn't be on the UCI's list of banned substances if it didn't help pro cyclists competing in races over 100 miles.
As above, you have to "ration" the pain to get the gain. Wailing on yourself every day won't get you anywhere since you actually make your gains while recovering from an effort, not from the effort itself.
My personal exercise demons: I'm kinda bad about sticking with a program. I'll plan a course of attack, follow it religiously for a while, get sidetracked for some reason or another, get discouraged that I got sidetracked and suddenly find my bike gathering dust. This is another good reason to find people to work out with....hard to get lazy if you've got someone calling you telling you to get off your ass.
The other thing right now is that I'm on the low end of the fitness curve thanks to way too much time off the bike and way too much time drinking beer and eating crap. I've got pretty reasonable fitness right now thanks to my daily commute to work (16 miles per day), but I've gained enough extra weight that I can't climb worth sh*t. I've been doing some of the group rides, but it's really discouraging to get dropped on a hill and then have to ride the last 25 miles home by yourself.
I was trying to merely limit my alcohol (and the crap food that tends to go with it) intake, but I'm not dropping weight like I want to so I'm just going to cut it out altogether. God knows I'll miss a pint of Guiness every now and then, but I really want to race bikes competitively again. I still have plenty of space on my "trophy shelf" I'd like to fill.
Macdonald's, the bastards made me fat and unhealthy, im gonna sue them for all they've got!
Just jokin, but i heard ppl are sueing the fast food giant because they're fat. What a joke, ok im gonna sue the manufacturer of my couch because their couches are so darn comfy. It's the reason why i sit on it all day watchin TV and eatin pretzels.
Just jokin, but i heard ppl are sueing the fast food giant because they're fat. What a joke, ok im gonna sue the manufacturer of my couch because their couches are so darn comfy. It's the reason why i sit on it all day watchin TV and eatin pretzels.
apoppin
Lifer
Originally posted by: Stainz
Macdonald's, the bastards made me fat and unhealthy, im gonna sue them for all they've got!
Don't forget to sue the pretzel makers also.
When I spoke of "caffeine killing endurance", I was referring to the dependency cycle associated with it - not it's occasional use to boost performance.
As a surfer, I have a unique problem compared with other sports. Sometime the surf goes flat for days (and even weeks, sometimes). I then have to force myself to paddle or swim.
However, when the swell is up, the motivation automatically returns. I can paddle my kayak tirelessly in any conditions, and I was the same way back in my swimming days. I was the "go to" guy for the long races.
To this day I can't stand running. I can hold my own when I have to, but it's a kind of pain that I find unbearable, so I try to stick to other things like rowing machines and cycles.
To this day I can't stand running. I can hold my own when I have to, but it's a kind of pain that I find unbearable, so I try to stick to other things like rowing machines and cycles.
Ah, I see. True if you're on the downside of a caffeine buzz you're not likely to be setting any personal records that day.
apoppin
Lifer
It IS Fall . . . check your calendar.
And it was pretty Hot in San Diego also today . . . we were in the low 80s on the coast (phew!).
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