Sunday, August 5, 2007

A Hard Day's Work

I had joined a gym almost a year ago and went once. The nice part about this gym is the price, ten bucks a month. For that price, it hits my credit card and I don't even notice it. (I'm sure that this fact is figured into their business plan!) There is plenty of new equipment -- 20-25 treadmills, 10-12 bikes and ellipticals, Cybex weight systems and free weights.

As I've been loafing around for the past couple of weeks since my ankle injury, I finally got off my butt and did something. At Deb's encouragement, I made my second visit to the gym.

After the workout, Deb asked how it was. "Fantastic" was my response.

I had never quite been able to figure out the elliptical, but I did, I suppose out of necessity. 45 minutes there. I was surprised that it only added up to about a mile and a half, but I guess that's about right since my heart rate was consistently around 150.

On to the weights -- did about half of the Cybex machines.

Then 30 minutes on a bike. 11 miles seemed like a lot, but I struggled to get my HR up above 130. I suspect I should have increased the tension. It's not about the miles.

Then, finished the rest of the Cybex machines.

In all, about 2 1/4 hours of workout. Without a doubt, the longest, most intense workout. . . of my life! I felt great!

I spent the rest of the day truly looking forward to the pain I knew I'd feel today and tomorrow. And feel it I do. Woo Hoo! Just about every muscle in my body hurts. Even my little toes! The best part is that my ankle doesn't feel any worse than it did yesterday.

Just so happens, Race Pace Bicycles is just across the street from the gym. What the heck, I'm feeling good and in the neighborhood, I'll check 'em out. I looked at the Trek 1500. Didn't ride it, but it sounded good from what the expert at the store said. Found out later that this is the bike that Jill bought last year. She loves it and is riding it in the Iron Girl in a couple of weeks. No commitment here, but you never know. I'm sure I'll be back!

Off to nurse my pain.

L'Chaim!

5 comments:

bigmike600 said...

Jeff
Glad you like the gym. We are memebers of ours and use it a ton in the winter (it gets brutal here). If you buy a bike and really give it a chance..you will love it. You can go for hours on it and burn a ton of calories and see some cool stuff out on the country roads. Nice job and the workout. Keep it going.

Unknown said...

I'm so happy you got to the gym, again! Hopefully this might be the start of a new venture. But more importantly that you reached a new level in working out harder for longer! Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Jeff:

My Giant OCR1 has Shimano 105 components just like that Trek... very nice setup. If you decide to go for it, make one of those nice guys at the store show you how to change a tire on the side of the road and keep the necessary tools in your saddle bag. Also... don't forget some of those cute shorts!

Unknown said...

I have a trek hardtail mt bike that I love and a Giant OCR2 that looks just like the pic of the 1500.
Biking is awesome - I love it.
Also love the elliptical - my favorite cross training indoor thing.

Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS" said...

Nice workout. A good reminder to me that I need to add weight training to my workouts.