Muffin Tops

Best name I’ve heard yet for the fat that forms above the hips.

Had a big scare when I made it into the gym this week. My how they grow when you aren’t exercising.

Very sad. I am missing sweating and raising my heart rate. Most of all, riding in a pack with the TripleShot Pre-Dawn Cycling Destination Club.

An avid cyclist I know who consistently wins or places in the top three had the best advise for me.

He talked about Lance Armstrong. How when he was so sick his body and muscles went down to nothing. Yet, when he came back – he bounced back. Working it all the right ways.

I formalize in my mind how I can heal from old injuries during this time. To come back stronger.

From what I’ve been reading on various blogs with regards to pelvic fractures, it will be some time before I can run again. The range of motion with the clavicle fracture is good. But working it is testy. (See Broken Wings.)

Yet the recumbent bicycle beckons!

I tested 20 minutes after a little stretching and crunches. Only to suffer the afternoon with some pain-killers.

But I’m learning. What the body wants. What the body can take.

Ice cream (emotional/sympathy soothers) and growing muffin tops!

Exercise is Right

Got up at 4:45 am this morning so I could go meet a pal for hill repeats on our road bikes. It’s been a while. After the seven day BC Bike Race www.bcbikerace.com I took a breather to work 12 hour days in a boatyard with the summer cold.
Back at it this morning felt so good. Made me think about my goals for the future. I’ve heard other people say it. If they didn’t have to work all day they would train. One person I sided with on the multi-sport triathlon thing. Another a marathon. Yet another - fitness for fun.
What is it about the heart pumping beads of sweat rolling that gives us that ultimate satisfaction? The endorphin high. Clean skin. More energy for the day. Excuse to eat a chocolate brownie for dessert!
There’s simply no escaping the fact that are lifestyles are for the most part lazy. It’s built in. We don’t have to hand wash our laundry or walk a mile for a Mars bar. It’s four wheels and gasoline that gets us places. With household habits furnished with machines to do this and that.
It escapes me how we’ve allowed ourselves to become so docile. You have to want to book the time in your day to workout. Plain and simple. No time, no workout. Rather, can’t make the time, then you don’t work out.
I’m not good at getting out of bed early. Especially by myself. If I’m meeting someone or say I will meet someone for a ride or run, I’ll do it. Otherwise, there’s a lot of sleeping in that goes on. Except for when I dangled the thought of that belt buckle in my head for the BC Bike Race finish on Day 7. I wanted it. And I got it. And I got out of bed all by myself to ride with myself to get it.
Next up, the Xterra and a Half Marathon I’m thinking. Maybe Trans Rockies or Trans Alps next year. Whatever. Need to keep going. It feels good. It’s the right thing to do for me, my family, my health, my community and the world. Cause it keeps me healthy, strong and focused so I can do good each day. Exercise is simply right. Cause morally it's good for us.

Mind Yes, Body NO

The birds were singing. The alarm rang. I got up. It was not much after 6 a.m. I’m 46 years old and I’ve been training hard for the BC Bike Race, a seven-day mountain bike race www.bcbikerace.com.
The race involves 30-40 kilometres of mountain biking each day. The training requires 12-18 hours of riding each week.
Because I varnish boats at the moment to make money, I fit my long rides in during the wee hours of the morning. I’m too exhausted by the end of the day to ride my bike for three hours. So for example, I get up at 4:15 a.m. on Wednesdays to do my three-hour road ride. I’m on the bike by 5 a.m. (great hour to ride the roads – no traffic) and am back home by 8 a.m. to eat and get ready for work.
However, this week has been difficult. It’s Saturday and I thought I’d hit the road by 7 a.m. It’s my sixth week of intense training. I barely have time to do my laundry let alone wash my dishes. My life is consumed with driving to work, working, driving home and training.
Today I did what a friend on Facebook did. I got up, ate my breakfast and my mind said “get ‘er done, need to get dressed and get on the bike,” but my body slammed on the brakes and said NO! And back to bed I went. But this didn’t just happen today, it also happened yesterday and the day before yesterday.
When the body says no, I guess the mind listens.