Another recovery workout

After my adventures last week with the rebellion in my legs, I thought a lot about the planned workout today. It called for a 1.5 hr spin and .5 hr run. My calves have come along well and I didn't want to overdo it today. Even though I see the value in them, and need to do them, I didn't take any chances by doing one legged drills.

I spent a few minutes massaging and stretching my legs before the bike and started slow.
10 min warm up
10 min gradually increasing to 85 rpm and holding for last 5 min. I didn't feel smooth till the 15 min mark.
For the main workout I did 6 sets of 7 min on and 3 resting. Most of the on parts were at 100 rpm in a fairly easy gear, enough to get heartrate into the middle of my aerobic zone. I experimented with several different gears. One was significantly harder gear but I did that set at 85-90 rpm.
10 min cool down. I was almost surprised the bike workout was done so quickly.

3 min transition, including a few short stretches while changing. The plan was to keep my heart rate about 135 during the run. I was running gently (8 min for 1st K) for 11 minutes when I started to get a tickle in my left calf. I slowed down more, stopped to rub it a few times, then walked a few steps. I started running again slowly, but it didn't get worse. After a few more steps it settled down and I kept going. However, at the 20 minute mark both calves gave first notice they had had enough, thank you very much. I walked another 10 minutes without any further bother from them, then did some more stretching and massage. Right now they're both tired, but not complaining. I'm in the process of booking an appointment with my wonderful massage therapist.

I'd hoped to get though the whole run, and start benchmarking where I am, but given the circumstances I'm fairly pleased. I could have stayed on the bike much longer. My hands were the part that were the most tired, and I had to shake them out several times each, but my arms and butt didn't bother me hardly at all. There's times the spinning is coming really well; I'll be going along ok then suddenly everything comes together, and my feet are going faster with less effort. Now if only I can make that happen more often! This was the first ride where my toes didn't start going to sleep on me. I guess that means I'm developing a lighter foot on the pedals.

Weekly summary
Swim 1.16 hrs
Bike 2.75 hrs
Run .33 hrs
Total 4.25 hrs.

When I bought my cell phone in July, there was a money back program or something and they gave me a gift card for it. It fell out of my wallet the other day when paying for Thai food. I'd forgotten about it, so I went into London Drugs to see if there's anything I could buy for $75. My female fans will be happy to know that I did NOT buy a present for my 23rd anniversary with it! But I did discover I can no longer install the newest version of the Mac operating system on this computer. Sigh. That's normally my signal to go buy a new computer. I don't quite want to just yet, I've spent a lot of $ on stuff (hello Greg!) lately, and there's still eyeglasses to buy in Jan. But soon. I was thinking about Greg and how we were chatting on IM while he was riding, and I was thinking about installing the computer in front of where I spin on the bike in the basement, and watch movies while spinning. Bike training motivational movies, of course. My wife suggested if I get a treadmill it could go right there too, but I'm resisting that idea. I'm not big on them, and there's very few days in Calgary where it's too crappy outside to run.

Another year is coming to an end, and this is my traditional time to look things over and reflect on the year past, and the year coming up. It was a big year for me in that for the second time in my adult life I said enough and changed my habits to trim off major weight. I'm not sure what I peaked out at, but I'm reasonably sure that it was mid 270's early in the year. So I'm pretty comfortable saying I'm down 30 pounds this year. I won't say I'm in the best shape of my life; that's not even close to being true. But if I keep it up, that could be during 2008. I changed jobs unexpectedly, and I'm pleased where I am now.

We ended up visiting Linda's family quite a bit in 2007, and finally said good bye to her mom. She beat an aneurism that was one of the biggest seen in Canadian medical history, but the complications from brain cancer got her in the end. I guess my best tribute to her is that I lost my taste for mother-in-law jokes after meeting her. I miss her. There were several other deaths in my family, one expected, one decidely not so. It's always a big shock when someone your own age dies unepectedly. I guess all I can say is that it reaffirms my determination to make the most of what I've got, appreciate it for what it is, and live to the fullest.

I wish you all the best in 2008.