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| File photo of Broad Ripple SUV. Not representative of any specific recent trip. |
So the past three days have seen me dressed and out watering the veggie garden before the sun was fully up so that I could hop on my bicycle and pedal down into Broad Ripple Village proper before things got so beastly hot. Went down to Kroger yesterday and the day before and today I got brekkie at the Broad Ripple Bagel Deli.
It's around 2.5 miles round trip, hardly any distance at all, but it's exercise, and I'm three days in now, which is a start on forming a routine. Let's see if I can make it stick. (The plants will probably thank me too, as I am told that's the best time to water them, as opposed to mid-afternoon, when they're already halfway to wilted.)
22 comments:
Next stop, P90 X Training
Brutally hot summers are the norm in the San Joaquin. Sure it's a dry heat but when it's 106 out, you can't do much of anything for very long.
It just makes that first whiff of Autumn all the more sweet. Hope you feel better about things soon.
Heat is relative. I have a granddaughter in Poland, where the high was 22C, or about 81F.
It's been 102, 36C or so here, but the child says I cannot imagine how hot it is where she is. It's so hot she cannot bear to go outside.
Thee are always plenty of reasons not to do something. Carry plenty of water and have at it. If you are not acclimated to the heat when you start, you soon will be.
Stranger
According to John Tesh's Intelligence for Life, the legs and butt produce the hormones that direct the body to store fat -- when you sit too long. It takes a couple-three minutes of vigorous walking every hour to keep the "stack it up" phase at bay.
There is also a six hours per day threshold, accumulated over the whole day, including chair, sofa, and vehicle time, that leads to decreased life expectancy or something.
But I did notice "and sitting in your pyjamas,". I hadn't worn PJs in many years -- I wondered where they got to.
You've written about a leg injury from a number of year's ago. Is the bike comfortable for you to ride since the injury? I'm almost in the same position as you with old injuries that keep me from running or doing a lot of distance walking.
Time makes it harder; if I walk and try to mix in some running, my knees have a definite veto(sometimes fine, others "STOP IT!"). I ride the bicycle too much, my hands and wrists hate me. Pushup and such... As I told someone a while back "This crap gets harder every year."
I may have to break down and get a bike with a much-more upright position, maybe that'll help.
@ Better Business Brands,
In spite of the spam message -- have you asked your doctor about a transplant of healthy colon contents to replace your own misfunctioning system? It apparently works. No sh*t.
If the plants actually thank you, please post a video.
gfa
PS - keep-a-goin'
Tam- It's just the heat; be thankful you don't have BBB's problems.:)
Second that on the 3-Gun thingie and it illustrating how out of shape I was. I've been on a diet (which I hate with a purple passion) ever since I've returned, because I decided just because I'm old I don't HAVE TO BE Fat! Don't know how much weight I've lost but I have gained a belt notch in the past 3 weeks. Maybe I should look into that bicycle thing?...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Do you lift? It can be a great way to lose weight and help your shooting. My father is in his mid 70s, and does pullups daily on a bar he built in his closet.
Buying a gun reinforced my determination not to become an OFWG, and his example keeps me working hard!
For exercising in hot weather, or with previous injuries, swimming is your friend. Never was much of a swimmer until I took it up as an overweight 45 year old. For about 6 weeks it was a vicious struggle on the razor edge of drowning, then it clicked and suddenly I was swimming. That was two years ago, now I'm solidly in the middle-speed lane of my swim club. I also love cycling and running, but nothing gets me that feeling of whole-body exercised-ness like 2-3000 yards in the pool.
Does a good job of shutting the brain off, too. Don't know about you, but my brain needs a reboot at least 3-4 times a week.
Ride on up the Monon to the Jordan Y and look into the aquatics programs there.
Alath
Carmel IN
I considered myself as having crossed some kind of important meridian when a minor injury requiring a doctor's visit forced me inactive for a week and a half and activity became a physical desire, like wanting to eat when hungry or cool off when hot.
That only took... six or seven months to take hold. : /
Volleyball used to be my outlet. Something cathartic about blasting leather into someone's face or chest.
Now, cycling clears my head, whether it's a tree-bouncing fling on a trail or an electrolyte-draining multi-hour road ride.
Tam, Good for you! The bike is great low impact cardio. There probably isn't a better way to get used to running around with a gun than well, running around. Once that starts to become easy (and the temps drop) think about running. Start by walking fast and working in short periods of slow running. Over time start lengthening the runs and shortening the walks until you are running.
Regardless of what you choose as a program keep up doing something. Remember, the Taliban do not take a day off and local goblins don't either.
Is it possible to do Happy Gun-Stuff without all the damn running? I really hate running. I would rather swim with a Marine-coat shotgun than run.
Firehand, I love riding my bicycle too, but didn't for the longest time because I had a "mountain bike" style, with the handlebars whose ends came out more-or-less at right angles to the long axis of the bike, and it hurt my hands and wrists. Every bump would send the shock of the impact straight up my arms.
I replaced them with old-fashioned Schwinn handlebars, the kind with a curve such that the ends are nearly-but-not-quite parallel with the long axis of the bike.
The pain ended; I sit much more upright (which I prefer since my bike is not for excerise but for getting places) and I use it much more than I did previously. Add some foam-rubber handgrips and it almost feels like cheating.
I gather you can still buy the handlebars, but I have a neighbor who tinkers on and restores old bicycles and donates them to the Salvation Army. I traded him a bunch of old parts and a frame I got from who-knows-where for the handlebars and an old-school set of gear-shift levers.
The link below has a photo of my bicycle, a "Giant" somewhat modified to resemble a European City Roadster:
http://www.alpharubicon.com/bovstuff/bikesrevisitrejectgvi.htm
gvi
Firehand,
"I may have to break down and get a bike with a much-more upright position, maybe that'll help."
I agree with gvi above.
My Trek 7200 is a good and comfy ride with its 'mostly upright' riding position.
I'll have to check out the handlebars, if can get a suitable set that might make a big difference.
"mindlessly clicking internets links..."
Guilty.
I not only have an actual Internet Callus on the forefinger of my right hand, but have actually worn a hole in the scroll-down key on this here keyboard. I can provide testimony and photographic evidence, if required.
Internet Disease, I haz it.
Ok, the "That bike is HOW MUCH?" shop near the house actually had some handlebars for cheap, and found a set to try. Had to replace two cables to fit the higher bars, but Damn, the difference! Much more comfortable both on back and arms/hands. This'll make it much easier to keep using it- when temp allows- for library and store runs and general riding.
Kinda makes you wonder why the straight ones ever became popular.
Very happy they work well for you.
gvi
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