Wednesday, August 15, 2007

OY VEY!

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful summer day here in Ann Arbor. So instead of heading downstairs to the treadmill and my nightly Tivo-fest I thought I'd mix it up and go for a bike ride. Even better I'd take Kid Furious so we could have some quality time. Well keep in mind I was pregs last summer so that means it had been nearly 2 years since I rode my bike... and 2 years since I rode it with 40+ lbs of lead strapped into a bike seat suspended over my rear wheel. Also keep in mind that the child seat has a weight limit of 40 lbs... which might be a safety warning due to the actual engineering of said child seat or it might be a safety warning of a more cardiovascular nature! Okay so I head down the driveway cautiously so as not to wipe out on all the goddamn hickory nuts all over the place and embarrass myself in front of Mr. "I commute to work" Furious. Then I tackle my first hill thinking "my god... I thought I was reasonably fit.. I'm going to die and it has only been 3 minutes!!!" But I made it, over hill and dale for 30 minutes. My legs were jelly by the time we got home. And despite stretching for 20 minutes afterward and then doing a half hour of pilates I still felt like I had been hit by a truck this morning... and then run over a few more times before it was through with me!

8 comments:

michelline said...

Yes, I've noticed that the treadmill, while working you out, doesn't really engage all those muscles. I run 3.5 miles most mornings at the gym on the treadmill and I'm used to it now - no aches and pains. But on occasion, I run outside, and I'm always aching in places that I didn't know could ache the next day.

I thought about riding my bike as exercise, but it's really flat here, and it seems like I'd have to go an awfully long way to get the same value. And my kids are too old to throw on the back as ballast.

Mrs Furious said...

They say "you" burn about 600 calories/hour biking outdoors, but half the time I was coasting... the other half I was having a heart attack. I think I got a harder workout for like 15 minutes. I can't run because I have bad joints, so I'm walking while constantly alternating my incline. I do feel I am getting a good workout while I'm doing it, but it is true that I'm using the same muscle groups. I just can't maintain the same speed, etc, outside. I have limited time to workout kid free so I'm kind of struggling with how to change it up (especially as I am plateauing agian) but still get the same calorie output. Jump roping?

Mr Furious said...

Jump roping?

I don't think jump roping works at all. I haven't noticed anything since we bought them. Total waste of money.

Mrs Furious said...

It won't work until we actually try it. It burns like 1000 calories a minute...

michelline said...

It won't work until we actually try it.

Good point there :). And it worked for Rocky.

Mrs Furious said...

Alright I just tried it out. Definitely not as hard as it was when we first got the ropes. Possibly it wasn't such a good "first go at fitness" exercise choice. But I am currently barefoot and wearing a dress and I just busted out a set of decent jumping... even single jumping. There is hope for this after all.
I'm challenging you to a post- work jumpoff Mr. Furious!

Mr Furious said...

"It burns like 1000 calories a minute..."

Bah! If jump ropes were so great, they'd burn calories sitting in the closet like ours.

Mrs Furious said...

So in that magic closet... do your pants fit you too?

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