Put in an hour and a half on the trainer today, which is about 20 miles at my usual pace. Physically, I could have done more, but an hour and a half was as long as I could take the mind-numbing, earth-shattering, truly incredible boredom. I spent the first half watching the DVD of “Fellowship of the Ring” (which I’ve seen a few too many times already) and the second half watching a cycling training DVD that came with the trainer. It’s put out by Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong’s coach, and it tells you all about how to train for time trials.
I didn’t follow the instructions in the DVD, because I would just have gotten injured, at least at this stage of the game. Those workouts are designed for racers, not post-knee-injury couch potatoes. But it was fun to watch the guys work. (I’m all for watching cute guys get all sweaty. 🙂 ) Meanwhile, I pedaled away, did a few sprints, and generally kept things going. I’m thinking I may want to get some videos of the Tour de France or something. Maybe I’ll watch aerobics videos. Anything to keep from getting bored.
Training on a trainer is also extremely sweaty business–there’s no airflow to cool you, so it all comes out as sweat. I think it’s also a more intense workout, partly because of the boredom (I push faster because I have nothing better to do–I’m not watching out for cars, talking to other riders, admiring the scenery, etc.) and partly because, unlike cycling, there are no rests. In normal road cycling, about 10% of the time you’re out riding is spent at stoplights, slowing down for stop signs, and so on. None of that on a trainer.
So anyway, I’ve had a short workout, and I’m hoping to push it up in the future. Hopefully I’ll find a way to combat the mind-numbing boredom, or else just get used to it.
I’m going to start sleeping with the heart-rate monitor, so I can get a bead on my resting heart rate (taken when you wake up in the morning). It’s fun to watch it dropping–when I trained last time, it went from 72 all the way down to 55!
Meanwhile…there are tutus to make!! I’ll need seven bang-up outfits for the ride. The first day is already done (that’s the orange and blue outfit you saw yesterday)–I like to “fly the colors” on the first day, so it’s gotta be blue and orange. The fifth day is always red, so I need to go through my red tutus and see if I have anything suitable, or if I need to make a new one. (I lean towards making a new one…dahhhling, do you REALLY think I’d be seen in the same tutu twice?)
I have a few more “favorite tutus” that I plan to wear–one is cocktail-party black with silver sparkles, one is orange silk organza ruffles (hand-dyed!). The others I’ll have to make.
I also need to make some “working-girl” tutus for casual riding. I need tutus for training rides, and I don’t want to use my “ride specials”–otherwise, by the time the ride rolls around, they’ll be old hat. So I bought some brightly-colored organza and I’m going to make myself some training-ride tutus. (I bet you didn’t know there were everyday-wear tutus!)
And then there are tops…I have a bit of a dilemma here. I’d like to wear cycling jerseys most of the time, because they wick sweat well and protect your skin if you fall. But I’d like to wear something fancier than just a plain old cycling jersey, so I’m thinking I might get some solid-color jerseys and tart them up a bit with sequins, ribbons, etc. I’m not sure how to do it so that they’re washable afterwards–but I’ll play with it a bit and see.
So much to do!
Tien