Tuning It Up and Turning It Up

I shaved 3 minutes off my bike ride from HBC to WA Park to pick up Maya from preschool! How’d I do that?! Well, I will contribute some of it to Mother Nature and her lack of wind today. Otherwise, I contribute it to tuning it up and turning it up.

Last week we were at Alameda Bike, and I had a coupon for 15% off parts & accessories. I wasn’t planning on buying anything, but the coupon made me think about what I might need. I got a new seat, fitted for my “sit bones.” I bought new grips that are surprisingly comfortable, and I knew I needed a new bell (gotta have a bell on Shoreline Ave.)! They also oiled my chain a bit. My bike doesn’t squeak anymore and it rides more smoothly. All told, I spent $75 and shaved 3 minutes off my time! Aaah, the wonders of a tune up!

The other time improvement was due to intervals. In the Intro to Spin class I took, one exercise was to ride no-handed but still bent over the handlebars. So I tried it for just 10 pedal-spins. It took a lot of abs and put all the force in my legs. With more force in my legs, I ended up going much faster. So every now and then I’d do another 10 spins no-handed, which revved up my speed.

So a bike tune up and turning up the intensity in my riding cut 3 minutes off my ride. Let’s see how my abs feel tomorrow!

Biking to Preschool

So my latest cardio plan is to bike, instead of drive, to pick up my kids from preschool and daycare. Originally, I thought I’d bike them in the morning, but c’mon, seriously, how unrealistic is that!? I can hardly get them there on time, in a car, even if I do as much as possible to prep the night before! (set out clothes, make lunches, set out breakfast, program the coffeemaker, etc.)

Wednesday was the first day of my plan. I have a Personal Training client at the Harbor Bay Club (HBC) until 11:30 and preschool ends at noon at Washington Park. That’s enough time to bike between the two, dragging a trailer. But I was slow out of the gates due to paperwork, saying “hi” to familiar faces, receiving phones calls, etc. By then, I only had 17 minutes to bike to preschool, but it took me 22 minutes to do it! Fortunately, I saw all the other parents and kids leaving, so, although I was the last parent to pick up her kid, it was only by a minute. Altogether, I rode from HBC to WA park, to Zoe’s daycare on 5th St., and home to Krusi Park, about 7-8 miles. Not far, but I was pulling a trailer weighing 35 lb. empty and 100 lbs. full! Total time: ~1 hr.

Note to self: leave immediately after Personal Training session ends to pick up Maya on time!

With time, I’ll get stronger and faster, and then it’ll get cold and rainy, and I’ll get back in the car instead! LOL!

Exercise Alone or With the Kids?

After dropping off Zoe at daycare and Maya at her first day of preschool, I spent some time, alone, thinking about what I want to do during those 3 hours 2x/week of alone-time. I listed all the things I do, divided into groups of things I can do with the kids vs. alone.

I’d always thought I needed to exercise alone, yet I felt I was wasting my alone-time doing it then. Confusing contradiction there. Once I broke down “exercise” into specifics, it became clear that I could do it with my kids around. For example, I can bike with the girls in the bike trailer. I can do toning exercises at home while the girls and I watch a 30-minute video. Maya gets a kick out of watching me exercise and enjoys trying to “help” me by sitting on me or pushing me up from underneath while I do a plank. My other option with the kids is to put them in the HBC daycare while I work out, which costs much less than their babysitters do. Really, the only exercise that I need to do alone is running.

So now I have fewer excuses not to exercise, and I realize I can do it with my kids, saving my precious alone-time for things I really need to do alone.

Double Workouts

Funny that I should happen to do a double workout last Sunday because I’ve been doing that this week too! It’s just worked out that I’ve had lots of time to work out on Tuesday and Thursday, but not on Monday and Wednesday.

Tuesday I did toning exercises in the middle of the day, and then biked to pick up my girls from daycare late that afternoon. The problem was that I was stinky and sweaty all afternoon between workouts. Why shower if I knew I was just going to get sweaty again a few hours later?

Because I didn’t really like being sweaty all day, I changed my plan on Thursday. I met a friend for a fast walk, and then did toning exercises afterward. The toning exercises were really tough, and a few times I felt light-headed when I stood up. What was up with that? Was it the double workout that left me listless?

Then I remembered that I’d eaten a small breakfast 5 hours earlier and I’d only eaten a power bar for dinner at work the night before! Well, no wonder I had no energy! It wasn’t the double workout that made me so tired; it was trying to workout while running on fumes! Yes, the power of food: it gives you energy!

The Accounting of Exercise

Sunday, my family went on a lovely bike ride around Alameda. Nick was pulling the bike trailer with Maya & Zoe in it (~100 lb. total), which means it was a slow, leisurely ride. So my questions is whether a “low intensity” bike ride for 70min. followed by “low intensity” toning exercises are considered exercise? And, can I count them as 2 workouts (to meet my goal of 5x/wk)?

I used my fancy heart rate monitor which tracks all my info. and made it clear that the intensity was, indeed, low. My HR was mostly 50-60% of maximum, sometimes lower, which is definitely low intensity. We rode for 10 ½ miles at a speed of 5-12 mph, averaging 8.8 mph, which is quite slow. It says I burned 568 calories, which I find very hard to believe. When we returned, I did some toning exercises, but I was also distracted, so I took a few minutes’ break between each exercise.

So this is the accounting of exercise: adjusting the numbers and justifying them to make them sound good. Yes, well isn’t low intensity also called “fat burning?” Don’t I burn more “fat calories” by keeping my heart rate low? And if the computer says I burned 568 calories, it must be true, right? And if I did a cardio workout (biking) AND strength training, isn’t that like 2 workouts?

The most important thing I learned is to just work out during the week so that I don’t have to worry about it on the weekends. But I’m still going to count it as 2 workouts!