Sunday, January 13, 2008

Slowly Getting Stronger

I spent about 55 minutes on the bike today. I needed a Campagnolo lock-ring for a indoor specific rear wheel I'm putting together, so I figured I'd ride down to B&L Bike rather than driving.

There were a couple things of note from today's ride:

1. I can finally pedal while standing up. I can't get a lot of power into my stroke, but being able to stand is a nice step forward. I've been getting more and more ability to control my ankle the past couple weeks. I've also been spending a little bit of time on the elliptical machine; which simulates the same motion as pedaling while standing. It would appear that the added strength and control is starting to pay dividends.

2. I knew I was in the best shape of my life when I crashed my bike, but I don't think I ever really appreciated just how strong my cardiovascular system was. For example, 7 months ago I would have been able to apply at least 50% more power than I did today while keeping my heart rate about 25 beats per minute lower. My point being that my current aerobic capacity is amazingly bad, even though I've been exercising pretty consistently for a month or so. I knew I had a long, long way to go to get anywhere near where I was. Today really brought all that home.

My hope is to get back to riding on my rollers sometime this week. I'm expecting that doing so will help my left leg to work a lot more consistently, while making it easier for me to get some good aerobic work in.

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