Archive for the 'Fitness' Category
I set a rough goal to bicycle 1000 miles since I started logging my distance in mid-August and this afternoon I made it! It’s definitely harder to find nice days to ride during the winter months than during the warm and sunny days of August and September, but I’ve managed to get out. This afternoon’s ride was one of my regular routes, about 17 miles with a sustained 5 miles of uphill cranking. There was slushy snow at the side of the road at higher elevations around North Lake Samish and on the hill heading toward Lake Padden, but the main road surface was merely wet.
For the statistically inclined:
Since I can’t predict how much I’ll be home in 2008 I’m not ready to set a cycling goal for next year, but I should definitely be able to do more than this year since I won’t wait until August to get started.
December 26 2007 | Bicycling and Fitness | 2 Comments »
The low winter light on Mt. Baker this afternoon was as nice as I’ve ever seen it as I bicycled east on Slater Road. There’s lots of fresh snow on the mountain, and the Black Buttes cast long shadows on the side of the peak, accentuating the volcano’s shape and texture. It would have been picture perfect except for the uninteresting strip of clouds hanging over the summit.
I wasn’t in a position to do any photography anyway. I’d been working furiously preparing high-res files for a stock agency and just had to get out of the office and burn off some energy, so I went for a brisk but relatively short bike ride in the afternoon sun. I only rode a little under 17 miles today, cruising along the flatlands near the Nooksack in a loop that took me out Marine Drive, up Ferndale Road, east on Slater, and then back to town on Northwest.
Wednesday afternoon I also took off for a ride, but with more hills and an inevitably slower pace. It’s nice to be able to get out and ride during the winter months to keep my blood circulating and general fitness level up.
I’ve also put in a couple of days of kayaking since Thanksgiving. The first was about 10 miles on Lake Shannon near Concrete, with glorious views of both Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. It was a gloriously sunny day with heavy frost on the ground when we launched. The second kayak outing was on Saturday on the Samish River, paddling upstream from the mouth at Edison. It was a cold and snowy day, although we didn’t get snowed on as heavily as we thought we would. There were numerous bald eagles and other raptors perched in the bare trees along the river and several blue herons at the water’s edge. We also saw lots of coots and smaller numbers of other waterfowl. Upstream of the tidal influence the current was about 1 mph, just enough to notice but not enough to cause a lot of extra work.
The Mt. Baker ski area opened on November 27 and I went up for opening day. The snow was cold, the sky blue, and the skiing great. I ran out of legs before I ran out of daylight.
We’ve got so many recreational opportunities around here that it’s sometime hard to decide just how to go out and play. That’s a blessing.
December 06 2007 | Bicycling and Fitness and Kayaking | No Comments »
We don’t get a lot of nice sunny days in November around here, but today was glorious with temps in the low 40s. So I took off early afternoon for a 31-mile bike ride around Lummi Peninsula. It’s a nice loop on roads that mostly have a good shoulder and not too much traffic mid-day.
One of the challenges of biking this time of year is figuring out how to dress. I’ve decided that long underwear under my bike shorts on the bottom, and a long underwear shirt under a lightweight cycling jacket on top works fine. I think I want to invest in a pair of bike tights, but haven’t found any I like at a price I’m willing to pay. My fingers get a little cool in regular fingerless bike gloves, and my feet got a bit chilly in lightweight bike shoes and cotton socks.
I started out strong, averaging about 17.8 mph for the first 1o miles. At 17 miles I was up to 18.3 mph. Then I started to tire as I rode along the gently undulating Lummi Shore road, enjoying the view across Bellingham Bay to Bellingham, Mt. Baker, and the near-full moon a few degrees above the mountain. By the time I got to Marine Drive, about 27 miles in, my energy level was really sagging. I kept going, but riding slower and slower, and made it home. My overall speed was 16.7 mph, about one mph and 7 minutes slower than the last time I’d done the same ride.
I’m wondering if I just ride slower when it’s cold. I decided I hadn’t eaten enough for breakfast and lunch today, so simply running out of fuel was part of the problem. I tanked up on a cup of hot chocolate, an energy bar, and a bowl of raisins and nuts when I got home.
In any case, vigorous exercise for a couple of hours is a great antidote for sitting at the computer captioning photos.
November 20 2007 | Bicycling and Fitness | No Comments »
I may have written this before, but I’m a sporadic exerciser. I like to swim and do it more during the winter months in an indoor pool. Last week, after not swimming for perhaps a year or more, I decided it was time to get back in the water. I go to the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center in Bellingham for the discounted noon lap swim. It’s a good mid-day break from working with images on the computer and its cheaper then.
The first day back in the water I was only able to swim 100 yards at a time (4 lengths of the pool), with a 60-second rest between. I swam 8 sets that day. A couple of days later I could do 250 yards (10 lengths) with a 60-second rest. The next time in the water I was back up to swimming a mile (74 lengths) of crawl without resting. My time of 40.5 minutes won’t set any records, but I’m still amazed at how quickly I get back to the distance I’ve swam in the past.
Hopefully I’ll keep myself motivated to get to the pool two or three times a week during the winter months. I also want to keep bicycling, although I may not make the 100 miles per week I was doing in late August and September. Short daylight hours make it harder to get out and ride. I bought a new bright yellow cycling jacket so I’ll be more visible, but riding distances at night just doesn’t seem either safe or fun.
November 02 2007 | Fitness | No Comments »
My exercise plan seems to be working. I’ve been bicycling a bit over 100 miles a week for the past five weeks at a brisk pace and in the process have dropped 10 pounds. As I wrote some days ago, it’s a LOT of work, but it’s also a fun way to get exercise and enjoy the countryside around Whatcom County. I vary my route, vary my mileage, and try to ride long distances only every other day to give my body time to rest. I’m not sure what I’ll do for exercise when I go back on the road to shoot fall gardens and attend the Garden Writers Association symposium in Oklahoma City later this month. In reality, probably not much. The most I’ll be able to hope for is to maintain what I’ve lost by watching what I eat.
Diet is definitely the other part of the weight loss equation. I’ve been able to keep the ice cream out, cut the beer and wine down from daily to once or twice a week, and eat much more fruit and vegetables in relation to meats and grains. It’s actually cheaper to eat that way, as well as being tasty and healthy.
I’m not sure that I feel any different or that I can pinch less fat around my middle, but that’s pretty subjective. My legs are definitely stronger from all the riding. Hills that required first gear a month ago can now be climbed in a slightly higher gear at a higher cadence. My average speed is increasing, too. Yesterday I rode 53.5 miles with a couple of hills and 7 miles of rollers and averaged 17.9 mph. My bike is 28 years old and considerably heavier than modern aluminum frames. I think I’m doing OK in the speed department, especially since I had a headwind on the homebound leg of my loop when I was getting tired.
September 16 2007 | Fitness | No Comments »
