Fitness 2012

[mongers]

Spending a lot of time whinging about my leg. I had no idea that a pulled hamstring could hurt so freaking bad! It's unending, and I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a week because of it. 

Luckily I've never had anything like that.

[crazy canuck]

Not doing much at the moment, just pottering about; how everyone else doing ??

We are in that terrible period in Vancouver when it is raining hard but there isnt enough snow on the mountains yet to go skiing.  As a result activity levels have dropped but still doing some workouts in the basement.  On top of it all the boys are no fully occupied with other things so there is nobody there to push me.

[mongers]

Not doing much at the moment, just pottering about; how everyone else doing ??

We are in that terrible period in Vancouver when it is raining hard but there isnt enough snow on the mountains yet to go skiing.  As a result activity levels have dropped but still doing some workouts in the basement.  On top of it all the boys are no fully occupied with other things so there is nobody there to push me.

Yeah, over here we seem to have different ideas of constitutes hard/heavy rain, the forecast todau was for 6 hours of it, this afternoon/evening and really it was only moderate drizzle compared to what your getting in you post 'rainforest' area. So it's still easy to get out and about.

[Maladict]

Not doing much at the moment, just pottering about; how everyone else doing ??

2012 has been a pretty rotten year for fitness. Been taking a heavy workload resulting in getting sick regularly.
Told my boss I was cutting back to 'normal' starting November. So far, so good 
Put my bike on the Tacx, up to 3hrs a week now. It may cost me my job, but fitness-wise 2013 will be better.

[mongers]

Not doing much at the moment, just pottering about; how everyone else doing ??

2012 has been a pretty rotten year for fitness. Been taking a heavy workload resulting in getting sick regularly.
Told my boss I was cutting back to 'normal' starting November. So far, so good 
Put my bike on the Tacx, up to 3hrs a week now. It may cost me my job, but fitness-wise 2013 will be better.

Yeah there's not point allowing you job to make you ill, and by extension less happy. 

Luckily it's still mild around here, so I'm pottering around, though I don't see many other cyclists about in the evenings/on weekdays.

[Maladict]

Luckily it's still mild around here, so I'm pottering around, though I don't see many other cyclists about in the evenings/on weekdays.

The weather has been icy, foggy and generally miserable. Doesn't really matter, I'm pretty much night blind so I can't cycle in the evenings until March or so.

[mongers]

Luckily it's still mild around here, so I'm pottering around, though I don't see many other cyclists about in the evenings/on weekdays.

The weather has been icy, foggy and generally miserable. Doesn't really matter, I'm pretty much night blind so I can't cycle in the evenings until March or so.

Yeah cycling at night is probably ten times more dangerous than in daylight, so you're probably better off as you are; I do sometime wonder why I continue through the winter months. 

[mongers]

Hmm, so one of my little fitness targets was to cycle the 3,500 km distance the Tour de France riders did this year, between race end and Xmas.

So far I'm 450 odd miles short and it's only a month to go, I have a feeling I'll be facing a deficit of about 150-200 miles to do on Christmas Eve!   

[Maladict]

Tough challenge, but certainly possible. It would be nice if at least one of us met their target, don't let us down now.

[Maladict]

I know, we're not there yet. But now is the time to set some targets.
Post them here so you can be ridiculed a year from now when you failed all of them like I have this year 

So, to raise the bar some more, I just signed up for:
- Amstel Gold race, 250km of cycling in the Dutch hills (yes, we have some) in April
- La Marmotte, 175 excruciating km's in the French Alps in July

And I want to pick up running again, maybe a half marathon in the fall or something.

I'm thinking of buying one of those bike stands so I can ride my bike indoors, does anyone here have any experience with them?

Bloody hell, I completely forgot typing all this stuff a year ago. Mongers, I now realize you were referring to this a while ago.
The Alps plans fell apart fairly quickly as nobody was willing to come along. I did do the Dutch race, but only the 150km version, again for lack of company.
I need some new friends. 

[mongers]

I know, we're not there yet. But now is the time to set some targets.
Post them here so you can be ridiculed a year from now when you failed all of them like I have this year 

So, to raise the bar some more, I just signed up for:
- Amstel Gold race, 250km of cycling in the Dutch hills (yes, we have some) in April
- La Marmotte, 175 excruciating km's in the French Alps in July

And I want to pick up running again, maybe a half marathon in the fall or something.

I'm thinking of buying one of those bike stands so I can ride my bike indoors, does anyone here have any experience with them?

Bloody hell, I completely forgot typing all this stuff a year ago. Mongers, I now realize you were referring to this a while ago.
The Alps plans fell apart fairly quickly as nobody was willing to come along. I did do the Dutch race, but only the 150km version, again for lack of company.
I need some new friends. 

Yeah, that's what I was remembering, I remember thinking at the time you're a good notch or two above me. 

Doesn't sound like it's your fault, I think you're probably beginning to find what I discovered a good few years ago, family/booze/sedentary lifestyles, gradually robs you of peers to play sport with, so one ends up doing solitary activities like cycling. 

It must be donkey years since I last played any of my friends at squash or Badminton, I doubt any are now up to it without cardiac arrest risks. 

Mal, maybe you should join a cycling road club ?

[Sheilbh]

What's a good non-impact, non-swimming exercise?

Also I think I need to start doing strength work.  I may have asked before but does anyone have a good guide.  I feel kind of aimless just being in the gym and using the machines for a bit with some arbitrary set weight and for some random figure.

[mongers]

What's a good non-impact, non-swimming exercise?

Also I think I need to start doing strength work.  I may have asked before but does anyone have a good guide.  I feel kind of aimless just being in the gym and using the machines for a bit with some arbitrary set weight and for some random figure.

Brazen is your 'goto person'.   

[Maladict]

Doesn't sound like it's your fault, I think you're probably beginning to find what I discovered a good few years ago, family/booze/sedentary lifestyles, gradually robs you of peers to play sport with, so one ends up doing solitary activities like cycling. 

It's not even gradual. Within the last 1,5 years over half my friends became parents. You can visit them at their place and that's it, they otherwise just disappear. On the other hand, I'm probably lucky they all waited until they were in their thirties.

Mal, maybe you should join a cycling road club ?

I've been thinking about that, but my weekly schedule is just too irregular. And I hate to have obligations during the weekends. Next year I'll try to get some friends along one more time, then I'll probably resign myself to solitary cycling. 

[Josquius]

I need to learn how to run. Even when I was in shape I couldn't run very well, always ran into major breathing problems. Always guessed I had a fucked up throat or some such but I've read there's a right way to breath when running, shall have to investigate