Day 64 & 70: T - minus 5 days to the Heart Walk!

I walked on day 64 (last Tuesday) after missing day 63 and neglecting to blog. It has been a week of sick for me (thankfully not the flu) but tonight I picked myself up and got on the bike.


Somehow, I seem to remember to wear the Polar Heart Rate monitor when I stay indoors and I don't really need it. The bike gives me all the same information and more. I do enjoy comparing to see which one's data I like better. To be consistent, I just use the information from the bike. The Polar monitor gave me a heart rate average that is 2 bpm lower than what the bike displayed and was more than 20 calories higher. Let's just say "it's a mixed bag".


Often I will focus on an unique aspecy of my work-out. Today it was my target heart rate range. Because the monitor lets me set a range and has an alarm I activated just to see what it did. Of course, I originally envisioned the alarm going off if I had no heart rate but... its not that dramatic. Apparently, the alarm sounds when I am outside a self-set range that I could change if I wanted to. I could also change the alarm to "OFF".


Because the bike's heart rate reading is different than the Polar monitor's, I set my range narrower on the bike so I would know I wasn't even close to range limits shown on the Polar monitor. 


I did pretty well. When my heart rate dipped to 120, I would pump up my pedalling and the number would rise. I would sustain it above 130 for a time or 125 just by giving a 10 - 15 second burst every 30 = 40 seconds. Usually, my rate would increase if I pedaled above 15.0 mph. My max was 21.5 mph.


I had the honor of speaking with a coworker "N.G." who has lost a significant amount of weight and took the time to encourage me. I only know her "before" and haven't yet seen the "after". We work in different buildings separated by enough geography that we rarely cross paths. I really appreciated what she had to say and invited her to respond to one of my blogs with the same words she spoke to me on the phone. Maybe they will encourage more than just me.


Another encouraging thing happened at just the right moment (you know when you're sick and kinda feeling sorry for yourself?) I got another envelope at the office from far away. M.P. & R.P., a married couple who used to live near me but moved out west a couple of years ago, sent in 10 huge votes of confidence.


The walk (I'm so glad they're not calling it a race) is this Saturday. My November 7th update is overdue but it is coming! It will be renamed, of course.


I got my T-shirt. I am going to put the Polar Heart Rate monitor with it so there is no excuse for me not having it on me when I walk. I will take pictures and post them. I will also Twitter from the walk.


My results for day 70 are:

Time: 25 min. 
Average Speed 14.8
Distance 5.9
Calories 165
Average Heart Rate 125
Watts: 72
Level: 5 (Program: Manual)

Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~ Cheryl ~

Bonus Blog: 100 miles in 2 months

I just logged my activity on www.startwalkingnow.org and my cumulative distance since Sept. 1st crossed the 100 mile marker! 


You can track any of dozens of exercise activities using their conversion program for free. I just discovered their nutrition tracker. Yes, I had seen it before. The time has come for me to start using it. If it's as cool as the activity tracker, I'll probably track my way to my next 100... pounds that is.


~ Cheryl ~

Days 61 & 62: Walker-cising and measurizing: unexpected lessons

Some unexpected new knowledge has come from starting this new season in my life. I have learned to measure parts of my neighborhood from counting steps. I cannot imagine ever anticipating I would need such knowledge at anytime as an adult.

I have also learned that music makes it way better. I think I was actually reminded because I knew this before (of course I did - with music being such an important part of my life). The goal was to get exercising, not to exercise with music.

So, on Saturday (day 61), I went out in the early afternoon while neighbors were enjoying a warmer than average autumn afternoon, getting ready for young children to come wearing costumes and masks to ask for candy.

A neighbor, two doors up and across the street, who cuts our  lawn, saw me and said "10 times and you'll be all set!" I think he meant from corner to corner. so I told him that I usually do about 12 which takes me 30 minutes. He may have seen me before when I was out after dark.

An older neighbor, two doors up, who sits on her porch most of the spring and summer watching the neighborhood, saw me walking, running and working my arms. She warned me to be careful "we don't want any heart attacks out here". 


I explained that I have been exercising regularly since Sept. 1st and that I have been out later at night when she can't see. I also assured her that I wouldn't be doing anything that was too much. I was able to talk to her and exercise without being out of breath even while pumping my arms. I usually don't talk when I'm working out because no one is around or close enough to talk to me.

Here's my gear: I always have my cell phone with me when I walk. I use the Timer/Stopwatch function when I exercise to track my time. I usually have my iPod on my person but I don't always listen while walking. I keep forgetting to wear the borrowed Polar Heart Rate monitor. If I write about it enough, I might remember to wear it at some point.

On Sunday (day 62), I went out in the early evening and decided to venture into a new un-walked part of my neighborhood. The little triangle park at one end of my block has grass and trees surrounded by a sidewalk and tree-boxes. Its bordered by a busy street with a bus stop, but things are pretty quiet on Sundays and most workday evenings.

One leg of the (right) triangle measures 100 steps, the other: 70 and the slant side (hypotenuse): 130. How beautifully these numbers add to 300.Ten laps adds to a clean and easy 3,000 plus the steps to and from the house bring my walking total to 3,275 for the day.

My block has a very slight incline. Any perception of going up or downhill in front of my house could be missed unless you're looking for it. At the triangle, the shortest side is the part that lines up with my block which is pretty flat (no hill) and the longer sides of the triangle meet down an incline. This can intensify my workout. When I run, I run downhill for more momentum. When I work my arms, I walk uphill. I ended up challenging myself to keep the arm work going all the way around the triangle.

Although I was planning to catch up on one of my talking podcasts from www.dailyaudiobible.com, some music I liked started playing during my search and I decided to listen. After the first song, I searched for another and let it play and another and another. Today, I walked to two songs by Michael W. Smith and especially enjoyed David Benoit's "Watermelon Man". Before I knew it, I had done 10 laps around the triangle and about a minute remained on my timer - just enough time to get home. 

The music helped me set and keep pace - something I haven't done during any of my previous walks. I selected songs after assessing how fast they were compared to how fast I felt I needed to go. And despite the much cooler weather today, I perspired a bit more than I did yesterday. Perspiration is my indicator of aerobic efficiency - not my attempt to give you too much information. 


NOTE to self: record beats per minute for my favorite workout songs so that I can plan the order that they play during my walker-cising sessions.


Do something beautiful for your heart today.


~ Cheryl ~