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 ~