Back to the bleachers...

Friday, September 10, 2010

“Exercise may protect the brain, Clinic study finds” was the headline of a story published in yesterday’s Plain Dealer. The article referred to a study that specifically looked at people who carry the gene that confers a high risk of Alzheimer’s and what effect regular aerobic exercise had on them. There was a clear increased brain function in the part of the brain controlling memory, which is good news for this population. Though it was a small study, it is one of the good reasons to exercise – quality of life – which is all I preach in regards to the potential benefits. The article also stated that “people who are physically active have better cognitive performance” which is another way of saying that if I didn’t exercise as much as I do, I’d likely be functioning just a tad higher than your basic, garden variety tomato…so I’ve got that going for me.

Two consecutive days of riding had left me with aching shoulders and neck muscles. If I was a barn animal, they’d shoot me. Anyway, I knew I’d be riding with John on Saturday and again on my own on Sunday, so I decided to try something different and headed for the Mayfield bleachers again.

This time when I arrived, the Stadium was blanketed in complete darkness…the team was playing an away game. Since I’d been roundly criticized by my doc for doing hill repeats…I’d actually run up those hills…I figured to do the bleachers without running. Instead, I took them two steps at a time, but walking…quickly. I did a set of 10 then came down and walked a lap around the track. It felt so good that I wanted desperately to run, but knew nothing good could come of that. I kept walking.

I climbed back into the bleachers and did another 20 repeats and by the twentieth, my thighs were getting fatigued and fat from the effort. I returned to the track and another walking lap before heading into the bleachers for a final set of 11 repeats.

I concluded the workout with another quick walking lap around the track and headed for the car. It had taken 45 minutes and I’d managed a good sweat, but more importantly – no hip pain. After next week’s trip to the mountains, I’m going to have to see the doc again and find out how long I have to wait for a stress fracture to clear up. I hate that I’m missing the best time of the year for running when its finally cooled off enough to be bearable even when running mid-day. I should man up and quick whining. I should…but I won’t.

Bleacher duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120.
Calories burned during workout: 675.