#21) Know Limits > No Limits

I know it doesn't seem like we have turned the seasonal corner, what with the recent "Polar Vortex" phenomenon of record low temperature readings and heavy snowfall that has all the climate change deniers crawling out of the woodwork, but if you  take a moment you can see that each morning daybreak comes earlier and evening the sun dips below the horizon a minute later than.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I will be outdoors riding any time soon, but it's a comin' so I feel the need to become more disciplined with my training routine.

I continue to alternate between strength training of my slow twich muscles and cardio workouts. My primary focus is on my arms, shoulders and chest but I throw in some abdominals and leg exercises. To help motivate myself with my weight-training routine I think back some of the hills I encountered last season and how tired I got as I neared the crest.

The Polar heart monitor I received as a Christmas gift is helping me monitor and refine my cardio training efforts. Hence the title "Know Limits > No Limits" (As in, it's better to know your limits than to blindly forge ahead.) I have had little experience tracking my heart's performance prior to getting the heart monitor gift.

Using the standard 220-age=Max Heart Rate, my MHR is 164bpm.
And what I am learning in writing this blog is that I might be pushing a bit too hard. Take my last 60 minute spinning only workout. I rode 12.30 miles, burned 848 calories, my maximum HR was 167bpms and my average hr was 143bpm. Meaning my training was at the upper end of the anabolic threshold range, nearly to the Red-Line zone.

I don't know why but every time I go for my 60min spin I try to increase either the distance traveled or calories burned. On some days I combine a mini-strength workout with a 30 minute interval training program....

I have just begun using the elliptical cross-trainer for  a change of pace. Damn, it's almost like running but the stride
motion doesn't require you to utilize your hamstring muscle when you lift your heels while taking a step. Its more of a sliding shuffle or maybe like cross-country skiing. I loved running, but MS induced spasticity in my hamstrings makes that impossible. I never thought that I would be happy with a twenty minute mile, but that's what I did on my second session.

I was so disappointed with my performance that I tried to do a 30 minute interval session at level 5 instead of level 4... I made it through (barely) but it took a full 5 minute cool-down 

before I felt like standing up...

Again KNOW LIMITS is of greater importance than NO LIMTS

MUSIC

Billy Idol White Wedding Live

Fleet Mac Tusk