I had just untangled the Gordian knot that were my ear buds and was settling in to Hole's Celebrity Skin (Oh make me over, I'm all I want to be, A walking study, In demonology) when AT Everest comes barreling around the desk and pulls up short when she notices me astride the coveted one. She glances to her left at another elliptical with a look of distaste.
Have you ever been in a position where you could make or break someone's day? I might be stating that a tad over dramatically but if you've seen AT Everest on this elliptical you would understand her passion for it. Couple that with the mild case of autism we gym rats develop over our routines and what emotionally happens when they're changed and you might get an inkling of what I'm trying to convey. Plus I hadn't started anything yet. If I had been even a minute into my workout then, "Too bad, so sad!" but I wasn't (I'm no saint). It wouldn't bug me to do some other cardio workout instead. After a bit of Chip and Dale ("No, YOU take the machine!" "I REALLY couldn't!" "I insist!") AT Everest takes the elliptical and is off to the races. I hope she has a better day for it.
Which is how I ended up on this stair climber for thirty minutes of sweat filled agony. I'm trying to get through it by breaking it up into ten minute increments and thinking about anyplace but where I'm at. My thoughts turn to last night where I showed up at Ally's house with a monster pedal wrench and bolted the recalcitrant pedal on so tight that it's almost straight now while Ally held her amazing Magna as it bucked under the stress like a kid at the dentist. She sent an email in today reporting a successful ride into work. Hopefully that problem is behind us.
Five minutes left, I can make that. I look blearily around the gym and I think I see IronMan strolling around the weights (I took my glasses off long ago). Zombie is blaring in my ears.
Finally it's over and I stumble off the machine lurching towards the gym wipes. I feel great but lack motor control, waiting for the central nervous system to get out of shock and come online. I grab two wipes and carefully clean the machine wiping up the pools of what was once Bill. I bet I weigh six pounds and look like Bob Dylan right now, I've lost so much water weight.
I did Bubbles' ABS routine in a sort of daze. I know I was talking to folk but I don't have much recollection of what was said, my mind turning to yesterday and serious bike riding.
I was talking to intoIt for a few yesterday learning more about his upcoming ride. The event is called the LOTOJA Classic and at 206 miles is the longest one-day USCF-sanctioned bicycle race in the country. The riders are required to finish before dark and if they leave in the last pack at 7:40am they must average 16.5 mph over the length of the course in order to make it before nightfall. I think I could hold 16.5 for ten minutes on a flat surface, maybe, with lots of breaks. The race covers three states, starting in Utah, cutting across Idaho and finishing up in Wyoming. The elevation map looks like this:
Ho hum, a lot like my commute of three miles into work. Here's my work elevation map so you can compare.
That large mountain near the end of my ride is Le Alp de Overpass and I have to cross it every day I ride into work - twice! So... uh... THERE!The stair climber said I burned 400 calories during that thirty minute ordeal. Using Bubbles heart thingy I burned 11.87 X 30 = 356 calories.
Have a great day.
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