<p>Worked out with my trainer today–lots of core work and balance and abs. Walked home from the gym. </p>
<p>Thanks for your opinions (MNK and Idad) on the Realryder bikes. After reading your comments, I figured I’ll to go another fitness place that has standard indoor cycling bikes and take a class there on Saturday morning. I know what to expect and basically what I want is cardio work. I like cycling (spinning? don’t know the right term) classes because I can get a much better cardio workout in the class than I can on my own. </p>
<p>A little overkill for this weather. Right now (in the high 40’s low 50’s) I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt with a fleece vest and am plenty warm. </p>
<p>Bromfield, Spinning is the registered trademark for Mad Dogg Spinning, which was developed by Johnny G, the first on the scene to mainstream indoor cycling for group fitness classes. If an instructor /facility is not certified by Mad Dogg, it can’t use “Spinning” in the name of its cycling classes. Everyone one else does “indoor cycling”.</p>
<p>When choosing a facility and instructor, it is important to understand how they approach indoor cycling. There are many facilities and instructors that have class participants do things you would never do on an outdoor bike, from the ludicrous like dancing on the bike and calisthenics to dangerous bad form. You want a class that focuses on the form and technique of road riding. That is what will keep you safe and give you the best cardio workout. Avoid facilities where classes do "jumps’ on the bikes, “hovers”, push ups, dumbbell exercises and the like. </p>
<p>Thanks for your comments about my son with the broken clavicle. He’ll be stuck with a sling for a while. At least he needs no surgery. It’s also forced him to seek out a doctor. He’s been sloppy in that regard, and we his parents have been a bit distressed that he hasn’t had a health professional to consult. Nothing like a little emergency to light a fire…</p>
<p>3.5 miles running, some squats, KB swings, and a 2 mile walk this morning. No such luck with cooler weather here yet.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, how did you like the bike shorts? Once upon a time I used to make fun of cyclists in their clown outfits. Then I started riding and tried the shorts. It was an epiphany! Never wore anything but cycling gear ever since.</p>
<p>You know, this may sound crazy, but the reason I didn’t buy a pair from the beginning was that I was thinking, “I am a total beginner, completely out of shape. Who am I to buy bicycle shorts and act like I know what I am doing, that I would need them.” It almost felt like you had to be worthy! I know, silly. But I liked them. The padding felt a little weird, though. </p>
<p>I bought them because I noticed as I began to increase my distances, that I started noticing the rubbing/chafing. So I figured if I didn’t want to end up with a rash, I better get some better coverage! I still haven’t gone near the racks of shirts-talk about being a pretender!</p>
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<p>Well, I noticed that he turned a lot of heads. Troy Aikman is pretty big in Dallas. But I also saw a girl two days in a row who was a dead ringer for Jennifer Lopez. But I don’t think so. :D</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, the rubbing/chaffing you were experiencing can ruin a ride pretty quickly and can even result in abrasions that put you out of riding commission until they heal. A prime reason to wear bike shorts! When buying bike shorts, look for shorts that are constructed with at least 6 panels. This helps avoid the inconvenient placement of seams and makes for a more comfortable fitting short. And if you are looking for the best in comfort, get a pair of bib shorts. They eliminate the waist band of regular shorts, which always seems to roll down and fold over itself as you ride or which is constantly creating pressure against your waist. Instead, they have built in “suspenders” kind of like a farmer john version of a bike short and are the gold standard for comfort. And, at the risk of entering the realm of “TMI”, the most important thing with bike shorts is that you wear them without underwear ;)! The seams of underwear or the bunching of underwear under bike shorts can be like riding wearing barbed wire. Bike shorts are designed to be worn and perform at their best when there’s nothing between you and them.</p>
<p>Michael, I didn’t realize the part about ‘nothing between you and them’ … You and iDad are encyclopedias of fitness, health, and just-the-right-clothes-or-gadgets. I often lurk here without commenting just to get these little tidbits.</p>
<p>Lol. I second the bike short advice Not that I’ve even had a cance to use mine much this year.
Got home from SF Monday night and worked til 1 a.m. yesterday…still not caught up!</p>
<p>You guys may recall that about 4 weeks ago I hurt my neck diving like an idiot. I can do the hill walk and whatnot, but am still having trouble with shoulder checks, etc. Well I came home after a summer of overwork that meant virtually no bike riding to discover that McH bought a second-hand recumbent trike for me ;)</p>
<p>Either he’s picturing solidarity rides (he bought himself a fancy recumbent last year) or he’s convinced that with my facet joint syndrome and the clear evidence in my neck issue that I’ll not be getting back on a regular bike any time soon. Either way, it was a sweet gesture. If I can get through this work week, we’ll see how I like it this weekend ;)</p>
<p>Here to report that it’s not the hr straps - it’s the runner!</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the new garmin and Magellan hr straps perform about the same as the old garmin strap. Like the feel of the new garmin strap.</p>
<ul>
<li>the mio link hr wrist band isn’t as consistent as the chest bands . Seems to spike more . Although it’s the only thing that will work in the pool.</li>
<li>noticed that the vivofit indicated that I ran 14 plus miles when in reality it was just over 8 miles. I’ve noticed that about my wife’s fitbit too . They overstate miles. Wondering if it is programmed that way on purpose!</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>Seem to be making progress at the low hr thing. Over the past week first mile is 11 plus 2nd mile is 12 plus and remaining miles are over 13 at 127-131. Going to try a flat track run tonight or tomorrow. Hills really throw the pace thing off.</p>
<ul>
<li>hr tidbits:
*My hr seems to be lower when sitting versus laying down at rest</li>
<li>I can lower hr during running and at rest when I focus on breathing</li>
<li>and I notice that hr goes up 10 bpm when driving through rush hour traffic</li>
</ul>
<p>ohiopublic, my fitbit underestimates my miles. I think the fitbit guesses the length of your step based on your height, and then multiplies that by number of steps to get a mile count. My steps must be longer than the average for my height (which makes sense since I don have long legs and walk very fast.) Although it’s never off by that much. </p>
<p>I’ve read that the mio says the link isn’t supposed to give a reliable heart rate in water. But I guess you’ve been successful. I’m not sure I want to buy a vivofit just to figure this out when I already have a fitbit. </p>
<p>In searching about the Mio link and swimming, I just discovered that Mio is coming out with yet another device – one that combines the Mio heart rate monitor with an activity tracker. It’s called the Mio Fuse. It will continuously measure heart rate (without chest strap), steps, calories, distance, speed and pace. Looks interesting.</p>
<p>Have a good day iDad. I’m in the middle of nowhere small town central California on business and found (despite the hotel not being able to tell me a good place to run) a great rail trail this morning just .8 from the hotel- Tulare Santa Fe Trail. 4 miles after 2 days off. Yes, that’s me saying “2 days off”. Life happened. The trail had a separate equestrian lane.</p>
<p>One of my favorite running jaunts today- parking the car in a neighborhood not my own - and having some new scenery to look at! Much more entertaining than the same old treks near my own house!</p>
Not that I’ve even had a cance to use mine much this year.