Friday, October 9, 2009

Listening to Estela

I'm pretty well recovered from my cold. Started today with a short spin, mainly to get warmed up for the run. But I got sidetracked, and started listening to the bike and trainer. I made these assumptions:
  • All gear teeth and chain links are evenly worn
  • Lubricant and grit are evenly distributed on the chain and teeth
  • The trainer tire is evenly worn and perfectly circular
At first there was a bit of a whir whir noise, and I was thinking that if a motor were driving the pedals the chain and trainer noise should be a steady whir. About the 5 minute mark I started to even it out to actually produce a steady whir. It's not as good as the computrainer graph, but if you pay attention it's pretty good. I planted my butt more firmly in the saddle, lightened my feet, and concentrated on feet going round and round smoothly and evenly. I felt like I was growing out of the bike. I was pedaling a steady 90 rpm in an easy gear, heart rate between 100 and 105, just beginning to sweat. I was listening so hard and trying to stay smooth I forgot to look at my watch. I was already past the planned 20 minutes, and was totally into the 90 rpm groove. I decided to stay on the bike a few minutes longer, and do some spin ups to get the muscles doing something different. I basically spun up to as fast as my legs would go and stay smooth, then backed down again. As soon as my heart rate recovered I'd do it again. I did about 5 of these, then had a few minutes of nice easy spin to get ready for the run. 30 minutes all together.

Outside it's just cold enough to see your breath on the air. I decided to run as fast as I could, provided I kept my mouth shut. That's right, breathing only through my nose. I wasn't more than a few minutes on the way when I had to blow my nose really badly, and lets just say that got messy. About halfway through the run I had to do it again. It didn't seem so bad. Emphasis on seem. 

This puts an effective cap on how fast I run, and firmly keeps my heart rate down. My feet and legs felt good, and I tried to stay relaxed. I got all the way around to 287 which will mean nothing to anyone else, but is a benchmark for me. Toward the end was getting tough pushing into the wind, and my heart rate was finally getting up a bit. I was very happy to open my mouth at 20 min and 1 second. My heart rate ended up at 132 bpm. 

Then, when I got home I discovered I'd been running with a huge booger stored in my moustashe for the world to see. I'm talking mega huge here, but fortunately I didn't meet any of my neighbours. No wonder my left nostril wasn't getting much air. It's a wonder I could see.

Then onto the core session I didn't do on Tuesday. Some of these are getting better, and I can feel myself getting stronger. This new strength is already showing up on the run, and in day to day activities like walking and going up stairs.

2 comments:

  1. Baaahahahaha,hahaha, yep, I blew a snot rocket the other day (on the bike) only to find it on my shoulder. Why are WE so gross, boogers, pee stories...yep, just can't get enough! I'm glad you can see now and your sniffer is working.

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  2. I can NOT nose breath while running. It's all through my wide open, slack jawed mouth. I'm attractive like that.

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