I’d like to say I was feeling great all morning…but that would be a lie. I wasn’t dizzy, but was a little light-headed as I worked around the house and played outside with Dakota. It was cold…in the low 30’s…but the temperature was riding and I was thinking…ride.
My plan was…ride to the park and do repeats there…that way I wouldn’t be that far from home if I should get dizzy. I’ve been going through this enough to know when an episode is coming and know that I can slow and dismount the bike before it becomes full blown. Knowing this, I felt reasonably safe and felt the plan would work. Besides…vertigo as I’ve been diagnosed could last six weeks…and doing nothing for six weeks was NOT an option.
I dressed in layers…three on top…gloves, hat, tights, and booties and headed out in temperatures that had risen near 40 and with perfect sunshine. I was cold at first…a good sign that I had on the right amount of clothing. I was also sporting my heart rate monitor and it was telling me in the early going that I needed to ride harder.
Cycling is a sport very specific to the large muscles of the upper thigh and generating heart rates as high as when running are difficult, if not impossible, for non-conditioned cyclist. Should you take your heart rate to a comparable running rate, you are likely to go beyond your aerobic threshold quickly, form large amounts of lactic acid in your legs, and be forced to reduce your speed significantly…or stop altogether. I have been in great cycling shape over my years of triathloning, but have found that my training heart rate to be about 10 beats less per minute on the bike as compared to running. Today was no exception. In fact, I was struggling with getting it within 20 beats of my running heart rate…when I took it closer, my quads would start to cramp and fatigue. I know this is a result of irregular riding outside (weather) and that riding on a trainer for me is just not as intense. In a word…I’ve ‘deconditioned’.
I managed a ride of a little over 90 minutes with no dizziness…all while staying perfectly warm. I know I’m riding in temperatures that a year ago I wouldn’t have considered, but the real bottom line here is…it’s a mild winter. I’m hoping it stays that way, though I would miss some opportunities to burn calories shoveling the driveway…and I’m alright with that.
The battle with my waistline continued. I passed on the peanut covered brownies, cookies and left over pie to have a lunch that consisted of chicken breasts, green beans and corn. I made a smoothie that included a pear, which turned out to be an excellent addition to what is already the best smoothie ever. Two days and no dizzy spells…I’m very happy about that.
Bike Duration: One hour and 35 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1300.
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