Oh man is my fitness down!
 

I commuted to Purdue today by bike, and man is my fitness down. Total of 18 miles today (I had to also go get a CT scan on my chest, following up on my pneumonia episodes), and I am absolutely trashed tonight. Now, I did do it on my fixed gear, so I have to work, even on the downhills to manage my speed.

On the uphill, though, I did have a concern......I wound up punching the ol HR up to about 190, and I can't do that anymore, it seems. I thought I was going to have an issue.....I could literally feel the Atrial Fibrillation starting in.....3 beats-skip, 3 beats-skip. :( It did settle back into a normal rhythm, as far as I can tell from the pulse, though,, it's back to steady, and a reasonable rate.

Tom, I'm very glad you got your heart under control. Now don't do that again!!! Pushing yourself to improve is good, pushing yourself to death no so much. :)

Scared me, I can assure you. I used to ride this hill last year without bringing the HR up over 130.....it's not that big a hill. I guess the trainer time I was able to do didn't do enough. Oh well, flip side....I know my current limits.

I do have an abnormality in my S-A node, though, and it started expressing itself last year with Atrial Fibrillation problems. I'm just afraid of starting a down hill slide in my abilities.

I suggest that you read the "newbie threads". Lots of good information for the beginning cyclist.:rolleyes:

If you're anything like me it doesn't take long at all to lose your conditioning. But the good news is it should come back pretty quickly. As for a downhill slide in abilities, here's hoping it just loss of conditioning.

Just keep on riding it will come back and you did ride a fixie...just sayin.

Wow, sorry to hear about that. It will be interesting to hear how your conditioning is one month from now.

Now.... go post those miles in the 100 mile club thread.

Tom, I'm sorry to read about this. But Jethro56 and WonderMonkey have it right. Just as you are perhaps the oldest college student at Purdue, you can be the most experienced newbie here. Start out as a novice.... again.

I hope everyone realizes that I was kidding.

From someone WITH lung problems and who underwent double bypass 4 seasons back ,everything sounded 'really really familar'
Thankfully, I'm on metropolol (lowers the heart rate). The pnemonia's after effects may very well have played a part in the increased heart rate.
"listen" to your body my friend.
I 'had' two close cycling friends who didn't..neither is here any longer. (both were excellent cyclists quite capable of putting in 30-40 mile club rides well in excess of 20mph)

No worries what anyone else thought, Neil, I know you were. ;)

I wasn't. I'm walking that walk too. I'm currently recovering from problems that left me sidelined and out of shape. In 2009 I rode over 500 miles in two weeks. Now I'm building up to 100 miles in a month. I'm eager to learn things I've forgotten or never got right the first time.

Slow down, kid. :D
Take it easy and take advantage of those neat things called gears and freewheels until you build up a little base fitness again.

I would bet that less than 5% of Americans our age could do 18 miles on a bicycle. Let alone a fixie. Sometimes when I'm reading posts here (Beanz) I get to thinking how "out of shape" I'm in. The fact of the matter is I'm in as good of shape now as I was half a lifetime ago. The real question we need to ask is "How hard can we push ourselves?" Challenging ourselves is good. Unrealistic expectations are bad. Where that line is I'm still trying to find.

Heart palps suck. I suffer with s.v.t. those 'events' can be scary. if you ever have a major episode of heart palps. try bearing down like you are making poo-poo. this can snap your heart back into rythem.

This why I love the internet.:D

and give you 'roids as an added bonus!

That works as well as taking 'roids?
Cool!:thumb:
Oh, wait...that kind of 'roids.:(

"Nothing is gained by a reasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw

"A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" - Robert Browning

"I have no common sense. I'm a middle aged, overweight, structurally rickety man who taught himself to ride a bike and to ride it hard. There's no sense, and nothing common, in that achievement." - The Historian

The "All or Nothing" Guy got buried 200 pounds ago. It Always ended up Nothing.

I'm training for a century, a two week bike tour, and a cross country trip next year with no promise I'll be able to do any of it. I'm 45, overweight, and a structural wreck. I'd not be doing any of the above if I listened to most people. Fortunately I don't listen to most people. :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jethro56 (Post 12526866)

I would bet that less than 5% of Americans our age could do 18 miles on a bicycle. ...

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I would bet that the actual number is the complete opposite. They just don't want too. That's different. I would even bet that the average American our age could ride a century if they really wanted to. Would it hurt? You bet! They could do it though. We can do a lot more than we think we can. It wasn't that many years ago that we, as a species, were walking everywhere we went. We didn't spread all over the world sitting on our butts. It’s in our genes.
As far as riding a bicycle goes, the most important muscle is the one between your ears. If you know what your doing and how to do it, you can do it. It's really not that difficult. This has been a bad year, miles wise, for me. Between some health, weather and personal issues I haven't ridden more than 30 miles since last September. I got on my bike and rode 270 miles last Saturday. Yeah, my rear end is sore today and the muscles feel a bit sore as well but it really wasn't a big deal. I rode steady, ate and drank properly, and kept my heart rate down. My cup is always half full. If you don’t think you can do it you never will.

Tom, does your HR monitor have an alarm on it???

Ride Hard, Dewey! :D

There's a sig quote for somebody.

18.2 miles today, by bike. The ride went a lot better. I managed my HR better, and walked the State Street Hill.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4443959

So, not bad, 36.2 miles for the week, thus far. Got caught in a thunderstorm on the way to class, too, and I can attest to the waterproof features of the Timbuk2 Messenger bags. :p Also, Stearns rain pants and a Nautica Rain shell. I stayed dry. Man, it was a cold rain, though, and I could have used a fleece layer under the shell.