Biking to the edge of the world

Yoooooga, Yo-Yo-Yoga...

Mon, 06 Jun 2005 23:53:28 GMT

Ummm...yeah. I did yoga this morning. :)

Never could get the hang of Thursdays

Thu, 02 Jun 2005 17:30:36 GMT

I haven't felt particularly well all day. Just kind of down in the dumps and achy. I did go for a ~30 minute walk during my lunch break. I went around campus and then over to the woods by Marston House. I sat and meditated for about 5 minutes while over there. I sat on a nice rock between the trees overlooking the water. It was nice and peaceful. A groundhog and a woodpecker kept me company. I just worked on focusing on my breathing and clearing my mind.

Aikido - Takashi visit and testing

Mon, 09 May 2005 00:15:29 GMT

Takashi kicked our butts today in class. He spent the first two hours putting the black belts through their paces and then a little over an hour having us review techniques from the 6th kyu test. Which was really good, I learned a bunch of new refinements to some basic techniques. And then we did testing.

There was a 6th kyu test and another 3rd kyu test in addition to my test. Everyone did really well. It was a little grueling, but fun. In addition to the normal ki testing, I had to stand on my toes with my arms open wide while someone tested my balance and stability. The techniques I had to show were called out rapidly to give me little time to think. Then I had to do free-style against two opponents. They had reserve ukes, so the ukes could get replaced when they got tired. I could barely breathe by the time I was done. Then I did kokidosa, answered my silly question as loud as I could and did my bows.

Takashi likes to ask a question at the end of the test that relates to the Aikido principles and he makes you answer as loudly as you possibly can. My question this test: "You're the manager of a major company and your opponents aren't doing their work. What Aikido principle would you tell them to use to do their work?" My answer made no sense, but it was loud. ;)

I'm stiff, sore and happy.

The Day After

Mon, 02 May 2005 21:05:41 GMT

I'm a little sore and stiff in places (especially my knee), but I'm doing pretty good. I did AM Yoga and 20 sit-ups this morning. I think the yoga really helped my knee from being so stiff.

What week, I didn't see any week

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:10:45 GMT

Yeah, so last week wasn't very good. But I've gotten this week off to a good start. I did a nice 10 mile-ish ride around town with conrad7 followed by 2 sets of 10 modified push-ups and stretching.

It felt wonderful to be on the bike again. The day was gorgeous, the scenery was nice, the company was good and I made it up every last stinking hill. It was a great ride.

Aikido

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 02:08:58 GMT

We went outside and enjoyed the good weather for a bit while doing weapons practice. Then we went back in and reviewed a bunch of techniques those of us who will be testing for 3rd kyu will need to know. I can't wait until my knee heals and I'll actually be able to do forward rolls.

Wednesday

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 11:07:47 GMT

I did AM Yoga and 2 sets of 10 modified push-ups this morning.

I'm dropping off my bike to get a tune-up this morning and hopefully I'll be able to ride it home tonight.

I love biking uphill against the wind

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 20:23:31 GMT

Gods, today was gorgeous! In case you haven't figured it out I biked outside today. Before I left, I did AM Yoga and 25 sit-ups.

I rode into campus (7.6 miles) with my best time ever! 34 minutes 43 seconds. My lungs feel like they are about to explode, but otherwise I feel great! I like my new little cyclocomputer. It's spiffy. :) Average speed for the ride was 11.9 mph. The strength training over the winter was definately worth it. I felt I had better control over the bike. It was so nice to ride outside!

I'm still getting used to the clipless pedals. I'm glad that I have the combination pedals. When I'm riding around in town (yay stop and go) I won't click in, I'll only do the clipless side on the longer stretches of not stopping.

Now off to Aikido!

Alright, so I wimped out

Mon, 04 Apr 2005 14:29:32 GMT

I did AM Yoga and 2 sets of 10 modified push-ups. I was going to then bike in this morning, but decided I didn't want to bike in the cold rain, especially when it should be nice tomorrow. So my bike is all set and ready for me to ride tomorrow.

Wednesday ride

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 23:34:13 GMT

I did AM Yoga this morning followed by a 40 minute ride at level 3. I didn't keep my cadence up to where I should, but I was still pedalling at a decent pace of 70-80 rpms. The ride felt really good. I rode for 15 minutes, break for a minute, ride for 15 min, break 1min, ride for 10 min.

Monday, already?

Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:34:24 GMT

Well, after being sick this weekend, I'm back in the swing of things. I did AM Yoga and Target Training this morning. I'm still at Advanced for the lower body exercises and Intermediate with the upper body exercises (still doing my modification on the modified push-up and using 5lb weights instead of 10lb on the shoulder press).

This morning's thought processes

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 14:41:00 GMT

*alarm going off at 5am*

I don't want to get up. It's too early. I'm sleepy. Don't wanna get up.

*resets alarm to 6:30am, goes back to bed and hides under covers*

I really should workout this morning. I should get up. I don't wanna get up. Well, if I get up at 6:30, then I can do yoga before I have to go to work. That's something. I should really bike though. If I don't get up and workout today, then I won't do it tomorrow. I don't wanna get up. I should get up.

*drags self out of bed at 5:16am*

~*~

I managed to do AM Yoga and 20 minutes of biking at level 3, then stretched. After yesterday, I just couldn't summon the energy for more. I did something though! :)

Workout insanity!

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 02:41:36 GMT

So since I didn't workout on Monday due to lack of sleep the night before, I made up for it today. I did AM Yoga. Followed by Target Training. I'm moving up to the Advanced Level for the leg exercises and am still at the intermediate level for the upper body exercises, except for modified push-ups (I'm still doing my modification, against the wall, but I'm keeping up doing it that way.) and the shoulder presses following the push-ups (I'm doing 15 reps each with the 10 lb weights, 5 lb weights and no weight.).

Then I did 40 minutes on the bike at level 3.

Originally, the university had shut down due to the storm, but they decided to reopen at 5pm so we had Aikido. I got there in time for the last hour. We spent the time reviewing the techniques for 6th and 3rd kyu techniques.

Aikido

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 23:36:34 GMT

Well, I haven't done the biking that I should've done yesterday, but I went to Aikido tonight. There was only 4 of us and two are testing for 6th kyu soon. So we ran them through the techniques they need to know and I did a lot of uke-ing

Where'd the weekend go?

Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:25:06 GMT

This morning I did AM Yoga and biked for 40 minutes at level 2, stretching afterwards. Felt pretty good. I didn't feel stiff or sore from biking yesterday, which is good.

I'm realizing that it's only 2 and a half months till the Tour. I've got to keep on track. I'm looking forward to actually biking outside, but they are forcasting more so for this week.

Is it Friday yet?

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 18:11:12 GMT

I kind of have the blahs today, but I did work out. I did AM Yoga and Target Training, intermediate level for the lower body exercises and beginner level for the upper body. My upper body is so weak. I really need to work on that. Most of the exercises I do alright, but modified push-ups are still a huge struggle.

Next week, I'm going to try to increase to the intermediate level for some of the upper body exercises.

I did stuff!

Wed, 02 Feb 2005 02:05:23 GMT

I woke up bright and early this morning and did AM Yoga. Then I did Target Training. Intermediate level on the lower body exercises and beginner level on the upper body.

This evening was Aikido. We did tsuki kokyu-nage, shomen kokyu-nage and a bunch of yokomen kokyu-nages. We ended with kokyudosa. Hmmm... I think I actually came close to the actual spellings.

My neck is really stiff, so I'm going to have to make sure I stretch it in the morning. My knee is sore as well from landing on it hard at Aikido, but it should be ok to bike in the morning.

Yoga

Fri, 28 Jan 2005 14:32:02 GMT

I woke up bright and early (well, not so bright, but certainly early) this morning and did AM Yoga before packing up my stuff to go to class and then head down to visit family.

I'm hoping to do some strength training tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Ugggh.

Sat, 15 Jan 2005 15:51:08 GMT

I hate being sick.

I'm in DC visiting a friend this weekend, but the hotel does have a fitness room. I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike and stretched afterwards.

Yay Friday!

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 20:57:27 GMT

I didn't get my biking in on Wednesday. But I did do Target Training and 40 minutes on the trainer at level 1 today. I read while I biked today and the time seemed to go by faster. I still managed to keep my cadance up (which is what I feared that while reading I wouldn't keep my cadence up), but I didn't drink quite as much while riding. I wasn't looking for an excuse to stop as much. So maybe I'll have to switch it up between reading and watching a movie/tv show.

Note to self

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:30:14 GMT

It is important to do a formal and complete stretching routine after biking. Good God, my neck and shoulders hurt today.

My training schedule

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 12:45:34 GMT

I realized that I haven't actually posted my training schedule. Here's my plan for the next couple of weeks:

Monday:

Tae Bo Gold with 40-45 minutes of biking on level 1

Tuesday:

Target Training with 40-45 minutes of biking on level 3

Wednesday:

AM Yoga with 40-45 minutes of biking on level 5

Thursday:

Rest

Friday:

Target Training with 40-45 minutes of biking on level 3

Saturday:

AM Yoga with 1.5 - 2 hours of biking on level 3

Sunday:

AM Yoga with 40-45 minutes of biking on level 3

The biking level is the different levels of difficulty on my trainer (there are 7 levels total). For right now, I'm keeping my bike set on the middle chain rings in the front and back (2/3 and 4/7). I'm working on maintaining my cadance at 90 RPM. When I can consistently maintain my cadence, I'll start doing interval training at a higher gear.

I'm at the beginner level for all of the exercises on the Target Training video. The current plan is to stay at that level for the first two weeks and start working on increasing to the intermediate level over the following two weeks.

After 4 weeks I'll evaluate where I am and what changes I need to make to my program.

As for fundraising for the Tour de Cure, I plan on starting in on that at the end of January.

Day 4

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 12:33:21 GMT

Rest day!

Local Biking Links

Wed, 08 Dec 2004 22:09:39 GMT

New Hampshire:

Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes
http://www.seacoastbikes.com/

Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Bicycling Coalition
http://www.massbike.org/

Boston Cycling LiveJournal Community
http://www.livejournal.com/~bostoncycling/

Bikes Not Bombs
http://www.bikesnotbombs.org/