Day Off

The last two days have been as follows:

February 26
Shortish, annoyingish bike ride with the group. About 13 miles or so, round trip. Lots of stopping. Low average HR, stopped keeping track. Waste of a morning in many ways as the instructor spent TWO HOURS going over stuff about bikes that wasn’t really relevant to anyone but the most serious cyclists. Then the ride was slowish and I couldn’t do the full thing—which only a handful did, but which made me feel like a total wuss—because I had to get back. Overall, it was a level I ride for about an hour. Warmed up on my own at the beginning, but no time to stretch at the end. Bad!

February 27
Much better: between clients at UBF, I took Rocky (Johnny’s bike) up into the Hollywood Hills from the gym. Don’t know the mileage, but was essentially a tough hill climb for about 55 minutes, then a descent/flat for another 25 minutes or so. HR hit around 149, averaged in the mid-120’s for the ascent (there was some flat and coasting before I hit the real hill, otherwise it would have been higher.) Then did core and some good stretching before my next client came. This could be a Sunday ritual, as I’ll have 2 hours between clients for the foreseeable future. Really fun! Stayed in the saddle—in the granny gear, admittedly—for almost all of the climb. Kept going up and up and even went off-road once.

Funny that I have such a hard time keeping the HR up on the actual bike, which you would think would be harder than a spin class, where my HR averaged much higher. But learning handling and awareness, not to mention the fun factor, makes it, I think, a better workout overall, even if it’s less concentrated and intense. Funny that ersatz biking seems less intense.

Don’t know quite how to plan this week’s working out: perhaps I’ll hit the treadmill for some interval work following a sprinty-style swim tomorrow. OR I’ll bike to and from the gym, an 11- mile round trip. But running is important right now…haven’t done it for a few days now and should. Can’t do LD run tomorrow. Perhaps I should do my LD swim tomorrow? It’s a little out of order, but my legs are sore! I took today off because yesterday was a “stolen” workout after the lame one on Saturday. Argh…oh, well, I’ll figure it out. Swim and run is a priority right now. Biking can wait a day or two.