I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew Tonight

No, this post isn't about food.

I try to exercise every day. I even look forward to it throughout the day. On days I don't exercise (maybe two or three days per  month) I feel bad and guilty. Disturbingly, I also feel like I'm gaining weight on those days.

Life long success for people like me depends on being able to deal with imperfection when it comes to eating and exercise. I need to relax about the days I'm too sick or busy to exercise or when I make poor decisions with my eating (I had two birthday parties yesterday so there was lots of cake and fatty food available to me and no time to exercise.)

The last two nights prior to my day off, I went for bike rides with my daughter riding the bike trailer. Two consecutive days of cycling made my arms very sore. It's funny that my arms are my problem. My exercise counsellor had me lifting free weights in order to help me with cycling but it seems to be not just strength but joints in my arms that are the issue.

I have to support a lot of weight while leaning forward on my bike. An upright position would be more preferable but I'd have to make changes to my bike's handle bars in order to accomplish that. And no "real cyclist" would go for that because sitting upright isn't really efficient, especially aerodynamically. But I put myself in this position by gaining all that weight, I suppose I could spend a year or two sitting upright on my bike.

Tonight, after a day off, I returned to cycling with my family in the dark after dinner. I put in 30 vigorous minutes of cycling--or I should say Team Double D did. That's my new cycling team consisting of my three year old daughter and me (Daddy and Daughter) on essentially the same bike. (She tells relatives on the phone that she has a new bike and it only has one wheel, causing the person on the other end to be quite confused.)

After my bike ride tonight, I felt really warmed up and raring to go. I put on my running shoes and went for a short walk and jog. For some reason, I got a stitch in my side even though my heart rate was below 80%. I had to stop a couple minutes short of my 6 minute goal. I expected my legs to be quite fresh for jogging after three days on a bike and one day off but it didn't work out that way.

My legs were fatigued from cycling just prior to my jog and even though you use some different muscles in different ways in cycling than jogging, it still affected my ability to jog. I now have even greater respect for people who can compete in triathlons.

But don't dismay, dear reader. If I wanted to cycle then jog as part of my routine, all I'd have to do is train for it (practice) and I'm sure my body would quickly respond. Because if you've got one thing out of this blog it should be that the human body is an amazing thing.