The Schwinn Is Gone

We traded him in for a treadmill.


I used The Schwinn a lot more when we had it out in the TV room and I could watch TV while riding. Then we had a family party and moved The Schwinn into the office to get it out of the way...and, later, cleaned out the office and realized we had plenty of room in there for the bike AND the treadmill we decided to borrow temporarily from Rob's parents.



There's the borrowed treadmill peeking into the right side of the photo...and the extra fan, propped up on a empty box because The Schwinn's fan seemed to be aimed at riders who are six feet tall. Short people aren't supposed to sweat, who knew? Oh, and random weights on the carpet remnant to try to eliminate bumps. We are fancy, in case you didn't gather that from the paneling and wall-board.

Turns out, entertainment is kind of essential for me to use exercise equipment. I soon took to propping the laptop up on the treadmill's dashboard to watch episodes of my favorite TV shows online.


Recently, the in-laws mentioned they wanted their treadmill back...and Rob has been using an elliptical machine and a treadmill when he works out at the gym. Our basement ceiling is too low for your average elliptical machine, so the search for a treadmill began.


We found at our local Play It Again Sports. Even though they mostly deal in used sports equipment, they also carry a line of new treadmills and other exercise machines...or something. When placing it in our space, we faced it in the opposite direction that our previous machines faced and now I can watch TV episodes on the desktop computer - so I'm not hassling with carting the laptop around.

We haven't named it yet, but we may go with the obvious "Horizon"...


...or maybe "Big H".

Enough

Today was absolutely the last day I'm going shopping to pick up stuff for this trip...unless it's something I can pick up on the way to Mom and Dad's tomorrow night...or at the airport. HA.

Really though, I think I've got us covered AND we now have laundry detergent on hand for our return.

Rob's parents decided to leave tomorrow night instead of Saturday morning due to some possibly nasty weather headed our way. WAH! I hope it doesn't screw with our departure.

I bought this pair of shoes today. E3 did not agree with my selection. Every new shoe box she brought me as a suggested alternative came with the admonishment, "I don't want you to wear those shoes."

Today: Day five of my excercise streak, soon to be smashed to bits by jetlag. Hoofing it through airports with three kids and assorted carry-ons counts, right?

Get On Your Bikes And Ride!

Last Thursday night Rob and I invested our hard-earned Christmas gift money in ourselves by buying a recumbent excercise bike, henceforth known as The Schwinn.

Friday night, I attempted the Fitness Test - a program designed to gauge where the rider is at physically or something. Rob had given the manual a read-over and told me about the program, but I hadn't looked it over myself. I just hopped on and started riding, making sure to keep my hands on the bars that 'read' my heart rate. About 20 minutes in, I asked Rob if he remembered how long that particular program was; he didn't, but he looked again. It didn't list a length. Not wanting to move my hands, I had him scratch my nose. He suggested I stop, because we weren't clear on what was supposed to happen and he didn't want me to overdo it.

A while later, I looked at the elapsed time.

"I've been riding almost 40 minutes. Do you think it will be ending soon?" The resistance was getting harder and harder, and I was getting thirsty, but of course, I didn't want to move my hands. Again, Rob encouraged me to stop.

"But what if I'm almost done?"

However, a couple of minutes later I gave up, gradually slowing my pedaling for a few minutes to cool-down. I sat there for a couple of minutes, waiting for the screen to cough up some result of my efforts. It finally shut down from lack of use. Hmph!

I flipped through the manual later and I think I discovered my error. Based on my age and weight, it determined what my target heart rate should be; once I had reached it, it would have kept me there for three minutes and then would 'score' my fitness level. When I was riding, I was trying to pace myself because I didn't know how long I'd be riding. So, I should have ridden like the wind or something.

Rob warned that my legs would be hurting the next day, and I was a little concerned about that too, so I walked around the basement for a while and did some stretching. The next day was E3's family birthday party and we had 20 or so guests coming by to celebrate with us.

The good news is - my legs didn't hurt! The bad news? My lower back is killing me! I thought it might be because I hadn't adjusted the lumbar support, but after riding again yesterday (With a towel padding my lower back - I did the fitness test correctly this time and completed a short 'ride in the park') I think it might be due to poor posture while riding - especially all that time I was leaning forward a bit to keep and eye on the screen.

Sadly, one of the reasons I was interested in a recumbent bike (besides being inspired by Mel) was because so many reviewers said they were easy on the back. I hope it's a short-term thing and that my body will soon adjust. For today, I went back to my Pilates on the Ball work-out, and I've been trying to stretch my back when I can. If it's not feeling considerably better by tomorrow I'm off to the chiropractor.

Flying to Hawaii with a painful back might be a little uncomfortable, don't you think?