Sunday, January 10, 2016

Making a New Habit

That's what I'm working on this new year, and so far, okay.  The new habit is to exercise every day, and it's not that hard during break, so my goal is to get myself in the habit pretty well and then hope I can keep it going once classes start.

The thing is, I've already ridden my bike (on the trainer, so way quicker, but not as exciting) over 100 miles.  And that makes me think about how lazy I've been all fall not being on the trainer at all.  It's amazing to think that if I rode for just 10 miles a day (about 30-35 minutes on the trainer for me), I'd rack up 3000 plus miles for the year, no problem. 

My system to avoid utter boredom is to put on a bike race from last year (many are on youtube) and ride along for the last however many kilometers using earphones to hear the commentary over the trainer.  (They often don't start televising or youtubing the races until the last 30 kilometers.)  I've now worked up to just over an hour (20 miles), so mostly the timing works out pretty well.  If I need a bit more time, I watch the last few kilometers of another race. 

The key is, I have to not remember who won the race, so Paris-Roubaix is out, because that was very memorable for me.  But stages are really good because I tend not to remember who won the stage, even if I remember who won overall (the Giro, for example, will be good).  And most of the classics and monuments are good (those are one day races, often in spring or fall).

Today's stage is Stage 7 of the Dauphine, I think. 

The racing season has started in Australia and New Zealand (new national champions in both countries today/last night), but they're not available here, alas.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, this would be a great habit indeed! And I love that you're not keeping yourself amused by zoning out to some TV show (which is undoubtedly what I would do) but are actually being more intentional and committed to cycling itself. Good luck with this new habit!

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    1. TV shows aren't mostly compelling enough to keep me working for an hour, alas. Bike races get exciting, and I KNOW I'm not suffering nearly as badly as they are.

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  2. I have my dog to keep me exercising daily. If it's not fall (with blowing leaves that cause Xena to dart wildly after each one), I can think through things - passages I'm writing or topics that I'm teaching. The good thing about a dog is that the dog never lets you forget the daily obligation!

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    1. Dogs ARE perfect for this (and for puppy therapy, soft ears, etc), but walking a dog on ice is less fun.

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  3. What a smart idea! I love it. --meansomething

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  4. What a fantastic idea - will definitely give it a try!

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